Sanjeev Sinha, one of the earliest breakout painters of Bihar’s 1980s generation, seeks reconciliation and harmony amid the disruptive and disturbing contrasts in contemporary reality by K.S. Narayanan, Photos by mukunda de
Life is not a dream. Careful! Careful! Careful! ……another day we will watch the preserved butterflies rise from the dead
As haunting as these immortal lines of 20th century Spanish poet and dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca, Sanjeev Sinha’s 23 new artworks titled Am I?, showcased in the Visual Art Gallery of India Habitat Centre in the national Capital early this month, provided a strong jolt. The opening saw a host of esteemed guests, including Raj Liberhan, Director, India Habitat Centre; art curator Alka Pande: Rajeev Lochan, Director, National Gallery of Modern Art; Kapil Chopra, President, Trident Hotels; Anurag Sharma, Director, United Art Fair, and the who’s who of the Capital’s glitterati and chatterati.
Am I? – the question in the title of the show suggests the turbulence and the array of thoughts struggling to find expression within the artist who seems to be on an endless search on the issue of existence.
One of Sinha’s paintings showed several speared teddy bears. They shake us out of complacency and compel us to instead act and take charge before there is nothing left. The innocent eyes of the bears tug at the heartstrings and urge one to reflect on matters of the contemporary world. By portraying such a picture by use of toys that symbolise innocence, the artist at the same time points out how society has remained a mute spectator to the murder of innocence and innocents.
Juxtaposing a fairy world akin to ‘Alice in Wonderland’ along with a world steeped in faith, Sinha places the innocence of a Barbie doll alongside the ferocity of Goddess Kali.
Another work carrying a pious Buddha is surrounded by various emotions like passion, romanticism and appreciation of natural beauty, implying the intrusion of different objects while you are in such a mystic position. In the work titled Gentle Bite, he has portrayed a Barbie doll inside a turtle surrounded by the butterflies. This seems to signify the artist’s craving for the pleasant and happy world of eternity.
The turtle, Sanjeev explains, is believed to be auspicious in mythology and one of the longest living creatures in the world. In the work titled Gentle Bite XV, he has made a cobweb and behind that there is a huge spider that has created the whole system signifying the world.
Says Shaji Mathew of Studios and Galleries who is engaged in promoting residencies for budding artists: “There is lot of violence. Too much of a contrast too and difficult to digest as well. Probably it is looking at present-day violence while peace loving variety of art work is far less.”
This is because besides treating his subjects with techniques of realism, Sinha uses stark colours, primarily black and red, to evoke an intense feeling of passion and radical approach towards this worldly issues.
Also seemingly banal devices like the use of a burning matchstick in several paintings make the artist relate to real situations.
According to Sinha, wood acts both as a saviour and a means that takes the stranded person to the safety’s shore, and also the carrier of fire that could destroy everything.
Though this was the popular feeling of those who viewed the exhibition, there were others and experts who had read both the artist and his art well.
Take for instance Vikash Nand Kumar, art historian and curator who curated Sinha’s work. He observed that at the very first instance the Am I? exhibition may sound radical and gloomy and shrink us with a feeling that it is not very pleasant or soothing. “But as the viewers go through the body of work and fathom its depth they would understand its gist. We must realise these works are in proximity to the reality of our contemporary lives and then might sense the cathartic pleasure of watching these works.”
No doubt these works carry the blend of thoughts that he wants to put on canvas using objects symbolizing philosophical implication, political mystification and spiritual assimilation.
Bihar-born Sinha is a globe- trotter has imbibed various cultures, traditions and art practices that have led him into a gamut of experiences. He has exhibited in galleries and museums in India, the Netherlands, France, England and Japan in group and solo shows.
Calligraphy, Korean clouds, Tibetan flags, Buddha’s head, the world of flora and fauna, mythology, et al, find a place in his compositions. They are the tools with which he expresses himself. Watching everything around him as an observer, his works give a peep through the lens that generally remains black in the foreground, thus being in direct interaction with his works and creating layers of depth on his canvas.
Some figures are of powerful women like Kali. Of a naked Kali and a Barbie in a bathtub. One is black. One, white. One is wild. One is innocent. But even in the wild one there is innocence.
What does Sinha hope for as an artist? “I hope people understand that my paintings are not decorative but symbolic. I’ve incorporated elements from arenas like politics and capitalism and the misuse of religion. But you have to look closely at them.”
At a time when art lovers look at Santiniketan, Kolkata, Mumbai and Vadodara as the centres of excellence, Sinha is the unspoken leader of the young Bihar art generation that emerged in the 1980s. He was the first artist from Bihar of his generation to have won the prestigious Lalit Kala Akademi award and create a niche for himself in Europe’s art centre. Since then, Sanjeev has bagged several national and global fellowships and honours.
Having closely watched Sinha’s artistic journey over the years, poet and art critic Vinod Bharadwaj says the exhibition depicted the creative pangs of that terrible phase when one has to look for the right names for objects in the wake of the violent gang rape of Nirbhaya or Damini in the glow of meaningful peace.
Recalling the words of German dramatist Bretolt Brecht, In the earthquakes to come, I very much hope – Bharadwaj says: “In Sanjeev’s artistic journey there is always the ray of hope amid violence, anarchy and assaults”.
Commenting on the artist and his art, Seema Bhalla, another art historian, observed: “Through his work Sanjeev Sinha seems to be asking himself, what is he? Is he a mere spectator or a participant? Or is he optimistic or pessimistic? He keeps pondering on many sensitive questions and asking himself “Am I…?” It is difficult to remain unaffected after watching his works as they force one to think”.
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