Surjit Akre is a significant name
in the contemporary art scenario of our country. She has remained sincere and
prolific in her art for over 45 years now, having undergone the rigorous
training program in Fine Arts between 1978 and 1985 from the then Soviet Union,
from The Repin Institute of Art. With her superb ability over line, form, light
and shade Surjit does her alma mater proud. Women artists through their art,
frequently explore their social confinement and subordination to men. In
effect, their art tends to become not only biographical but also vehicles of
social criticism. In this respect Surjit’s quiet and serene temperament is
extended into her work. What clearly runs through her works almost unfailingly
is a sense of longing for love, understanding and companionship. A lot of her
compositions therefore have a wistful aura.
Transiting between dream and
reality her works are nevertheless completed rather than empty rounds of her
subject matter. Her smooth flowing lines, lyrical forms and vivid coloring,
emerge from different backgrounds, open and bright, dark and brooding, or again
smooth or sometimes heavily textured. Discernible also are her compositions
influenced by traditional Indian paintings, replete with vibrant colors, small
motif like elements, flat colors and beautiful organization. Though women as a
concern remains central to her, she also feels deeply on other issues like
poverty, the injustice of fate & the traumas of partition of India. So
pathos and irony run side-by- side in her canvasses, but only after dreams,
romance, frustration, and the longing for respite to live and work peacefully.
Aruna Bhowmick, New Delhi.
The Feminine Touch
Surjit Akre is one of the artists
who extensively dwells on the situation of the female - her desires, ambitions,
dreams, aspirations, moods, engagements and her leisure moments. Romanticism
too touches the heart of her art occasionally and these are very effective,
endearing compositions she has created. Such works, when presented in her color
spectrum, enthrall the audience. A pining woman in her work titled "The
Passion" where time is running out like galloping horse; a woman seated on
a bed of thorns with a dozen masks hanging behind her simply present the
current problem , as to what mask to choose in order to mitigate the situation.
"Flowers and thorns" & "Moonlight" were some of her
earlier works in oils that highlighted the tensions and contradictions faced by
the female in her journey through life’s tricky lanes.
R.S. Yadav, New Delhi
Art is my patience. I interpret
the life of general people in my paintings, their Love, anger, struggle for
life, dreams, suffering & all happenings in life. I also paint
autobiographical paintings. The main medium which i love is oil on canvas
because it is durable & i can also try different textures in this medium. I
also love to do pencil, charcoal and drawings on paper. I have developed my own
style, which took several years of practice & experience. When I see my art
i feel that life is so beautiful, yet complicated & deep because my
paintings are the mirror of life. I depict life as i feel, and every painting
shows different aspects of life, which is also felt by the viewers. Since the
Post-graduation in 1986, from the prestigious Academy of Arts, Repin Institute
of paintings, Sculpture & Architecture at Saint Petersburg, Russia, i have
done over 6000 paintings on different series like Mother & Child, Wm;
Peace, Shringar, Desire, Prakriti, Terrorism, Literacy, Man & Animal,
Family, Knowledge is power, and on many other varied subjects.
Surjit Akre's paintings are self expressive
"The human body is the most
beautiful of God's creations which is why the human form has played an
important role in all my paintings", says Surjit Akre, renowned artist of
National & International fame. Love plays a predominant role for most
artists. Surjit's work also predominantly focuses on love and the traditional
form of emotions as is clear in all her exhibitions till date. While focusing
on love it is not only the love between man & woman but also between mother
& child that she seems to have explored rather deeply. Nationally and
Internationally awarded Surjit Akre believes that having lived in the Soviet
Union for a long period her paintings were heavily influenced by the existing
social realism. To be able to realize her true identity and style she decided to
come back to her own country. She slowly graduated from the earthy colors of
the Soviet style to the bright and vibrant colors of India mainly, red, yellow
and blue. In her formative years as a
painter 1986 to 88 she must have made 50 paintings namely- Behind the red wall,
Literacy., Tribal girls, Bleaching clothes, Vegetable seller, Family of fruit
seller, Evening, Talk of mothers etc. For her thesis project she submitted her
painting titled 11Adult education" which is still on display at Repin Institute
at St. Petersburg, giving testimony to her work. Surjit Akre is the only Asian
student who completed 7 years at this renowned institute till date. For a
number of years Surjit has been associated with the RCSC (Russian Center of
Science & Culture). She is also the founder member and President of
Inda-Russian Art Club.
