Manu Parikh believes that his paintings express his thought process. By Mansi Bhansali
It takes an unimaginable amount of time to become a perfectionist in any art form, especially in painting. The process starts from simply doodling or sketching on board. This is followed by miniature paintings with acrylic or water colour. After years of practice and experience one is able to convert an idea into hues of colour which complement each other and showcase what is currently known as abstract art. This 25-year journey of acclaimed painter Manu Parikh can be seen at a retrospective of his paintings which has been put up at the National Gallery of Modern Art. The exhibition will be on display till September 24.
Known for his paintings dedicated to the city of lights, Banaras, Parikh’s recent exhibition gave his fans the chance to see a few paintings from each of his series, beginning from the sixties. He said, “The paintings have been selected with an aim to maintain the continuity with respect to the period of my work. I would see this exhibition as selective rather than retrospective. I love Calcutta and Banaras because these cities hold organic art, have faith and peace as well as human beings who are full of life.” He decided to showcase his work as a platform to encourage young artists.
No matter what the year is and how the work is, he is open to both appreciation and criticism. Series like Image in the dark (2002), Shiva (1971), landscape of Shiva (1970), Image of Calcutta (1968), Enlightened stone (2015), Stone for prayer (2015), Movement of spirit (1999), The fight (1995), Graffiti of violence (1995), Banaras in black (2009), Chant (2003) and many more are up on display. The paintings involve the usage of pen, pencil, charcoal, rice paper, cloth, cement, acrylic and water colour. Parikh still loves to see the works that he created in the 60s.
The artistic imagery was clearly meant to deliver a deep message using vivid colours and prominent lines where black was the dominant colour. For Parikh the focus is always on contradictions and combinations rather on any particular subject or genre. This is what led Parikh to Banaras for his paintings. He said, “The city is made up of two lights — man-made in the form of lights inside the temple and God-made in the form of sunlight or moonlight. I wanted to bring out the rhythm between these two lights.”
After working in villages for years, his philosophy as an artist underwent a change. He realised that faith is an integral part of any painting due to these visits to the rural belts of the country. “The painting must have an element of worship and spirituality. I believe in universal humanism because amidst numerous difficulties a human being celebrates every moment of his life. The Indian art scene inspires me a lot to paint ranging from younger artist to Husain sahab.” Through his modern works, he wants to bring about a piece of faith.
Among the paintings of numerous sizes, a section was devoted to his work from the sixties. It includes The Saluting Man (1963), The Family (1962), Sadhu (1962), Old Man (1963), The Guru (1962), Figure in landscape (1962), landscape in red and in green (1971), Portrait of Sardaarji (1963) and the like. These figures were in water colour and ink.
Parikh follows the current trend of graffiti and always keeps searching for it around religious places. Talking about the changes happening in landscapes, he said, “Previously, there existed a dark landscape while now it is full of life. Festivals of every religion also add to this celebration.”
He believes not just a painter but a painting too contributes to its own formation. Parikh added, “It’s not only the responsibility of the painter to paint a painting. This is a two-way process.” His paintings provoke viewers to take notice of the world around them through the emotion of pain and anguish expressed by the subjects of his paintings.
With the invention of modern art the room for interpretations has been opened to a larger extent. To make sure that the audience seeks the correct meaning from of the painting, they need to train themselves. Parikh said, “The painters alone cannot do the work. Painting is an applied art. We do not make it by keeping audiences in our mind.”