Artistic concerns of Riaz Samadhan

He is a sensitive artist who highlights his concerns over the culture of excesses. Riaz Samadhan moans the fact that blatant profit seeking witnessed in the marketplace is influencing the mindset commodity hungry customers and reengineering their emotional behavior beyond recognition.

This causes a state of a partial psychological amnesia, as he elaborates, “Man has lost his identity. Presentation and panache are now more vital than the soul. Presentation is the mantra - project something you’re not, be somebody that is not the true ‘you’. The market has entered the households. We state our worth, flaunting price tags, even in our personal lives. Even luxury has turned into a need – one that breeds miseries.

For example, his ‘House with a window display’ (oil on canvas; 2009) portrays a point when the market invades a household. Behavioral patterns of these two separate worlds distinctively differ. Depicted juxtaposition of elements from two separate worlds, an expensive dress and a humble clothesline represents peripheral visual chaos of the new market society, where house windows are on display.

Another work that amplifies his fears, ‘Living in pieces, looking for peace’ (oil on canvas; 2008) depicts the incapacity of today’s man to see his self inventive fragmented existence. The depiction of hands in different gestures suggests disharmony and chaos within. Spilt face points to a myopic celebration at the cost of his existence. Camouflaged social ladder emerges as the prominent catalyst of the modern times, where incessant desire fuels up every move to secure a higher place on it.

“Saving money is common sense, losing the innocence and purity of life is not. Commercializing of emotion is something we support covertly, yet whole heartedly, because it provides us masks, gives us the illusion of at least being somebody, behind whom we can hide ourselves. Now what is our true face is a matter of investigation. It is almost impossible to make out that deep down our own emotional patterns are corrupted by marketing,” Riaz Samadhan quips.

An artist who introspects and analyzes the contemporary society

The common thread that binds Riaz Samadhan’s oeuvre is an intense introspection of the contemporary society, life and the people around. His works essentially examines the mindless greed of multiple desires and the culture of excesses, reflecting in the ruin of things and offering the image of petrified unrest. The confinement of the soul at hands of the consumerist forces withholding the real self’s identity and potency, unnerves him.

The manner in which these sheer material needs are met is made inconsequential, even corrupting the soul to achieve luxury and power. Basic human values and bonds are often forgotten in this quest. The artist quips: “If one looks at one’s true self in the mirror, one might say hello - to a complete stranger. Self hypnotized, we cannot identify with ourselves! Everybody - the millions of this self hypnotized humanity - is searching for a master key, as if (real) life exists beyond locked doors.”

Born in Maharashtra in 1969, he completed his degree (Fine Arts) from Sir JJ Institute of Applied Art, Mumbai (1992). Among his recent selected solo exhibitions are 'Self Alienation: Celebration of Myopia II' courtesy Art Heritage in New Delhi (2009); ‘Impact of Commercialization on Emotional Life’, The Osmosis Gallery, Mumbai (2007).

His thought-provoking work has been featured at several group exhibitions, such as 'Who Has Seen Gandhi?' courtesy Tangerine Art Space, Bangalore (2010); 'Peripheries of the Whereabouts', Tangerine (2009), ‘See You Again’, Osmosis and Cymroza Gallery, Mumbai (2008); ‘Thought And Being’, Osmosis; a show at AIFACS, Delhi; ‘Young Faces In Indian Contemporary Art’, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata (all in 2007), apart from featuring at Art Expo India, Mumbai (2008), and Harmony Show in 2007.

His work also formed part of a significant show, entitled 'New Perspectives of India', at Avanthay Contemporary, Zurich (2009). He has won several awards including the Bombay Art Society Award in (2001-02), the Maharashtra State Award (1987, 1992), and Outstanding Work Award, Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art, in 1992.

Questioning the materialistic quest

Artist Riaz Samadhan articulates a sense of self alienation caused by the increased desire of consumption. The world has been transformed into a marketplace and the prevalent culture of excess has created excessive options through our apparent freedom to choose. The race is on for more. Run be the first: but where we’re heading, he asks: “Are we running away from ourselves? Are we running towards a standstill?

