Every once and a while, we sing the blues about the struggles that artists in India and the world have to work through. There are seldom any attempts to give them the right platform and exposure.
Many artists in the country are merely able to eke out a living. Most of them are penniless, lonely and isolated figures in the society.
The plight of national award winning artist Abhijit Kumar Pathak is a turn up for the books. His untold story says it all.
A self-inspired artist, Pathak has always had a natural love with colours and at an early age he started playing with them.
He was noticed for the first time in 2004 when he won an award at the water colour camp held at the Banares Hindu University.
Subsequently, he got various awards, including a National Award by the Lalit Kala Academy in 2009 and AIFCS Award in 2011. The contemporary artist not only holds his command over art, the talented and creative Pathak even holds a diploma in music.
"He enjoys listening to music while working and says music gives him pleasure but paintings can illustrate his true feelings," says the trained artist and musician.
Pathak's exhibition showcases 13 astounding and powerful paintings and has been curated by the famous critic and scholar Uma Nair.
Despite all his achievements and awards, Pathak has had to struggle to evince his talent in the capital. "He had to organise workshops to make some money for the exhibition," Nair told IANS.
Referring to the artist's struggles, Nair said: "He had told me that he didn't have any money."
She further added, "he takes tuitions for school children, and uses that money to buy his canvas and paints. It is such a heartrending story."
His solo show titled "Mosaic of Mysteries" will continue at Lalit Kala Akademi till March 30.
"I did not see how monumental his works were. I just saw images of it and I realized that here is a boy, who is like a pilgrim...his search is very solitary," the curator said.
"Great abstractionists are solitary by nature. Abhishek Pathak is like that. When I read that he has been a national awardee and yet he has not had a solo in Delhi. I felt that it is not anybody backing him. I knew that I have ro get him to do a solo show," she said.
She further added that her role as a curator is to search great talent among artists who do not have infrastructure or wealth. "The only wealth they have is their work."
Pathak was supposed to exhibit his works in August 2016 but that got cancelled.
"All the shows were cancelled because someone had filed a case against Lalit Kala," Nair said, adding: "His date has come now."
In Pathak's works, shapes, lines and debris seem to brim and float. Textiles from far flung places become part of the canvas of abstraction. You gaze at it for a long time and then you want to close your eyes.
As you close your eyes, colours and countless shapes, as well as images, rise to the surface. Furthermore, you are consumed by all sorts of sensations, as if you are listening to music that you've never encountered.
"What is overriding is an indescribable sense of tranquillity and comfort, as if passing time carries you to a peaceful and beautiful pastoral where you can sink into," according to the curator.
"On his large canvases, when you see the detailing, you realise that he is a master. He People don't know the kind of work he has done. His work in wood is a dream," she said.
"When you look at abstraction, you must realise that there is a journey, there is an inner journey. There is devotion in it to take clothes from different parts of the country because he wants different textures," she added.
Nair describes the show as her "Karma". "I believe that not only as a critic I serve the art of the country, I also do it as the curator."
"There is a sensitivity to Pathak's story. They'll be many like him. I hope people could become curators, would take one leaf out of my book and do the same," Nair said.
"I don't think curating is only about galleries. I don't think curating is about group shows to make money. There are all kinds of curators in the country. I think curating is about serving the art. Giving light to artists to give them a milestone," she explained.
--IANS
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