ECHO of the Mystical & Unknown | 24th Feb. - 4th March 2022

Juneja Art Gallery organized it's 140th Show 
'ECHO of the Mystical & Unknown' from 24th Feb. - 4th March 2022

Current show at Juneja Art Gallery 'ECHO of the Mystical & Unknown', surveys a body of work that leaves itself incisively open, somewhere between being created and wholly complete. For each of the artists, who create intimate glimpses of uncanny worlds and mindscapes suffused with an atmosphere of the unknown and paranoia , change is an inevitable development. Processes and the possibility of instability, openness, and perpetual transformation underlie the creation and understanding of all the exhibited works. The abysmal depth of their artistic vision is abundantly visible in this show as they created with a great deal of passion, intensity and vigor, with layers upon layers mounted with immense dedication and dexterity. Introspective self is matched by an abandon and courage, it may well have stemmed from a subconscious impulse. After all , you require quite a spiritual effort to effect an exact transformation of the raw life experience into palpable art . 

Today’s artists of the Contemporary World seem to be melancholic modernists who create works that trick the eye and have an added edge of surreal dimensions. These paintings & Graphics may not be muted in color or form, but they are bold and powerful and carry a story to narrate. The textures that they add to each canvas echo the trials and tribulations of observations they all ponder over in the everyday idiom of lifestyles and living. Nature offers them pictorial and aesthetic beauty and inspires them with images and ideas. These artists never loose focus as they glide over their energy forces, deftly using elements of abstraction, distortion and simplification to create an alternative world and life where the physical and mystical co-inhabit. It takes courage and tenacity as artists explore an addictive idiom of continuous stimulation-by-image & correspondence between real-world imperatives & inner-world fantasies: reflecting in some ways the conditions of artistic practices within the broader domain of expressive culture. 

Juneja Art Gallery established in 1994 has been sponsoring exclusive art shows for last 28 years to showcase not only eminent artists works , but has also strongly supported the deserving & emerging young talent of our country , under its brand name Artchill, which is also its online portal. Artchill has so far sponsored 140 art shows . 

ARTISTS:   Shuvaprasanna ,Satish Gujral ,PN Choyal, Jai Zharotia, Jagdish Chander ,Dipika Hazra, Vidyasagar Upadhyay, Anjani Reddy ,VijenderSharma, Shahid Parwez, Dharmendra Rathore, Sanjay Bhattacharya , Anand Panchal, Madan Meena, Meena Baya, Ganga Singh, Deepak Khandelwal, Manoj Ameta, Gourishankar Soni

P.N. CHOYAL : One of the living legends of the Contemporary Art World, and a close Contemporary of the early Indian Modernists of the 1940’s. P.N. Choyal was against any wholesale borrowing from his illustrious forerunners. Unlike the first generation Modernists, he never rejected the essentially lyrical content in the romantic version of the past, nor did he break down the female figure in angry haste and bitterness. A strong & committed artist, his multi-nuanced compositions have the vital rhythm of lived life. Also to create vitality & dynamism in an animate mass is a difficult proposition. This demands not only a good plastic sensibility but in addition the capacity to redo this same sensibility into objective material forms; A very committed painter, His human figures are symbols of pain and agony. His figures are uneasy spectators to the conflicts & strife around them. They are projections of the dehumanized society suffering unbearable dignity and shame. 

Gazing at huge works of Jagdish Chander , we find that it is not normal portraiture, but a method of working out human faces wherein each detail is knit in a pattern, and that pattern overrules the separate details of a face. Apparently, the artist aimed to electrify the whole of his compositions, so that viewers strongly winced; for his work is not designed to be a polite, or pretty one, but the very foundational base of our being : in his work the heart is laid bare, tellingly. A sensory contact with an outer as well as inner mental environment occurs - which the deeper physical, emotional and the rational centers receive and interpret. 

Vijender sharma, who excels in the Art of the figure has spent 2 decades probing for the hidden pulse behind appearances. He was particularly attracted to subjects and thinkers who looked beneath the surface of the modern world – to create corollaries where even a stone wall seems to have a secret life. Painted in over two formats of depth and abstraction the experimental stylization of figural form which he developed  has coalesced into a confident, subtle, yet deeply elegant visual archetype which recurs throughout his works, particularly as he returns from abstraction to figurative portrayals. 