Perceived reality invariably has another hidden layer to it, often unfathomable, which fills the artist’s mind with countless queries. It arouses curiosity and a sense of wonder in Riaz Samadhan that his paintings try to unravel. Rearranging of a logical line allows the artist to create his own world and enjoy his artistic freedom. The artist consciously discards his comfort zone and abdicates a conventional line thinking in order to test his technical and perceptional abilities.

Two colliding images give birth to a third entity, entirely unknown, with its own unique properties, to provide a great psychological expanse. To him, the challenge lies in dislocating the elements from their roots by changing their color, appearance, surface and the connotations attached to them. This results in the perceptional tension. This transports him into the uncharted territories, allowing him to rediscover himself.

By not striving to make his paintings visually coherent, he looks to challenge the viewer’s set notions. Explaining his thought process, he states, “I am not particularly keen on selecting the genre for the subject matter. Usually, it’s my (spontaneous) reaction to any particular incident. If creativity imitates life, and if life moves at a tangent, then trying to create a pattern, analogy, evolution or logic is like decoding the cuckoos’ song. To be in the moment is important to me.

In acknowledgment of his immense talent, the artist has won several awards including the Bombay Art Society Award in (2001-02), the Maharashtra State Award (1987, 1992), and Outstanding Work Award, Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art, in 1992.

A recap of 20/21 International Art Fair

The 20/21 International Art Fair just took place at Royal College of Art. Organized by the team behind the hugely successful 20/21 British Art Fair, the fifth edition attracted a record 60 exhibitors, from London and other cities around Britain. The fair has carved out a place for itself in the arts calendar. And the edition proved why…

The offerings were quite wide-ranging, with works by both established and emerging artists from Japan, Russia China and India. Among the pieces on display - from collage to sculpture to paintings to photographs, it was a real feast for art lovers.

Tanya Baxter of London based King’s Road Gallery provided one of the major attractions of the show in form of an untitled painting by the celebrated Indian artist, MF Husain. Priced at £180,000, the six-foot abstract by him depicted figures cavorting in a woodland landscape. It dates from around 1970, the sought-after ‘early’ phase when the artist produced some highly textured works. Another smaller canvas by Husain was offered at £120,000.

The fair featured modern & contemporary art from the UK with a significant number of dealers, specializing in work from China, India, Poland, Serbia, the Ukraine, Japan and Russia. Art from a whole host of other countries was thus on show. An organizer’s note mentioned:

“Recent research has shown that society in the UK is now more cosmopolitan than ever. This diversity is reflected in today's art scene in general, and in the 20|21 International Art Fair, in particular.”

Matisse, Miró, Picasso and Chagall (works on paper) apart from urban art from the States was on view. British 20th century favorites like Henry Moore, Mary Fedden, David Hockney et al, were presented along with many emerging artists whose work was there to be discovered and savored. Oils, original prints, watercolors, drawings apart from photography, ceramics and sculpture were included, ranging right from 1900 to the present day.

A spotlight on the 'Picasso of India'

London based King’s Road Gallery provided one of the major attractions of the just concluded 20/21 International Art Fair in London in form of a work ( ‘Untitled’, 1970, oil on canvas. 90 x 180 cms) by the celebrated Indian artist, MF Husain. He is among India's most sought after living legends. This is a note from the Kings Road Gallery on the artist:

Muqbool Fida Husain, born in 1915, is known not only for his great body of figurative art, but also for his ground-breaking films. He is represented in many international museums and collections and is still painting in various studios across the world.

This self-taught artist reached Mumbai in 1937 determined to become an artist, with hardly any money. Initially he apprenticed himself to a painter of cinema hoardings he would paint with great dexterity perched on scaffolding sometimes in the middle of traffic. Husain was noticed for the first time in 1947 when he won an award at the annual exhibition of the Bombay Art Society.

