The Tao Art Gallery celebrates its 13th anniversary with a group-show befitting its contribution to the field. Equilibrium, as the show is called, seeks to portray the beauty that manifests when deep-rooted artistic values and an artist’s ideas meld. The creation is incomplete till both work in tandem and then fuse to manifest in the final creation. Kalpana Shah of Tao Art Gallery has brought together veterans like Rini Dhumal, Sakti Burman, Gieve Patel, Sudhir Patwardhan and contemporary artists like Paresh Maity, Jayshri Burman, Dhruvi Acharya together to showcase works based on this premise. “Equilibrium is about and also beyond dualities like good and bad or up and down. In fact, it is best manifested in the form of a tree that has deep roots, which offer the foundation and stability for the entire tree to grow. From the roots grows the trunk that then sprouts branches and leaves and fruit and further hosts colonies of numerous birds and creatures who establish their realms on its upright stability. It’s the same with art. It nurtures a fusion of values and ideas. An artist has to develop a feeling of attachment and detachment about his creation. That is the state of equanimity. Every natural law has two sides to it, creative and destructive. Maintaining equilibrium between them by establishing balance between their opposing cosmic forces promotes evolution.”
This deeply philosophical principle finds reflection in myriad works including the metascapes by Akbar Padamsee; the ‘Tree of Life’ by Seema Kohli; ‘Memorie’ by Paresh Maity’; ‘Japakusum Sankasham’ by Nanda Das among others.
The show includes one of Kalpana Shah’s paintings that was originally meant to be gifted to President Barack Obama in 2008. But Shah lost her husband during the 26/11 attacks and stopped work on the painting. She put back the pieces of her life together and became a pillar of strength for her two children. When Tao Art Gallery completed 13 years, she decided to put the portrait for display as a representative of the equanimity that she has achieved amid the dualities of life!
Bottomline: Representing equanimity amid the vagaries of life.
Equilibrium: A Group Show
Where:Tao Art Gallery, Worli, Mumbai
When:Till March 8
