“In the silence, I rediscover who I am”, said John Francis, the American environmentalist, also known as the Planetwalker, about his voluntary vow of silence for 17 years. Francis’s words have motivated many artistes across the globe, and fittingly his sentiment is the inspiration behind Tao Art Gallery’s 17th anniversary show, Silent Spectacle , curated by Sanjana Shah. This is the first time the 22-year-old, who is the daughter of gallerist Kalpana Shah, has curated a show. It features the artworks of India’s 30 leading artists including Arzan Khambatta, Arunanshu Chowdhury, Brinda Miller, Jayasri Burman, Jaideep Mehrotra, Jogen Chowdhury, Krishnamachari Bose, Paresh Maity, Samir Mondal, Sujata Bajaj and Sunil Padwal.
The theme explores the importance of silence in one’s life, more importantly in that of an artist. Sanjana says, “In today’s fast-paced world, we would like to highlight the magic that silence can create using art as the medium. Usually, you write an explanatory note to artists before hosting the show and they work on their paintings accordingly. So, I mentioned in the note that they should sit in their own silence, and go wherever it might take them, rediscover themselves and then use the creative inspiration to create a piece of art that defined them.”
Sanjana has been exposed to the world of art since the age of five, as her mother is an artist and a gallerist. Since the past two years, Sanjana been helping her mother with penning write-ups for shows at the gallery. She reveals that the duo came up with the theme together. “Mom has been involved with yoga and meditation and silence plays a major role in both these forms. I write a lot of poetry and philosophical stuff and realised that a lot of the inspiration for my writing comes when I’m sitting on my own and thinking about things. While pursuing any art form, if you sit in solitude, your mind starts brimming with ideas and motivates you to do things differently. Silence is deceptive because we are a thousand people in that moment, doing a variety of possible things, carrying out scores of tasks and deciding how to feel at the end of it all.”
Most of the artworks have vivid colour palettes and explore abstract concepts, figuratives and capture the nuances of daily life. The artists have used oil on canvas, acrylic on canvas, cast paper, dye and mixed media. “Each of them have stayed true to their original style, but have also used the theme to make these specific artworks. Our mind thinks in colours and images, almost like a mirage, so they have used bright hues,” the debut curator signs off.
Silent Spectacle is ongoing at Tao Art Gallery, Worli until March 31 from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
