India’s only daily art newspaper
(Editor’s note: Abir Pothi is excited to bring you book excerpts from Raza: Jaisa Maine Dekha (Rajkamal Prakashan) by noted artist Akhilesh, where he has sketched with words his long association with Syed Haidar Raza from the author’s early days to Raza’s last. We thank Akhilesh for allowing us to translate and use excerpts for Abir readers. …
On a cursory glance, Sudhir Patwardhan’s cityscapes might look akin to Edward Hopper’s paintings. But while Hopper’s scenes often show figures in solitude against the backdrop of the geometrically laid-out Western city, Sudhir’s canvases are often brimming with toiling bodies struggling in a bustling Indian city in construction. The Social backdrop of Sudhir’s Patwardhan’s visual …
#Throwback2022: Sudhir Patwardhan: Painter of the Particular Read More »
Continued from Part 2. Somnath Hore, one of the most prolific artists in the canon of Indian Modern Art, was not only an accomplished visual artist, but also a well-respected art teacher. After graduating from the Government College of Art & Craft, Calcutta, Somnath taught at the Indian College of Arts & Draftsmanship, Calcutta from …
#Throwback2022: Somnath Hore: The artist-teacher who forever remained a student Read More »
Continued from Part 1. Beginnings Early to mid-twentieth century Bengal produced some very fervent artistic developments. Whether it was through the Revivalism pioneered by Abanindranath Tagore, or the Modernism embraced by the Government School of Art, Calcutta, visual art in Bengal gained from such different undercurrents. One undercurrent that had its roots outside the art …
#Throwback2022: Somnath Hore: Communist Beginnings Read More »
Os Tyagi Zarina was the celebrated printmaker and sculptor, her work a witness to the most grievous conditions of our modern world. She worked in intaglio, woodblock, lithography, and silkscreen on handmade paper on which she rendered the human conditions of separation and belonging. I remember standing in front of one of her pin drawings …
#Throwback2022: The Life of Zarina: “That is our story too” Read More »
Khanna’s deep commitment to the pictorial space was not to be confined by the limits of the easel. He got an opportunity to break free of this confinement. Sometime in the early 80s, the chairman of ITC showed him the blank, dome like space of about 4000 square feet on the ceiling of ITC Maurya, …
#Throwback2022: Scaling up the canvas for public art – Krishen Khanna Part 3 Read More »
By Vandana Shukla Khanna’s works deal with a realistic world, the goings on; the play of maya caught in its own momentum, its own web; blurred under its own momentary existence against the eternal march of time. The moments caught on canvas seem to have a rhythm about them, as though, they are flowing over …
#Throwback2022: A visual record of history – Krishen Khanna Part 2 Read More »
By Vandana Shukla The centrality of visual art is governed by geometrical considerations. But it is the discovery made in the process that underlines its longevity. Krishen Khanna, a self-taught artist, has been engaged in making these discoveries through his entire span of life. His art has come to be celebrated globally for the fresh …
#Throwback2022: As an artist, I am not subservient to anybody – Krishen Khanna Part 1 Read More »
NT: I remember this amazing essay by Octavio Paz long back, Poet in the Marketplace, so it\’s like Painter in the Marketplace. So Christopher, what do you think about the kind of market art has become in this country; not just in this country, I think we have just caught up with what was …
Abir Pothi had the honour of interacting with two esteemed guests who run one of the biggest architectural practices in the country. Christopher Charles Benninger is a master architect and he has executed some great projects in India. He was part of CEPT, he set up Christopher Charles Benninger Architects (CCBA) in Pune, he also designed the …
