Much before I became an art curator I became a collector. My own
love for art soon translated into curating and along the way, both from my own
experiences and those of my fellow collectors, I have learned to look at
different kinds of art in different ways, searching for different meanings and
responses.
After a crisis or disaster such as our
current pandemic, the natural human instinct is to look for things that spark
happiness. What do we respond to in these times of fear and containment? What
are some of the images and artworks that most resonate with us at this time?
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For me personally, I find myself
particularly drawn to Goa-based Shilpa Nasnolkar’s landscapes and seascapes.
Painted with fierce brushstrokes, these small works pulsate with an
Expressionist energy that evokes the wild and free – something maybe we are all
yearning for at this time of lockdown! Sonia Sabharwal’s vividly coloured
abstract landscapes evoke a different mood with their bold and vibrant palette.
Acclaimed artist Suhas Shilker’s brightly hued abstractions create a lively yet
poignant feel.
It is a time to seek solace in nature and
we are truly blessed to be amidst such lush greenery in Goa. It is truly a time
when we are looking to soothe ourselves and feel free outdoors… since we have
such restricted access to the outdoors. It is the simple pleasures we miss –
walking along the beach, going to market, enjoying the colourful blossoms of
spring.
Far away from us, isolated in Normandy,
legendary British artist Sir David Hockney is painting the springtime flowers
he is surrounded by during lockdown. His colourful paintings, created on his
iPad, have found a large virtual audience, highly appreciative of these images
of fertility, hope and renewal.
In Goa I’m looking at art works I’ve seen before and finding new
meanings. Senior artist Francis De Souza’s skillfully coloured paintings evoke
fantasy worlds where man and animal are juxtaposed in interesting ways. At this
time, ‘home’ assumes a new importance in our lives and I am taken back to the
inaugural show held by the Goa Artists’ Collective, When Does a House Cease to
be a House? I am remembering the wonderful terracotta installation by Pradeep
Naik, the metaphorical Keys of Grandeur and the moving Meu Amor by Ramdas
Gadekar – the latter work, installation and charcoal on paper that lends
particular emotive resonance to the word ‘lockdown’.
The show presented the theme of home and everything it means –
ideas of ownership, our own ‘space’, coziness, a space for display, prestige
and status, a place for refuge and sanctuary – ‘house’ is an evocative word –
meaning different things to different people. Shilpa Mayenkar’s layered
watercolour painting Gozadi-(Konkani for quilt) pulls one into the warmth and
comfort of ‘home’ even as I am bombarded with heartbreaking images of migrants
walking ‘home’ in search of their own comfort and sustenance.
In Enemy at the Door, part of the same show, Soumitrimayee
Paital places self-portraits on peeling walls layered with meaning and history.
I see the work differently now, looking at how we have locked ourselves in to
keep the virus, the ‘’enemy at our door”, and anyone who might come carrying
the virus – out, as far away as possible. Covid-19 patients are unfortunately
feeling the stigma surrounding the disease. I am also reminded of Loretti
Pinto’s works and her particular concerns with migrant issues and feeling a
connection with our ‘native’ land.
While we stay away and isolate ourselves, we also paradoxically
seek to find connection, questioning our relationships to ourselves, each other,
nature and the world. Shripad Gurav’s award winning Where do we come from, What
are we, Where are we going? asks some pertinent questions while another of his
colourful works, Market again takes me back to a time when life was simpler and
stepping out for essentials was a chance to connect and seek community, not a
time to fear. Once again, I am grateful that I can find solace and hope in
images and in art, that in the midst of all this stress and uncertainty, I can
steal away some ‘’moments of pleasure” like the protagonist in Liesl Cotta De
Souza’s lovely image in thread on textile, as she swings and enjoys the joy of
movement with gay abandon.
I
hope that wherever you are on your art journey, whether a new entrant or a
veteran to the world of art collecting, you too have the opportunity to seek
meaning and delight in the wide spectrum of images by the many talented artists
that surround us.
