The viewing galleries at Sunaparanta-Goa Centre for
the Arts have currently turned into a “jungle” replete with animals and
monstrous creatures brought into being by Goan artist Viraj Naik. Viraj’s
imaginative world is completely fantastical and fully immersive as the artist pulls
viewers into his dramatic world, to confront their inner demons and become
“participants in this jungle.”
The intriguing show features a substantial body of
work and is Viraj’s first solo after a 15-year hiatus. Curated by Leandre
D’Souza and produced by patrons Dipti and Dattaraj Salgaocar, the exhibition features
over 95 ink drawings, etchings, woodcuts, pictographs and sculptures of a host
of hybrid creatures- neither man nor
monster; neither fully animal nor human but a blend of a bit of both.
Drawing from myth and allegory, fiction and fable, the
accomplished artist displays his skill with diverse media – with print making,
with collage and sculpture but above all with drawing. His ability with line,
with texture, scale and proportion is showed off to his best in these seemingly
simple drawings of highly intelligent anthropomorphic creatures that reflect a
range of emotion. In this large body of animal based work, Viraj hints at
deceit, cunning, pain, suffering, anguish and ignorance – running through a
gamut of human traits and emotions, to provide an insight into “the darker
side, less desirable side of ourselves”, says curator Leandre.
The eyes of these various creatures look out of their
portraits to mesmerise viewers and participate in the drama unfolding in the
gallery. Viraj’s long term study of the physiognomy and behaviour of human
beings comes to the fore in these portraits, illustrated as mutilations – where
men are disfigured into these beasts, monsters and grotesque creatures. Oversized
sculptures make you stop as you make your way around the show; the
confrontation forcing viewers to take a closer look at the multiple selves and
“bestial instincts” hidden within our deepest recesses.
References to world mythology, oral folklore, the
Panchatantra, Aesop’s Fables, Shamanistic rock art from Africa, Egyptian Gods
and Greek satyrs abound in Viraj’s complex signature visual language. The
references may be “vast and ancient” as Leandre says, and this plethora of
beasts might take us on a journey around the world but eventually these
artworks bring home the realisation that human emotions, follies and foibles
are universal and pretty much the same everywhere.
