Wednesday, March 10, 2010

S. H. Raza’s ruminations on art and life

Veteran artist S. H. Raza, who just celebrated his birthday, turned younger by a year. Revealing his birthday wishes, he said in an interview, “I pray to God for time and health, allowing me to fulfill my ambitions.’

Incidentally, Raza celebrated his birthday in New Delhi with a new exhibit of his work. He described the capital city of India as his favorite destination in the country as it’s accessible to most collectors across the world. For record, the celebrated artist has spent close to six decades in France. He decided to move to France after his marriage to a Frenchwoman. His life partner passed away in 2002. He has been living a lonely life since. Though France remains his favorite country he still comes to India ever year without fail.

He describes the art scene here as ‘very encouraging’. He started a foundation to promote young artists. Reasoning the rise of contemporary Indian art, he told Priyanka Shewakramani of The DNA:
“There used to be a great influence that of European realism on Indian painters. It was not keeping with our rich tradition. We later realized that painting is not something seen merely with our eyes, but that it is a sum total perception of the universe visualized with mind, heart and all human faculties. In Hindi, it’s termed antargyan (knowledge of inner self).”
Raza is in constant touch with the art scene in India as well as New York and Paris. Drawing from his rich reservoir of experience, he concludes that artists like Husain (sadly, no more an Indian), and Ram Kumar are now noticed on the world map. He is happy that Indian contemporary painters are also rising in stature. Akhilesh, Manish Pushkale, Seema Ghuraiya, Sheetal Gatani, and Sujata Bajaj are among his favorite artists. He believes that if there’s truth in the painting, it will expose itself.

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