Her initial works were influenced
by Amrita Shergill's style but by 1989 to 94 there was a distinctive shift in
technique. In this phase she made about 150 paintings which were different in theme
and style and colors bearing titles like - We need peace, We also want to live,
Red bird & unhappy man, Woman with unfilled garland, Dream of the earth,
From my childhood, Mother 20th century etc. With the passage of time and
evolution in her style came a certain maturity. From 1995 to 99 she used a
single theme for a number of paintings thereby making a series on Holy city,
Mother; Hunger, Mama I miss you, Shelter, God today, Man & Animal,
Shringar, Family, Knowledge is Power, War & Peace, Spring etc. In her
series about Hunger she has depicted 3 types of hunger - Hunger for food,
hunger for love and hunger for knowledge. There is focusing on the main subject
and unwanted detailing is done away with. From 2000 to 2004 she used the basic
colors without mixing of white to create artworks an Prose of sand dunes,
Prakriti, Mother& Child, The Blue God, Dances of Shiva, Dream of unswerving
love, No to global terrorism etc. She is
expressing her own emotions and feelings through the various forms of woman in her
paintings. Surjit says that her woman is usually depicted as sad, even when
portrayed in Shringar Ras she is suffering the pangs of separation, loneliness
and dejection. She feels that in her portrayal of womanhood she uses
contrasting moods and facets. The important "roop" of woman is
motherhood. No sacrifice is too great for her to protect her child and home
from harm. In 2001 in her series Prakriti she has portrayed woman as
representative of nature because even in our epics, woman is described as being
akin to nature. But Surjit also depicts other subjects close to her heart
namely terrorism, social ills, violence, hunger, poverty etc. Terrorism is
depicted through "Shiv Tandav" where an enraged Shiva is dancing on
skulls, the dance of death. In the same way she has depicted the dark days of
Punjab and the 1984 Blue star operation in her work entitled "Past
Memories". The incidents of those days had a strong impact on her when she
saw people with fear in their eyes and the destruction of the temple. The
violence of those days is depicted so realistically that she was awarded
Rashtrapati Silver Medal and M.S. Randhawa memorial cash award.
For a person who is widely
traveled both in India and abroad Surjit transforms into a little girl when
reminiscing about Taran Tarn the village she was born in during the S0s. She
remembers her joyous childhood at the hands of her grandmother, the fresh smell
of the earth, the early morning baths in the stream, the fresh cool air, the
endless amount of mangoes which she got to eat thanks to being the only child
living with her grandmother. These precious moments have been captured in her
series "From my Childhood".
In today's time Surjit finds that
the foundation of family relationships is crumbling. She feels that this is due
to the insane pursuit of wealth at any cost by every individual. All forms of
material comfort are being pursued, but only for the self, ignoring even the
elders of the family. Whereas earlier the elders were the foundation of the
family, the thread that held the whole family together, today that same elder
is a burden to the family and society. This is very unjust she feels, elders
should be given their due which will hold the entire family together, like an
old shady tree that encompasses the others with the shade of its branches and
holds everything together with its roots. This negative effect of the blind
pursuit of wealth at any cost is what she is busy portraying on her canvas
these days.
Surjit feels that this insane
pursuit of wealth has permeated into the psyche of the painter also. Today's
artist is hell bent upon creating a painting that will adorn somebody's living
room and forgets the objectivity and honesty of his art and talent. Great
artists did not compromise their talent or their art and despite great odds of
poverty and despair never gave up. All this materialism pains her a lot.
Dr. Jasvinder Kaur Bindra
Surjit Akre was born in 1954 in Taran Tarn, Punjab, India. She is
the first Indian artist who has achieved a post graduate degree in easel
painting, faculty of Fine Arts from Russia, Academy of Fine Arts, Repin
Institute of Painting, Sculpture & Architecture. A Professional artist to
the core, she has served on different juries & won several awards and
Honours including senior and junior fellowships for outstanding artist from the
Govt. of India, Ministry of H.R.D, Dept. of Culture, New Delhi from 1989-1991
and 1996-1998, AIFACS President of India's silver plaque and Dr. M.S. Randhawa
memorial cash award in 1990; In 1987 Sahitya Kala Parishad award. In 1985 she
was awarded and highly commended at the annual post graduate works exhibition
in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 2008 she was awarded Friendship Medal from the
Russian Center for Scientific and Cultural Cooperation under the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs Moscow, Russia. In 2008, Silver Medal for Generosity by the
Institute of Art named after K.A. Savitski, Russia. Honour award for the
contribution Inda-Russian Friendship by the Mayor of Penza city, Russia.
Awarded International Award in 2017, named after Nikolai Roerich in nomination
artistic creativity in Visual Art, by the Government of Russia. She has held 71
Solo Exhibitions in India, Russia, U.S.A, Canada and participated in several
major exhibitions, and Artists camps at National and International level. She
is the founder of Roerich's Art Society, affiliated with the Russian Cultural
Center, New Delhi. From 1986 to 2018 she has organised and curated exhibitions
of Indian and Russian artists. Her works are in many private collections all
over the world and also with many Govt. Organizations, various Art
Organisations and in several Museums in India & Abroad.
Juneja Art Gallery founded in 1994 by Sangeeta Juneja, is now one
of the biggest Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries in India with a space of
over 6000 sq ft. The Gallery has so far sponsored 144 art shows under its brand
name Artchill, which showcases diverse palette of creative and multimedia art
by the best of Indian artists, from well-known, established, award winning artists
to the young, promising names of our Contemporary World, each having a distinct
artistic attitude. So today Artchill is a place for both the well-established
as well as emerging artists with a brilliant performance. The extensive
collection consists of Paintings, Sculptures, Reliefs, Graphics, Photo Art and
Multimedia Art which can be viewed anytime by appointment apart from the
current shows.
Artchill has also showcased
Indian Art in various International Art Events.
Sangeeta Juneja is also a consultant
and she advises Indian & overseas Collectors to create their art
portfolios.
