Catalogue Essay
By Ranjan Kaul
Given below is the Catalogue Essay written for the group art exhibition, Transcendent Continuum . . . , presented by the Visual Arts Group, Anātman, held at Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, between 13 and 17 November 2024.
The exhibition by a group of six accomplished artists – Vandana Bist, Kunal Batra, Shabir Hussain Santosh, Suresh Kumar Achari, Sudhir Bhagat, and Trilochan Anand comprising the newly formed Delhi-based, Visual Arts Group Anātman – is an eclectic and evocative mix of paintings. The artists in the group have evolved a distinctive style and visual idiom all their own over long years of practice.
The works of each artist in the show bear the stamp of individuality, reflecting a profound meditative interiority. Their expressive and at times surrealist works, imbued with mythology and symbolism, offer viewers an insight into their imaginings in their transcendental journey of aesthetic exploration. The works range from abstract figuratives, fluidic biomorphic forms and primeval symbols, to individualized whimsical landscapes and mountain imageries. There is poetry and intrigue, mysticism and mystery in the play of lyrical forms, conjured-up shapes and colour dynamics in the compositions.
Vandana Bist’s visceral and charming abstract landscapes in watercolour are painted with a ‘no-holds barred’ gay abandon even as she gently manipulates the medium to express herself. While the works give the feeling that she is not exercising overt control, there is purposeful design in her brushwork. What is most difficult about painting watercolours is to know when to hold back the brush – she knows this well, which allows her to use the negative white spaces to stunning effect. For many years she worked as an illustrator and a fiction writer; in her watercolour art, too, she tells stories.
Fire and Ice by Vandana Bist, Watercolour, 14 inches x 21 inches, 2024
Vandana’s work Fire and Ice 2 – a part of a small series of abstract landscapes – is a mix of spontaneity, intent and accident as she nudges the warm and cool colours to flow and mingle to create her composition. The translucent warm reds of the setting sun are set against the coldness of the late evening sky, while the reflections of the white snow are visible in the icy cold waters of the lake below.
Through deconstructed and reimagined landscapes in his Himalayan series, Kunal Batra invites viewers to join him on a meditative journey to India’s western Himalayas, nudging them towards the elusive spiritual aura of the mountains. The series emerged from the artist’s extensive travels across the higher reaches of the Himalayas over the last three decades. Rendered using a soft watercolour palette, the works are a personalized interpretation of the mountainous topography; each work is a meditation in solitude, bereft of living beings. There is a mellifluous and magical quality to the works, echoing the softness of snow, the gush of meandering mountain streams, the silence of majestic mountains.
Stakna monastery by Kunal Batra, watercolour, 30 inches x 22 inches, 2024
The watercolour work on paper, Stakna Monastery, Ladakh, is Kunal’s emotive representation of the monastery, a common site for all visiting Ladakh. Perched above the river Indus and guarding the gateways to the region, it shows the spiritual path to heaven. Under the timeless glow of the starlit sky, the river Stakna (Tiger in Ladakhi), the quintessence of eternal wisdom, sits over the river Sindhu (better known as Indus – Lion).
In Shabir Hussain Santosh’s eloquent and nuanced paintings abstracted figurative forms are suspended in space in an ambience of an unfathomable sentience. Appropriating and adapting imageries of living beings and from mythology and nature, the floating figures seem to be in perpetual motion, evoking a sense of rootlessness and geographical and cultural displacement. There is an enigmatic and timeless quality in the artist’s visual language that at first conceals more than it reveals. But as we examine the works more closely, we find hidden layers of meaning as the juxtaposed forms in space reveal themselves.
Existence by Shabir Hussain Santosh, Acrylic, 36 inches x 48 inches, 2019
His painting titled Existence is a balanced and serene composition of abstracted representations of humans and other living beings, set in a surreal, harmonious setting. He uses textural variations and a consciously controlled palette of warm hues, deep blues and a hint of shadowy greens to portray the human form and its spirit. Through the engaging work Shabir conveys the need to rethink relationships among living beings in a way that all can live peacefully in a spirit of coexistence and mutual respect for survival.
Using fluidic, sharply delineated forms, mythical symbolism and a bold and vibrant colour palette, Sudhir Bhagat creates magical futurist worlds. Manifested in his paintings are a deep concern for a rapidly vanishing natural ecosystem, where owing to climate change and urban expansion numerous plants and animal species are at the brink of extinction.
