review on painting exhibition held in hyderabad in 2003

Brush with emotions

Works of Sujata Dharap and Vidya Dengle from Pune are mounted at the Shrishti Art Gallery

Vidya Dengle's canvases oscillate between feelings and thoughts

PLASTIC ART is gradually gaining importance in Hyderabad, as galleries are inviting artists not merely from the city but also from outside. Like the spectators of art, the galleries too can understand the multiple processes and backgrounds of all those who prefer to exhibit in the city.

Shrishti Art Gallery, Jubilee Hills, hosted an exhibition for Sujata Dharap and Vidya Dengle, the women artists from Pune who displayed abstracts in different media. Both graduates from the J.J. School of Arts, Mumbai, they have exhibited their works across the country and abroad. Sujata Dharap's work is like a colour palette where her chosen pigments create volume, form and texture. But eventually it is the texture that takes all the attention, as there is a multiple range of warm to cool formations. According to Dharap, "painting is like a dialogue between me and myself, a kind of self-revelation. Creating unknown images that immerse spontaneously on the canvas is exciting, like a journey to an unknown destination. With every canvas begins a new relationship with the unknown, a tension prevails till the brush stops and the mind is at rest." Before talking about Dharap's works, it was important to take her creative objective into consideration. Indeed, the act of painting creates this tension as the inner self of the painter makes the choices. But, it is absolutely essential for the artists to analyse the gush of emotions that surface in the act of painting. Because the intellect comes only after the emotion has come and gone. Therefore, the painting remains incomplete if the artist depends merely on emotional fodder to build a work of art. For, emotions are varied and are a raw state of our impulses. Hence, it becomes necessary for the artist to combine thoughts and feelings.

An interesting point in her art statement is "listening to classical jazz and other forms of music brought in the intricacy of forms and colours in my studies."

Says she: "Instruments are not there as seen by the optical eye.

However, from my work one might feel as if the instruments themselves are preparing and getting ready for a concert. Like living beings, these instruments would be eager to play, participate in and create music."

Opting for watercolours and inspired by the works of great masters like Paul Klee, Picasso, Chagal and Dali (western), Raza and Gaitonde (Indian), she seems to have forgotten Kendinsky, the father of abstract art, who was hugely inclined to music.

The most genuine aspect of Dengle is her choice of the medium: watercolours. Although she applies pastels once in a while to create volume and accentuation, the transparency of watercolours provide her that scope to be pure of all intentions.

Watercolours is not such a popular medium with artists, but those who work in this medium should be granted a favour immediately as this medium is not for those who are crafty.

The exhibition is on at Shrishti Art Gallery till October 22, between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.

ATIYA AMJAD

 Copyright: 1995 - 2006 The Hindu

Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly
prohibited without the consent of  The Hindu