Subsequently he was invited by Souza to join the Progressive Artist's Group. A great deal of experimentation in the early years led to some remarkable works, example include ‘Between The Spider And The Lamp’ among others. By 1955 he was one of the leading artists in India. He was a special invitee along with Pablo Picasso at the Sao Paulo Biennial in 1971, and along with several solo exhibitions he also had major retrospectives in Mumbai in 1969, in Kolkata in 1973 and in Delhi in 1978.

In 1967 he won the Golden Bear at the International Film Festival at Berlin for his documentary 'Through the Eyes of a Painter' and has made several short films since then. Husain was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1973, the Padma Vibhushan in 1989 and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1986.

The early evolution of his painterly language was overtaken by adventurous forays into installations and performance art; his experimentation with new forms of art are both unexpected and pioneering. One of the most charismatic artists in India today, he is known for his emphatic understanding of the human situation and his sensitive depiction in paint.

The union budget removes bottlenecks in importing art and heritage objects

Presenting the budget, the Union Finance Minister said: 'In recent years, many organizations have joined the cause of promoting and also popularizing traditional as well as contemporary art. And some of them have been quite active in locating heritage works of Indian origin in foreign countries (and bringing them back home.)”

To encourage such initiatives, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee has proposed to expand the scope of the exemption for artworks, as we have already pointed out. It will also apply to imports for exhibition or display in private art venues or similar premises open to the general public. Many art market players think that among the hindrances in the internationalization of art in the country is the customs/ import duty on different objects of art. If there is a positive shift in reality, it certainly will facilitate a more dynamic artistic exchange with the rest of the world. A step has already been taken in this direction…

Thus far, a major bottleneck in importing art and heritage objects of value to India had been the 'poor cost viability largely caused by high customs duties'. In this context, the proposed easing of customs levies is taking place just at the right time when the country is getting ready and economically efficient to appreciate art.

For private promoters and art exhibitors working on scarce resources, the cost incurred in bringing works located abroad made such ventures commercially unviable. Considering this fact, the FM has made a good move not only for helping private promoters, but also for preserving India’s rich artistic heritage.

In effect, the several procedural difficulties encountered in importing national heritage art from abroad will now be removed. It will also help display quality foreign art in India. For example, several of Rabindranath Tagore's works are located abroad. It will be easier to acquire some of his artworks and carry them back to India for a major exhibit by a private art gallery.

Indian government keen to encourage new museums and galleries

The government of India is going to institute a major international award in memory of the legendary poet-painter and Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore. The master’s 150th birth anniversary falls on May 7 this year.

Keeping in mind the grand occasion, the Union Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, made an announcement, while presenting the budget on February 28. The award will carry a purse of Rs.1 crore. It will be awarded for an individual making exemplary contribution to promotion and harnessing of peace, brotherhood, amity and cultural harmony across the world.

The finance minister is also a member of the high-level committee that has been constituted to celebrate Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary. It oversees and monitors the various initiatives planned to perpetuate his legacy. According to Mr. Mukherjee, the celebration of the literary icon’s achievements will be a joint exercise between India and Bangladesh under the aegis of the India-Bangladesh Celebrations Committee.

Meanwhile, art and cultural circles vigorously thumped their desks in appreciation of the Finance Minister’s announcement to exempt duty on imports of art and antiquities for exhibit and display purpose in India. We’ve already covered the significant development in great detail, in our earlier posts.

Jawahar Sircar, the Union Culture secretary, was mentioned as saying that works brought back from overseas would remain in the country for permanent display. "The Culture Minister, Kumari Selja, and myself welcome the liberalization of the provision for exemption of artworks & antiquities imported for being exhibited in a public museum or for that matter private museums/galleries open for the general public," he was quoted as saying in the Economic Times. "It’s an extremely proactive step, which the government has taken for encouraging private, corporate as well as public institutions to set up museums and galleries (with this duty exemption)."

The culture minister will soon be notifying the specific details of the proposed scheme for facilitating the return of art and antiques as well as other precious art objects back to India from foreign countries.