Vivek Menezes
Almost exactly 80 years after Francis Newton Souza of Saligao and South Bombay set Indian art history astir, his grandson has made his own highly consequential solo exhibition debut at Mumbai’s storied Cymroza Gallery. Solomon Souza is already internationally renowned for epic wall-sized murals in several different countries, including an ongoing project portraying cultural icons in Goa (most recently Braz Gonsalves in Panjim). But this exhibition is all paintings and drawings on paper and canvas, mostly done over the past few months while living in Canacona with his wife and three small children, and, in an interesting twist, they are quite different from his public work.
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Here you can see an undeniable direct connection to his grandfather’s forceful line and frontal impact, and on these gallery walls it has quickly become clear these bold works are highly collectible, potentially true blue chips in what has become an anxious, overheated Indian art market. Most of them sold immediately. “Solomon’s exhibition ‘Hard Labour’ is a remarkable and undeniable success,” says Dr. Pheroza Godrej, the art historian and hugely impactful bulwark of the Indian cultural scene, especially in her home city, who founded Cymroza at Breach Candy in 1971. Earlier this week, after an impressive walkthrough conducted by the artist, she told me the works have “garnered considerable attention.
The show has generated a positive public response and notable critical interest. The exhibition will have a significant and possibly transformative effect on Solomon’s career path.” Godrej says “the theme of the exhibition ‘Hard Labour’ reflects an exploration of working-class realities, physical struggles, and societal structures related to labour. There are a lot of female figures heavily pregnant, reflecting his own personal journey [being at the side] of a woman carrying a pregnancy for nine months, and then a natural delivery of a child being brought into the world. So, there is a double innuendo on the title ‘Hard Labour’ very beautifully, and very lyrically, captured by Solomon. He portrayed a deliberate commitment to the life he observes, indicating a socially engaged and observational practice. He has translated lived experiences and environments into visual stories, emphasizing authenticity and empathetic representation over mere formal experimentation.” I asked Godrej what she would like to see next after this immensely positive debut. She said “Solomon’s willingness to create works on various scales, including large exterior and interior walls of buildings, and other public spaces, is noteworthy.
This approach seeks to go beyond traditional gallery settings, aiming to reach wider audiences including faculty and students from art schools, integrate art into daily life, and engage communities through site specific works. Visitors to the gallery should take away from the exhibition an interpretive signpost: an awareness of labour’s realities, the artist’s social commitment, and the significance of public art spaces. Solomon has conducted a walkthrough and being present at the opening of the exhibition points to his efforts for early audience education and direct involvement in the theme of the exhibition. He has a potential for future initiatives, especially in engaging audience across India.” The artist’s own poetic statement – it is on a wall at Cymroza – is worth reading in full. He writes “Hard Labour is all around us in myriad forms, from the birthing and raising of a family, to the building and maintenance of our cities and societies. Both are foundational in the fabric of existence, and one cannot endure without the other. I have been blessed in my 32 years of existence, and in some ways it does feel like I have never had to work a day in my life, unless you consider lifting a paintbrush, mixing colours, and sharpening pencils to be the equivalent of hard labour. And although painting huge walls in the sun and rain is definitely difficult, challenging and laborious, even exhausting, it is not quite the same as fighting for survival. It is a bit different now. Now I have children, I have a family. Now I have real work to do. Now I must carry more than my own weight.
The weight of responsibility, of commitment. The weight of the future.” The conclusion: “For much of my life, I have been able to observe the world from a distance, sat up in my ivory tower you could say, a child of privileged legacy, and I have watched the masses of men and women work wonders, sweat and toil, digging into the depths of the earth, to build up towering forms of steel and concrete. The silent muscle keeping the body of society in constant motion. This collection of paintings and my first solo exhibition is all about that hidden, uncelebrated effort. The focused glare of committed action. The quiet dignity of sacrifice. The labour that sustains cities, families, and futures, often without recognition, but never without consequence.”
