“Most people don’t go to Old Delhi unless they have a reason. I go without one, just so I can show its charm to them through my paintings,” says Delhi artist Mohd Israr, a resident of Shahdara. Israr’s paintings and sketches are now on display (till July 1) at an exhibition titled ‘Galiyon Se Guzarti Nazar’ (A Glance through the Lane) on display at the India International Centre annexe.
Israr finds beauty in its long-forgotten corners and fading colours of worn-out buildings. For him, a certain sense and look of decay is what adds a peculiar charm to it.
According to the 30-year-old artist, the “legacy” of Old Delhi or ‘Purani Dilli’ among many is waning. Hence, to keep the spirit of the area alive, the artist picks old, narrow lanes, workers, rickshaw pullers, and countless electric wires hanging from pole to pole.
“The lanes of Old Delhi, the hustle and bustle there, the labourers, all of it really fascinates me. Ageing buildings, faded colours, the disappearance of old-style architecture, I want to capture them before they are gone,” he says. Busy Old Delhi markets like Fatehpuri, Chawri Bazaar, and Ballimaran market to dense, cramped alleys, teeming with crowds to rickshaw pullers and carts lined along the streets have all been the subject of his canvas for the past few years.
In blues, and browns
Israr’s series of artworks is made using three mediums–watercolour, charcoal and ink on paper. Pointing to the comparatively extensive use of the colour blue, he remarks, “Each painting contains different shades of blue. However, the colour also represents a subtle, characteristic dullness in the sketches which aligns well with the place’s quiet, worn-out appeal.” The colour red, green and brown is also prominently visible in some of the artworks.
Almost every watercolour landscape has been painted under a bright, sunny exposure. “I like painting objects in sunlight,” Israr says, as he points to one of his paintings with shadows .
A painting titled, ‘Morning of Ballamaran’, gives a glimpse of quietness in the area on an early morning, with empty rickshaws parked under a softer sun, yet to join the day’s chaos. The use of brown strokes on white and blue buildings is a gentle reminder of how time has left its mark whereas the background colours in some paintings flow into the figures of the labourers, depicting how they have become a part of the stillness and weariness of the space.
About the paintings made out of ink, from the series, ‘In The Silence of The Alleys’, Israr mentions the “mehraabs” or ‘the arched doors’, which once connected one street from another. “Earlier, these doors were used to help people find their ways, with names of certain areas written atop the curved arches,” he says. Israr’s paintings are awash with nostalgia, so much so that most of the paintings are kept free of crowds even as there is no escaping them as one goes to Old Delhi. “I just kept them out so that the eye would go to what is best about the place,” he says.