Shrinking Spaces by Sudhir Bhagat, Oil, 42 inches x 42 inches, 2024
His oil painting on canvas, Shrinking Spaces, is a reminder of the urgent need to protect planet earth. The central figure, wearing a beatific smile, sits daydreaming in an idyllic setting of ducks, flora and fauna, and a butterfly, and in one corner, fish, a rowing boat, palm trees. There is a magical quality about the work with its flowing forms painted with an atypical palette of magentas, blues, browns, and burnt orange. The work sends out a message of hope – a time will come when there is universal realization of the need to protect biodiversity and earth’s natural resources so that the planet an become a vibrant home for all living beings.
Suresh Kumar Achari uses indigenous forms and motifs referencing humans, nature, the animal world, and mythology to create captivating autochthonous narratives that are deeply philosophical in nature. Titled Shakti, his watercolour painting on paper is a remarkably individualized depiction of the manifestation of “ShivaShakti”. Using translucent and muted tonalities, the solid, fluidic greys and blues of the two central figures are offset against the backdrop of the textured, multicoloured multiverse. The work speaks of the inseparable nature of Shiva and Shakti that makes up the macrocosm and microcosm of the universe. In the work the all-powerful Shakti takes centre-stage, radiating feminine divine energy, whereas Shiva, portrayed in profile, depicts the masculine consciousness.
Shivashakti by Suresh Kumar, Watercolour, 18 inches x 24 inches, 2020
The interdependence of living beings and their vulnerabilities is the leitmotif of Trilochan Anand’s thought-provoking series “The Shared Breath”, in which the artist depicts a surreal world of synergistic interconnections between living beings and the flora and fauna. Painted in dreamlike and mystical hues, the biomorphic forms co-joined with umbilical-cord-like stems, as it were, create a vision of ‘shared breath’, where each living being’s breath is dependent on the other. The works speak about the laws of nature and the actuality of interdependency – that all living organisms share a common genetic pool.
Shared Breath (Sea Horse) by Trilochan, Oil, 42 inches x 42 inches, 2024
In Trilochan’s Shared Breath the seahorse is symbolic of life in the oceans and seas, an ecosystem that shares breath with life and the ecosystem above the waters. The artist uses the delicate pink colour to symbolize the vulnerability of all living beings. His message is clear – life on earth has become vulnerable. Vulnerability is not just about wildlife and forests but about cities and the very existence of the human race.
What is remarkable about this exhibition is that while each of the six artists have highly individualistic styles and use vastly differing treatments, there is yet an uncanny connectivity in their enchanting works that stems from their shared perceptions and values – it is this indeed that has brought them together under the umbrella of Anātman. Even as they find ways to explore, the artists have a sincerity of intent with each of them having a story to tell or a message to convey. Given that the exhibition has contemporary relevance and is stylistically innovative, the exhibition will find resonance with both art aficionados and lay viewers, who will find themselves on an emotional journey into the realm of a magical unknown.
About the Artists
Vandana Bist is an artist, illustrator, and fiction writer. A graduate from the College of Art, Delhi, she does abstract drawings and landscapes in pen and ink and watercolour. She is also a proficient fiction writer and has won many awards for her writing and illustration work.
Kunal Batra is a self-taught artist and studied philosophy at St Stephen’s College, Delhi. He has been pursuing art full time since 2011 after a successful corporate career. His work is distinguished by his unique meditative reinterpretation of the Himalayas in soft watercolour tonalities.
Shabir Hussain Santosh is a painter and photographer. He completed his BFA in painting from the College of Art, Delhi. His paintings feature abstract figuratives borrowed from mythology juxtaposed in era and space. He is a recipient of numerous awards, recognitions, and scholarships in painting.
Sudhir Bhagat is a Delhi-based artist with a BFA from the College of Art, Delhi. He paints refreshing, abstracted figures imbued with mythic symbolism and biodiversity themes. His works have made 50 appearances in auctions. Besides his art, he had a successful career in design and creative direction.
Suresh Kumar Achari is a visual artist who creates autochthonous narratives using motifs and ethnic themes. He completed his BFA from the College of Art, Delhi. Currently enrolled as a panel artist in the Department of Posts and Ayush Ministry, GOI, he earlier worked as an illustrator and designer.
Trilochan Anand is a Delhi-based artist who graduated from the College of Art, Delhi. His works express ecological concerns and the interdependence of living beings. He has also done light installations, films, and photography and had a successful career in advertising as a creative director and designer.
About Anātman
The Visual Arts Group, Anatman, is a coming together of artists residing primarily in Delhi. What binds them together are their shared values and perceptions, a profound interiority and a passion for aesthetic exploration through meaningful art.
(All images are courtesy of the respective artists.)
Ranjan Kaul is a visual artist, art writer and critic, curator, author and Founding Partner of artamour. His works may viewed on www.ranjankaul.com and his insta handle @ranjan_creates.
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