Dissolved in colours
RANA SIDDIQUI
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Dharmendra Rathore reappears on the art horizon for the first time with stunning abstract works.
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Like a hypnotised artist, I followed the command of my heart
HUES GALORE One of Dharmendrs Rathore's works mounted at Lalit Kala Gallery.
Just a few months ago, artist Sudip Roy returned to the art scene with a refreshing change thanks to his new abstract works. Now it is the turn of Dharmendra Rathore, who is known among art lovers for his spectacular Buddha series. Rathore has one thing in common with Roy: his joyful hues spread judiciously across the canvas. The two also symbolise the tough artistic route from landscapes to figures to abstract. Abstract is the meditative form of art which can't be reached in a hurry. Hence when artists like Roy, Rathore and Paresh Maity reach that stage, their joy of natural transformation is reflected through their bright colours. It also reveals their `Indianness' for we Indians are nurtured to appreciate colours. And that's what differentiates Indian abstract artists from their counterparts abroad, especially European countries.
Aakaar Nirakaar
Rathore's new body of works in oil and acrylic on canvas and board were shown at the Lalit Kala Gallery recently. The just-concluded show, Aakaar Nirakaar, epitomised this feeling of meditation and Indianness. The works contain every possible colour, yet nowhere are they loud.
Agrees Rathore, "Making the Buddha series after landscapes and figures was a delightful process. It helped me explore my artistic pursuits. For some time this Buddha started dissolving itself into a light mixed with stunning hues. So, like a hypnotised artist, I just followed the command of my heart and brush. The creating time became extremely important, because at that time images in the mind kept on reconstructing themselves. I had no time to `choose' colours. I did what I was dictated. That way, now my Buddha has dawned in colours. Now I feel I don't need to tell the viewer through the `form' that this is Buddha."
Not that such a process of transformation is easy. It involves the pain of separation from the form, but is compensated through the new image that dawns on the canvas. Admits the artist, "It is like the labour pain of a woman delivering a baby. The arrival of the baby makes her forget all the sufferings she goes through."
Conscious process?
But Rathore's canvases are often divided into several squares or rectangles. Each section has a judicious mix of `matching' colours, which seem a conscious effort. The artist denies this.
"The horizons are breaking on my canvases. It is a tactile process. It's like many people in one family who are so different from each other by temperament and blood groups and yet they live together. The perfection in the divide comes through several years of playing with compositions."
Interestingly, Rathore also seems to have kept the `commercial' aspect in mind. So if his 8x10 foot works are not easily affordable, he has recreated them in a panel of seven each of 1x1 foot, which are portable too.
Rathore, however, disagrees, "From commercial point of view my Buddhas were the best. That way, I shouldn't have stopped making those paintings at this point of time. But I couldn't help my artistic calling. These works are like Buddha himself, who when went to achieve nirvana, leaving all worldly things behind. He emptied himself first to get refuelled spiritually. I am also following the same track. I have had enough of materialistic pleasures. Through these works I have emptied myself. I would gracefully accept whatever the future holds for me."
It seems justified when one sees his smallest works with a price tag of Rs.30.000 only.
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