There is a clear distinction between the work Gopal Namjoshi creates for the public and for himself. Giving into his artistic cravings, Gopal does abstract paintings but when reaching out to public, he creates massive installations. In his latest outing, the prolific artist from Gurgaon is showcasing his installations at Life Long Modular Furniture & Interiors, in Bangalore, where they will be on display for six months.
Gopal has resorted to his favourite theme, nature, for this work. Life-size peacocks and butterflies have been fashioned out of reclaimed material like automobile parts. Machines and lifeless objects like washers, cutter blades, car brakes, motorcycle wheels, petrol tank, nuts and bolts are bound by aesthetics to evoke beauty and life. Though Gopal has been doing installations for a long time, he first used waste material three years ago to make a spider. The life-size cows, which he did next, were acquired by The Gateway Resort, Damdama Lake off-Gurgaon-Sohna road. “The metal junk is abstract in form and shape. To convert it into a realistic figure is a challenge. Also, I don’t modify the material much so that it looks like a work done by hand and not machines. I just have one assistant welder. I try to do everything on my own,” says the artist.
While there are 18 sculptures of his in Taj Gateway Resort, three are inside the Select Citywalk and one outside the mall. A 16-feet high deer is what greets the visitors to the mall. For an art piece to work in a public space, scale and simplicity is necessary. “Your canvases can be abstract with deep meanings and it’s ok if not everyone understands it but in a public space, it should have a connect. Most of my works are about ecology, cosmos, five elements, conservation but I keep it simple,” says Gopal, whose love for grandeur grew after he watched a film on British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor in British Council in 1997.
Earlier this month, the artist created an installation (a 30ft x 8ft x 10.5ft Cityscape made up of 1 million grams of chocolate in 1 lakh boxes) for Maruti Suzuki, celebrating their sedan Dzire crossing one million mark at Ambience Mall in Gurgaon. How does the public engage with his art? “Well, in this age of selfies, they engage well. Visitors keep taking pictures with the cow and put on Facebook,” he replies.
The road to here was not smooth, reveals Gopal. In Jaipur, he was well-established as an artist and teacher but had to start from scratch when he shifted to Delhi in 2000. Things started to look up after he participated in a group show for Shankar Netralaya in 2003. Murals were his next calling. “You can actually divide my career into three phases – paintings, murals and installations. I like to keep challenging myself by working with new ideas. In 2009, moved by the plights of elephants in Jaipur, I created an installation in multiple material like bamboo and fibre, etc. Installations were not big at that time but I did it.”
