Artists at Apparao Galleries explore the definition of zero. According to the gallery, shunya is the silence before sound and the zero before numbers. By Uma Nair
Artists, mathematicians, musicians and scientists have explained and worked with shunya (zero) in innumerable ways. In fact, its concept was not just mathematical or scientific, but is deeply rooted in branches of thought, especially metaphysics and cosmology. It also reflects the void before creation and the point of infinity.
The Architectural Digest Design Show 2019, threw up a suite in the Apparao Galleries showcasing its collection — Exploring the Shunya Collection. According to Sharan Apparao, founder of Apparao Galleries, “The works of art in this range will explore the definition of shunya. According to the gallery, shunya is the silence before sound and the zero before numbers.”
Bala’s Uncanny Alchemy
Artist Bala’s installation of six hands is evocative and deeply ephemeral because of the emotive echoes it throws up. Bala is known for his felicity with acrylic and other media. He creates an uncanny alchemy with various forms of media to give us human hands that transcend physical elements, even as they emote the events that surround us. Working across a range of media and materials, he has in the past focussed on the notions of what is visible and tangible—bringing the geological and elemental to human-scale. The six hands render invisible processes into delicate sculptural forms.
Dhasan’s moorings
Dhasan, the show stopper gives us multiple renderings and moorings with mixed media that celebrate the power and manifestation of forms. For example, Dhasan uses design as an allegory to create concentric as well as circular and elliptical arrangements. As you study the elements, you find that there is a cohesive condensing, a slow exchange between the atmosphere and the evanescent yet indicate mood of creating islands of thought around it.
Sohan Qadri’s minimalist rendition
Perhaps, most notably is one of India’s greatest abstract master Sohan Qadri’s watercolour on paper. It is a minimalist rendition of transient, fleeting and resonant in search for the absolute. Qadri’s work talk about the infinite planes and tactile patterns that can flirt with our idea of shunya. He exemplifies many realms of Shunya, which is not merely the transition point between opposites, but also symbolises the balance between divergent nuances and nitty gritties.
Raza’s Awakening
Dulcet and ethereal is Sayed Haider Raza’s awakening. His work defines design in all its myriad permutations and his idea of unity was not restricted to cultures alone. In his work, Raza expanded the idea of the universe and the being, and the quest for enlightenment between individual bodies which is found in the unity of souls. Awakening also exemplifies the gift of peace. The work speaks about the layers of Shunya, how poetry and mathematics exist side by side and how we can unearth acoustic ranges and vibrations, sending out ripples of tranquility. Shunya then is about the beauty of energy found in life. Its power can be experienced in the blanket of emptiness that is deceptive. Ultimately, its all about the depth of silence that is within each of us.