Sudhir Patwardhan is unflinching in his portrayal of a life in change, says Aseem Bhargav

Few painters can  possibly claim and possess a talent so apparent that they can capture life and its challenges with instinctive ability. Sudhir Patwardhan can bring to his oeuvre a quality that makes him stand out and capture life and its challenges with a surgical eye.

The brush, palette, scalpel and what have you come together to question, mull over, mediate and comment upon themes like loneliness, despondency  and old age in a fast-changing country, where living life is the biggest challenge often.  Ruminative, possibly even melancholic, the works are, however, tinged somewhere with a sliver of hope to be able to cast off the inertia and take life on.

You won’t be wrong, if as the viewer you wonder if there is a way out. So we get to see Sunshine tinged with resignation, smiles that seem to come at a cost. In Passage, the characters are waiting for something that may never come or never be realised. Perhaps Godot’s friends would empathise. You tend to ask questions with Inner Room, Erase and Home. In the end, it is all about grappling with what may be chimeric in its intent and execution.

The unwavering gaze at the self, which is reflected in works like Self Portraits with the camera, mirror and brush, is unflinching in portrayal and motive. 

The introduction, or opening note by Girish Shahane titled Spectres, seems to suggest what looks like a situation or even conundrum most of the subjects find themselves in. However, it’s not about things being unpleasant or even dangerous, but about being brave enough to come to terms with our personal ghosts, issues and even demons, which we often willingly or unwillingly surround ourselves with.

Particularly arresting and even somewhat pensive is An Odd Couple, in which an aged couple shares the same bed but their postures are drawn away from each other, again as though having to come to terms with the reality of living a shared life, yet disparate.

Work after work, including one titled Scatter, presents us with an old man and his plight of having either dropped or picking up objects that lie scattered across the floor. It’s a simple act which in itself immediately tells the viewer that nobody else will come to help him. This is an urban thread of loneliness, which is prevalent in metros, big cities and even old towns like Pune, where Patwardhan grew up and which, the artist says, have witnessed rapid change. How personal this seems to viewers in galleries in megapolises like Mumbai or Delhi, is up for discussion. The rapid urbanisation of these once gentler places has changed realities beyond recognition. 

A decaying city trying to keep pace with new changes is reflected in Another day in the Old City, where traditions are still held sacred and a slower, easier way of living still exists. How long can the two India's continue to co-exist and still find common ground may be a question that we know will come up and people will struggle to find answers for.

Patwardhan’s People series is one which imbues a sense of relief, as here he brings to us everyday people, who are real, have dichotomies and dilemmas like anyone else and yet know that to move ahead,  may be striving is the only way to be. I was reminded of the influence of Bhupen Khakhar, with his gently satirical and tad amused gaze; veiled, yet there.