In his ongoing solo exhibition ‘Silence Please’ presented by the art company Zen Crafart in Delhi, artist Viveek Sharma returns to the theme of search for inner stillness — an idea that has guided him for over a decade. He says silence is like an atmosphere, a state he has been chasing across cities, canvases, and years.
The seed for his journey was planted in 2012, during a visit to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, where Sharma found himself drawn toward portraits. “When I came back, I didn't know where to start,” he recalls. Living in Mumbai’s noise and movement, he yearned to paint the quiet within himself.
That moment of searching coincided with the Mahakumbh in 2012. “Every artist gets a call....out of a process they find their identity. Like Hussain Sahib did with his horses or Raza Sahib with the Bindu. Somewhere my calling was the Sadhu,” adds Sharma.
The sadhus he saw there, and those he had quietly observed since childhood, seemed to embody the silence he sought. “They hardly talk. There’s a vibration of stillness on their faces.” A Swiss ambassador who visited his studio years later noticed the word “silence” recurring in their conversations. On a long drive through Dar es Salaam, he suggested the title that would eventually define Sharma’s practice: 'Silence Please'.
Dot as a language
Sharma’s art is a hybrid of photorealism and intuitive pointillism (painting which has tiny dots applied that forms an image), evolved from his need to capture the textured reality of his subjects. Their skin — “rustic like an excavated temple,” as he describes it — defied smooth photorealistic treatment. “I began with realism but it didn’t sit right,” he explains. Experimentation led him to the dot: a layered, precise mark that built a face through thousands of micro-decisions.
Though his figures may appear archetypal, many are rooted in real encounters and found images. Sharma often reaches out to photographers who capture the faces he’s drawn to, purchasing the references so he can translate them into his own palette and vocabulary. “Somewhere, it’s all inspiration,” he says. “But the language is mine.”
For the Delhi show, Sharma has also created limited-edition art plates for curious collectors. “I didn’t want it to become commercial or mass-produced. This is for people who truly connect with the work. It’s about intimacy, not scale,” he explains.
Ultimately, Sharma’s wish for his viewers mirrors what he seeks for himself. “Nothing but silence,” he says. He adds that he often notices visitors leaving his show with small, soft smiles. “If I can bring that stillness to someone, even for a moment — that’s enough.”
On view at Bikaner House till November 30, 11 am onwards