‘…Through the Radiance’ – A Light of Creative Brilliance by Amol Palekar!

Veteran Actor-Director Amol Palekar’s brand new exhibition of abstract paintings ‘…through the radiance’ opened at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai on Tuesday 14^th November. The series presented in the show is of paintings made by the artist during the pandemic lockdown period. Through this show, Amol Palekar makes some bold statements and busts some myths about abstract art, while he urges the average art lover to experience these paintings with an open mind.

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What does a man do when near 80? Enjoy a retired life? Worry about health issues? Indulge in nostalgia? Grapple with technology? Be a grumpy old man who hates everything about Gen Z? Well yes, if you are an average person. And a big No if you are an avid artist and a creator at heart.

One such creative genius is Amol Palekar!

I had the privilege of attending the preview of the brand new exhibition by Amol Palekar titled ‘…through the radiance’ at Jehangir Art gallery on this Tuesday of 14^th November. Though it is my regular practice to visit Jehangir on Tuesdays for the weekly update of new exhibitions, this show is very special, for more than one reasons. Firstly, the genre of art being exhibited is abstract expressionism, which is somehow a rarely available treat for abstract art lovers in India. Secondly, these paintings are created by an artist whom an average Indian knows as an actor and director, while fewer people would know that he is a trained Fine Artist from the prestigious Sir J J School of Art. Thirdly and perhaps most importantly, through these paintings the artist compels the average art lover to re-visit the inner visual language that most of us have almost forgotten.

As the Tuesday evening dawned at the Jehangir Art Gallery, invitees began walking in with cheerful anticipation. The simple yet beautifully organized opening ceremony was hosted and conducted by Writer – Director Sandhya Gokhale – Amol Palekar’s wife. It was pleasantly accompanied by a crisp musical presentation by ‘Konkan Kanya’ – a youthful musical band. They presented a lovely medley of evergreen songs from Amol Palekar’s films which everyone loves.

As the show opened up, it was a gleeful atmosphere where invitees kept coming in, greeting the artist and enjoying the paintings. The preview was attended by who’s who of the art world – Artists Prabhakar Kolte, Atul Dodiya, Dilip Ranade, Nitin Dadarawala, Actor – Director Ashutosh Gowarikar, Senior journalists – Kumar Ketkar, Ravish Kumar and several alumni of J J School of Art and friends of Amol Palekar such as Satish Naik – Chief Editor of Chinha Art News were seen greeting the artist.

In this show aptly titled ‘…through the radiance’, Amol Palekar is presenting his creations on canvas made during the pandemic lockdown. Majority of the canvases used are black, resonating with the mental frame during that dark period, while the colourful strokes give out the radiance of bright creative energy, giving out a powerful message to overcome the gloomy fog of grief and embrace the new future.

Apart from the two dimensional canvas and canvas boards, the artist has experimented with another idea which brings out the colourful radiance into a three dimensional format. Traditionally known as ‘Kavad’, it is a wooden structure akin to a cupboard with two doors. Every surface of it is painted over and together all those painted surfaces can be folded or unfolded into numerous three dimensional formations that generate endless possibilities of vivid visual experiences. Sandhya Gokhale beautifully captures this experience in her curatorial note as ‘One can experience seeing thoughts pass by through the hidden surfaces.’

Through this show, Amol Palekar makes a few bold statements and busts a few myths, that need attention of majority of art lovers.

Firstly, he emphasizes that one needs to ‘Experience’ abstract art with an open mind, without forcing oneself to ‘Understand’ or ‘Analyze’ it.

Further, that one is able to experience a painting as a visual experience even if one does not know the technicalities of painting it. This itself is proof enough that the visual language is deep rooted in our mind, though we are accustomed to use the verbal language in regular practice.

The myths like ‘Abstract art is something of a mere meaningless mess of colours that even a child can make’ or ‘Anyone can do this’ or ‘I don’t understand it’ get busted when one starts experiencing such works without forcing oneself to quickly find a tangible meaning or purpose.

Palekar believes that the artistic pursuit is not merely a self-absorbing activity but the one which may also contribute towards alleviation of societal ills. Putting this strong belief into practice, the artist has pledged some of the paintings from this show for two noble causes – For treatment of underprivileged elderly patients for neurological ailments and for facilitating education of children of Covid widows.

This is a rare opportunity for art lovers to go ‘…through the radiance’ and get their myths busted. It is on till Monday 20^th November at Jehangir Art Gallery.

Paintings of the past series are available for viewing and purchase on

https://amolpalekar.com/artist.php

I personally hope that this visual experience would help change a few minds to think of abstract expressionism as a sincere art movement and encourage them to have an open mind about abstract art in a broader sense.

Vineel Bhurke