A dhoti-kurta-clad man with a distinct English tash and a woman—she’s seen sporting a floral sari, wearing shakha-pola, and with hair in a classic centre-part style—are seated on a striped, red love seat; their arms in a tight grip. On the wall to the right of this seemingly-quintessential Bengali couple, one will find a reproduction of French artist Henri Matisse’s 1908 masterpiece ‘The Dessert: Harmony in Red’. This oil painting titled ‘Avid Collectors’ is where ace colourist Nayanaa Kanodia juxtaposes conventionality with highbrowness: The traditional couple on canvas is shown to have a distinct interest in collecting art created by master painters. Talking about ‘Avid Collectors’, Kanodia shares, “I have tried to show people who have retained their roots, but their mindset is such that they admire artists like Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani. Though invaded by Western culture, we still try to retain our identities. All the hilarious situations, which arise out of living under this dichotomy is what I want to showcase in my paintings.”
An artist for more than 50 years now, Kanodia is known for works that often bridge the gap between reality and fantasy. In her paintings, she ingeniously evinces elements that showcase contrasts. However, these just happen to be two of the many themes that the economist-turned-colourist—her signature works, though satirical in style, showcase thought-provoking imagery—portrays in her latest selection of 25 works that is currently on display at her solo exhibition ‘On Inimitable Spirit of Life’, which opened to viewers on November 19 at Treasure Art Gallery, Defence Colony. Exploration of nature, commentary on the climate crisis, depiction of women with agency, are some other varied ideas that Kanodia captures on canvas.
Those familiar with Kanodia’s oeuvre will easily discern tongue-in-cheek references in her work. “I want to show happy paintings. In my paintings, there is a lot of mirth and satire; it delights the viewer with its whimsy yet contains the most important social messages of our lives,” says the artist. She often reproduces masterpieces by artistic geniuses in her paintings. Talking about this, she adds, “In many of these paintings, I have studied the old masters and I put imprints into my signature style.” Case in point is her work ‘Seneorita’, which depicts a Frida Kahlo-esque lady handling birds in the wilderness. “This painting is a take-off of Frida Kahlo, but in my signature style. This lady in the wilderness is an avid bird lover, and is enjoying nature. I want to show how women, through their sheer hard work, have broken the glass ceiling. Now, women are no more silent spectators; they have the right to enjoy themselves without being pressured by the glass ceiling.”
In another work titled 'The Mumbai Monsoons' that showcases commuters holding umbrellas as rain lashes parts of Mumbai—a common occurrence amid incessant rains in the city—Kanodia seems to bring into focus the idea of happy, content citizens living in a congested city with average road infrastructure. She shares, "In Mumbai, we have narrow streets and lanes. It is a very common scene during the monsoons; when the streets are overcrowded, people walk with their umbrella spokes poking each other, and they have no choice." Her work 'Jungle Siesta' is of a man with a mobile in one hand and newspaper in another, reclining on a sofa in the woods while a flock of birds remain perched on individual trees. 'Away with Our Blues', too, has a similar setting—you see birds in the wild—with a couple enjoying a date in the foreground. It is the artist's take on how urbanisation is posing a threat to the environment. "I want to bring out how important it is for people to conserve the environment, and the importance people must lay importance on it. Because in the future, if our environment is depleted, life will lose its meaning, health will suffer, and everything will lose its meaning." Kanodia's works that are on display in this exhibition do a fine job of adding mirth to mundane, everyday moments.
Though “painting and drawing was always my passion”, Kanodia—she is considered a trailblazer in the genre of L’Art Naif, the self-taught artist movement, in India—shares that she had to study economics instead of fine arts to appease her family. She says, “Later, to make up for the lack of [traditional art] knowledge, I studied books on the techniques and signatures of the old masters, after which I developed my signature style. I’ve been painting for 50 years now (laughs).” So, what keeps her motivated after all these years? “I could spend hours painting and I still work very hard; about five to six hours every day. I conceive the ideas at night and put it on my canvas in the morning. I am so tuned to working during that time [the hours she spends in her studio] that I just stay focused, and I enjoy every minute of it,” she signs off.