Where colours question the soul and bronze breathes silence, a journey into the unseen self, says SAKSHI PRIYA
There’s something meditative about standing in front of art that speaks in silences, contradictions, and layered whispers. Atmanaveshana, an evocative exhibition of paintings and sculptures, felt like that quiet conversation one has not with the world but with the self. The name, which translates to “Self-Exploration,” was a fitting threshold to step through. The show brought together the emotionally resonant abstract works of Dr Amrit Kapoor and the contemplative bronzes of sculptor Suresh Kumar.
Walking into the gallery, the immediate impression was not of looking at art but of being looked at. Visitors stood stilled, some in front of colour-drenched canvases, others surrounding bronzed bulls, pointing gently and absorbing slowly. One older couple stood arm in arm before a painting from the Dichotomy series, exchanging glances, visibly moved. A young artist scribbled something into a sketchpad in front of a sculpture titled Third Face.
Kapoor’s works require time. They yield meaning gradually. The word “harmony” is often associated with music, but in these works, it takes on a visual cadence. In contrast, Dichotomy offers more tension. Here, Kapoor explores the conflict between heart and mind, a philosophical premise that unfolds through dissonant brushwork and disrupted symmetry. Lines clash, colours argue. One canvas in particular had deep strokes of crimson colliding with pale turquoise, a metaphor perhaps for emotional entanglement. There is discomfort in some of the works, but not despair, an honest admission that the self is not always at peace with itself.
Her final collection, Utopian World, turns outward, imagining a space where soul, morality, and happiness find equilibrium. These paintings are lighter, less conflicted, but still thoughtful, like the pause after a long conversation, when all that remains is reflection. Across the room, Suresh Kumar’s bronzes provided an earthier gravity. Kumar’s sculptures feel grounded, tactile, and elemental. His trilogy of bulls, each cast in bronze, yet distinct in patina and energy, dominated the central floor space. Though static, there was nothing still about them. The posture, curvature and surface texture of each sculpture conveyed a subtle motion, as if these beasts, emblematic of strength and resilience, had paused momentarily before resuming their journey.
In Indian culture, the bull holds layered meaning, symbolising both raw power and deep spiritual rootedness. Kumar’s series embraces that duality. The largest bull had a matte, weathered texture, like it had emerged from centuries of earth. The smallest gleamed with a smoother surface, youthful yet stoic. His piece Life of Nature echoed the same sentiment, Then came Third Face, a human visage sculpted in bronze, deeply meditative. Its expression was not mournful, but contemplative. This exhibition felt like the rare quiet room where one could hear their own thoughts.