The Art Heritage July 2018 Group Show had an array of works but it was the ceramic sculptures by the veteran Bengaluru dweller G Reghu and two bronzes by the brilliant Arun Pandit that held one’s gaze because of their earthy flavours and beguiling simplicity, says Uma Nair
The less than 10-odd sculptural ceramic pieces by G Reghu reflect amply his felicity to exploit the mystery and magic of the ceramic medium. His work has a certain finesse in figurative works that carry within them a humble façade of innocence, simplicity and rustic resonance. An alumnus of the College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram, where he completed BFA (Sculpture), Reghu in his childhood was nurtured by the famous architect laurie Baker and his wife Elizabeth Jacob. After that he honed his skills at Roopankar, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, in the late 1980s.
These ceramic pieces displayed at Art Heritage July 2018 Group Show have childlike features and expressions with a sombre yet elegant articulation. We could think of the reality of the everyday idiom, of both humour as well as satire, while some have a restrained theatricality.
Critic and curator Kristine Michael had written in a note once, “G. Reghu’s work exploits the essential character of clay — the organic earthbound quality of malleability, a soft and seamless form with archaic resonance of prehistoric civilisations. Giving a contemporary sensibility to human history, his whimsical anthropomorphic figures with highly imaginative characteristics, are often dressed in everyday clothing, making them appear as strange beings belonging to another time, and yet to the present.”
Over the last 18 years, the Killimanoor-born sculptor has featured in several solo and group shows at Mumbai, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore. His works have also been exhibited in Kassel, Germany (1991, 1992) and at the International Biennale, Cairo, Egypt (2000).
The second set of sculptures that stun are two bronzes by the pathos filled creator of the Garuda at Tirupati Airport — the deeply passionate Arun Pandit. Both bronzes which present a couple sitting on a small bench, are a typical instance, where the blend of size, structure and configuration catch the eye. Pandit creates his figures within their mould and that is what sets him apart in terms of composition.The two figures reading a newspaper and sharing the woes of the world are modelled with a deep insignia of both vigour and sensitivity. Even though executed in small format, they are delightful in terms of balance of form and execution created by human hands. While the male reads the newspaper, the woman has her head bowed down. Expressionistic angst is mirrored in silence.
In the second work, Family, the two figures sitting with the child between them are enigmatic and engaging. Their heads and bodies evoke a feeling of gentle and lyrical improvisation.While viewing his works, one is struck by Pandit's proficiency in careful delineation and neatness of compositional structure be it the heads the feet or stretch of the neck or the seated gracefulness and poise on the wooden little benches.
During his early years Pandit did not have money to buy bronze for casting. His association with bronze began in 1993 when he made an Ashoka Pillar for a commissioned work in Bihar. After that he got many commissioned works in the state like lok Kavi Bikhari Thakur and Gaj Graha which were done in fibre glass. He used this money to finish his Masters in Delhi College of Arts in 1997.
“Very few artists are working in bronze today because it is expensive and patrons are few,” says Pandi and goes on to add, “A major problem in sculpture today is that when projects come, there is not enough money to pay for the casting of bronze which is why so many projects are done in fibre glass. Then sculptors don’t have space to create. As a sculptor I was given a place in Garhi in 2006. I didn’t have money in those years so I started working in fibre glass. It was only in 2006 that I started working in bronze again. It is expensive as a medium and I try to do work on it when I get little bit of money. Whatever I create for myself is always in bronze. Bronze is a historical material and its maintenance is minimal and has a very long life.” Pandit who was junior to Subodh Gupta at Bihar College of Art, has just finished creating two engaging public works in bronze for Bihar — Samrat Ashoka and an Ashoka Pillar. He has just been awarded the Senior Fellowship Award by the Ministry of Culture.