Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Laxman Shreshtha's engaging art and life journey

Elaborating on his art practice, philosophy and processes, has ocne stated: "Painting for me is immediate, instantaneous, with neither beginning nor an end. It does not exist in time, but is continuous," adding his work in essence conveys something deeper and more fundamental after standing transfixed before it, coming across as a reflection of his sensitive mind. It’s this ability to connect and reach out to the viewer that makes one his paintings with his paintings.

His astute abstract works of art are both meditative and sensuous in their subtle shifts and deft balances of color. In them, one can notice a movement to spiritual peace and inner harmony from conflict and outer chaos. His canvases exude an energizing intermingling of vivid hues such as browns, oranges, blues, yellows and reds that capture and resonate with a wide array of human passions and expressions – brooding or cheerful.

Though abstract, they inhibit an apparent sense of intrigue, which encourages the viewer, and at times the artist himself, as he has revealed, to understand the various shades of meaning hidden in them. The celebrated artist’s oeuvre is intricately bound with the happenings in his life. It takes a cue from intense intellectual and emotional churning he has underwent over time, coming across as a reflection of his sensitive mind.

Renowned collectors such as Ratan Tata, the Godrejs, Harsh Goenka, Jehangir Nicholson, Stephen McCormick and Kumar Mangalam Birla have his works in their portfolios. Ratan Tata had even painted a work with Laxman Shreshta at a charity event in 2006. Believing what one recognizes inevitably manifests what lies within one, he invariably seeks to create a visual idiom ‘of and for himself’.

The idea has been to understand his life, which he equates with a tapasya (enormous suffering in quest of truth) that deeply surfaces in his paintings, ultimately a reconciliation to something more meaningful, creatively beautiful and brilliant.

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