The “razabindu” and its creator forged a relationship decades ago. That bold dot, carrying within itself a world of meaning, inspiration and interpretation, became central to S. H. Raza’s work, and at 93, the great master of Indian Contemporary Art has continued this relationship. Nirantar , a solo exhibition at Delhi’s Vadehra Art Gallery, displays Raza’s latest creations, and gives , at the same time, a glimpse into this long, legendary association.
By now, we know how it started; of a schoolteacher’s attempt to discipline a nine-year-old Raza by drawing a “bindu” on the blackboard and asking him to focus on it; of how, years later, this “bindu” found its way on Raza’s canvas, expanding in scope and meaning, its vocabulary growing till it encompassed the world, its creation and its origin.
In the room that currently houses Raza’s latest works, their combined energy is impossible to ignore, and there is a vibrancy in the gallery that demands attention. The many paintings almost act as one, so that even when you do not turn to just a single canvas, their power is obvious, the already multiple colours multiplying before your very eyes so that the effect is overwhelming, and intensely dynamic. Nothing seems to stand still, and the geometrical shapes take on meaning for the viewer too, as they do for their creator. In a way, Raza’s work stresses on pattern, geometrical shapes and sequential colours — lines, triangles, squares — that would give you the impression of closed, already constructed spaces. But the thematic meaning Raza lends to these shapes, as well as the central “bindu” that breaks that pattern and still holds it, transforms its meaning, so that what you are now looking at symbolises something organic and spiritual — the cycle of birth, life and meaning.
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The “bindu” is present in each canvas, and in each one, it is different; sometimes large, dominating the painting, like in “Prayas”, and sometimes set in the side and surrounded by the landscape, as in “TU”. In “TU”, in fact, Raza paints a vibrant landscape in broad strokes, and then writes a couplet across it, so that the relationship to the “bindu” changes, almost bringing it alive as a yearning lover.
What remains though, is the magnetic, powerful nature of the “bindu”. It draws you in, and becomes the fulcrum around which the rest of the canvas revolves. This is interesting, especially because what numerous art critics and connoisseurs have been explaining and analysing in words, the canvases do themselves, so that you don’t need to have studied art to appreciate the importance of that single dot on the canvas; so that you instinctively know that it is important, that it is where the work starts, and ends. And as you stare at this “bindu”, its dark space magnetic, the depth Raza infuses in it also becomes clear, and it easy to find yourself held captive by this depth, to realise that it is offering to you an opportunity not unlike the one Raza’s elementary school teacher had offered him — a chance to focus, stand still, and gather the thoughts that remain, otherwise, untethered.
Around each bindu, in each canvas, Raza displays the magic of colours. He collects them in broad, gestural brushstokes, arranging them within different shapes and sizes, and the result seems entirely unique. In “Neelambar”, no single ring of grey that surrounds the dark depth of the bindu is the same, laced with the most minute, subtle shifts that play with light and shadow. In “Uttarrag”, the bindus nestle between a myriad patterns and colour that clash and fight outside, but sit in simple, beautiful harmony on Raza’s canvas.
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There is also a strange, appealing inevitability to the way Raza paints, so that the choice of patterns and shades seem not a result of conscious choice but a natural outcome. In his straight lines and bright colours, in his circles and triangles and symbols, Raza offers a glimpse of life which has shed its neat distinctive shapes and is being presented to you in its purest form. You recognise, almost subconsciously, little glimpses of this life — the sea, the ocean, a home, the sky, love, hate, worship, lust — familiar and yet mysterious.
It is perhaps this abstract nature of Raza’s work, which seeks to capture and express life in a way that preserves its essence without trapping it in any one form or image, that eternalises Raza’s work. It gently suggests, but does not claim meaning, and remains free; belonging, in turn, to each viewer.
Nirantar: Vadehra Art Gallery, D40 Defence Colony, New Delhi, till February 24.