Shahid Parwez’s  sense of humour which arises from the perception & depiction of incongruities of existence rules  his work, yet over all treatment is a subtle blend of an adult's experience & a child like fantasy. Images of tigers and of romanticized couples, reoccur continually in his work, into serigraphs of multiple coloured registrations creating surfaces of incredible richness and extravagance. Shahid in all of his subtleties of wisdom is telling us to view Art through the innocent eyes of the child we once were. His paintings with their multiple surface layerings act in defusing the sometimes explicitly charged renditions of flirtations as in ‘time for love’ with the obvious placement of the heart shaped time piece, a discreet twist of a nipple and the cat’s tail being held suggestively. The oddities in delineation of human as well as animal forms are result of child like fantasy. Shahid has a tendency to draw - conducive theatrical assimilations.  

There is a reflection and frequent presence of 'self ' in all the artworks by Anjani Reddy. If some works explore the intricacies of treasured experiences, the others unravel her day to day exposure and connections with her immediate surroundings and people .The basic core and concept of her work revolves around myriad facets of life, mostly positive and uplifting. The mixed essence of peace and tranquillity that defines the basic nature of the artist. Amongst rosy setting and calm harmony, the young women in the works rejoice and reminisce the golden moments and days that have overshadowed all other anecdotes and experiences of their lives. In the perfect harmony of bright and soft, prominent and diffusing colors, the 'Nayika' relaxes and reigns thoroughly. 

Madan Meena pays particular attention to Rajasthan’s socio-cultural issues. His actual artistic production is characterized by refined, almost minimal & classy works. Expressing the complex labyrinth of emotions in simple forms is something Madan has learned from the traditional art form of the Meena tribe, which always has been his source of inspiration. Probably the abstraction and expression of complex ideas in simple forms of folk art and their range are the source for Madan's inclination towards abstraction. His works always have a deep and close association with nature, now this association is reaching to new heights of abstraction. The elements of nature in his previous works have now reached to such an amalgamation with the sight that creates deeper sense of magnificence. It has tranquility, optimism and lull, which holds you spellbound & mesmerized.  

Dipika Hazra lays bare the heart-warming simplicity of Rajasthan, the open attitudes of its humanity rooted in the attributes of her land. Dipika’s palette is diversified and vivid. Her choice of reds, yellows and blacks betokens the love of blazing colours with which the people of Rajasthan make up for the vast and drab attributes of their land. The artist depicts remarkable states of serenity & a striking evidence of great strength and skill in organising forms and colours and creating the effect of enchantment and fantasy. The simplicity and spontaneity with which she handles mundane themes is itself a visual treat. She creates a spell binding impact. Untainted by bumptious modernism, Dipika’s works present a lyrical vision of nature. 

The innocent and flawless adolescents in the works by Anand Panchal enchant by their exquisite grace, they are an indispensable part of the temple periphery. Born in the family of the ‘pandits’ and the temple care takers, such children imbibe into themselves the elements of the holy surroundings and adapt to them completely. There is an essence of careless beauty and spiritual strength that makes these young girls and boys glow as if illuminated from a source of light concealed deep inside them. He attends to his little angels with affinity, love and thoughtfulness, allowing each of them to glisten in angelic radiance like fresh dew drops on tender leaves. The inclusion of forms such as paper boats, cows, floral clusters and musical instruments add to the metaphorical and allegorical aspects of the works. 

Ganga Singh's latest paintings offer us a glimpse into inner landscapes of another world. In these dreamlike scenes, cohabited by animals and people, strange interactions occur that question the traditional logic and expectations of viewing. The bold abundance of vivid color in his new paintings call for viewers delectation of beautiful patterns, which is his signature pictorial element. His depictions are always stylized from his own imagination, memory and dreams alike. ‘My paintings are based on my response to nature. They are modern designs with a strong primitive and tribal influence. Symmetry plays an important role in my painting with powerful and simplified forms.’ Imagination is the most enjoyable faculty man has. It is God’s gift to man. Everything, whether it is living man or animal or non-living: all are equal and have emotions like us. They also act & react the same way as humans. Animals, trees and other animated forms in his work have human faces.