Curation for me is to be the invisible particle allowing the psyche of art/artist to reflect: Jesal Thacker

Meet Jesal Thacker, an art curator who studied fine arts. She tells the Pothi team why she feels abstract art needs more attention

In the arts, especially fine art, the curator is like a guide and a messenger. A curator helps us understand art better. The reason a curator is our guide is for a simple reason: they just look at a lot of art, often from the viewpoint of an artist or an art historian. You could say that they are the true connoisseurs of art.

This week we are bringing before you the world of the curator. We spoke to the newer voices and found out what their concerns are and how they believe art can be best served. One of the curators we approached was Jesal Thacker. A graduate in painting from the Sir J. J School of Art, she has an insider’s view on what it means to engage in the world of fine art. Talking about her training she says, “I studied painting and I was fascinated by artists like V S Gaitonde, Prabhakar Barwe, Ambadas, Ganesh Haloi in my student years. I was always attracted to abstract art. My entire research is to promote abstract art as I feel it has not been represented well enough. Even now abstraction is not given its due place and is very West-centric.”

We cannot disagree with her because a lot of what constitutes abstract art is generally referenced using the oeuvre of western art. However, a lot of eastern art is abstract in nature and the philosophy that guides our aesthetic viewpoint is steeped in a quest for a higher truth, which is an abstract idea. A lot of our art is inherently abstract. “I am academically not an art historian as I trained in painting. So, my way of looking at art or history for that matter is visual and sensorial. I don’t neglect the past history or the theories that have been formed, but strive to see through them as a visual transformation or evolution. I see the entire spectrum as a large a space, where the curation depends on relativity of time that the curator imagines. Curation for me is to be the invisible particle allowing the psyche of art/artist to reflect,” she says.

Jesal’s effort as a curator is to ensure that the voice of the artist is heard clearly, in all its subtlety. She positions the role of a curator a bit differently, one in which the curator conceives a concept with artists that already align with its ideology. Once that is formed, the curator has to make sure that the narrative of the artist is presented and made legible to the world. She seeks to distill the voice of the artist in a way that we understand the context from where an artist is operating and commenting visually. “When I curate, I think of a concept and artists who are naturally in synch with the concept. It’s like composing a raga with innumerable notations, depending on the mood and emotion of the composition. The sargams remain the same, it\’s only their formation with the others that brings out a spectrum of melodies and mood,” she adds.

She says that she takes her time with her work. It is not about hastily putting up show after show, but to ensure what she curates adds to the greater cultural dialogue. “I am slow and I may not have a long list of shows. But I like to think about what I do. I am not prolific because I like to take my time so that the ideas of the artists are reflected and presented in their micro-macro subtleties, giving the viewer a wider, more in-depth experience,” she adds.

She is not traditional in that sense. Curation for her is her creative process, and she uses her contemporary experience to give life to the story of art as she sees it.

For her, the artist has to take the centrestage and she facilitates that by carefully collating the works that must go into a show, so that it gives a resolute view of what a body of work is like and how it should be best presented. “You could use an analogy from filmmaking. The artist is the protagonist but there is a script, a set design, an order which I compose and prepare. For example, the Prabharkar Barwe expo I did, it took me many years to conceive. The artist Barwe was an archivist himself, collecting leaves and maintaining diaries, which was his concealed creative process. For me, it was not just about exhibiting his paintings but also his creative thinking. It was a very personal experience for me. His diaries, the dried leaves, stories that he wrote, were all aesthetically exhibited, which added to the experience of understanding the artist. Designing the space is a crucial aspect of my curatorial approach, the aesthetics of space, play of form-light-shadow, the pauses-emptiness, engagement with the viewer are indeed crucial elements of my curatorial composition. It reflects the rhythm and the pulse of the artist and enriches the experience for the viewer, making them part of the creative process. Feeling the art, feeling its history, feeling its philosophy and life is what I try for,” she says.

For Jesal, curating is about respecting the voice of the artist though the design of presentation is hers. It is pertinent to her to ensure the artistic process is conveyed clearly via what she chooses to show. “Take the case of the artist Madhav Imartey. I juxtaposed his art with the chance poetry of John Cage. I felt the work of the artist had a synergy with that, across time and across geography,” she says. For Jesal the personal touch is important in her work. “I also conduct talks with people who know the artist. You know, the people who know the artist personally and not just as a persona. That gives a deeper understanding of what the artist is trying to do,” she adds.

One of Jesal’s consuming interests is the work of young artists. “I feel strongly for young artists. They are not being heard properly. That is the reason that I try my best to represent artists who have not been represented because they have a lot of unheard and unseen ideas to offer,” she says.

Since Jesal’s enduring interest is abstraction, we asked her why she finds it so fascinating. This is what she had to say, “It’s personal. It’s poetic. There is structure to it. The layers of structuring that goes into a good abstract piece is quite amazing. I love Gaitonde, who you could describe as the artist who painted silence. I like to look at thesadhanaof artists and contextualise it. I also like Sudhir Patwardhan, but I feel I could do more justice to non-representational art. I love Rekha Rodwittya and Madhvi Parekh. I feel a lot of J J is about abstraction.”

Talking about her early days she says that though she is from a humble background, it was the arts that interested her. “I got into fine arts. I love the J J school campus, the large windows, the play of light, the creative atmosphere and the history that’s embedded in each stone… you feel the energy. You could say my five years at J J have fuelled me with all the energy, insight, passion that keeps me grounded and is the base of all that I do today,” she explains.

While she does not really paint often, her focus is on research. She loves documenting the art world. With that view in mind, she founded the Bodhana Arts and Research Foundation, a not-for-profit organization in 2005. “It was Prabhakar Kolte\’s writing that really made me see the value of what we are doing. We presented it 2017-18 and it was a glimpse into his world,” she says.

Talking about the art world and the exclusivity that it might present; she says that she does not believe it is a dog-eat-dog world. “I do not have a critical comment on this. Let me tell you, my example. I don’t consider that I wasn’t accepted though I come from a different world. I was independent and seeking to be a part of the industry like everyone. The industry also has its many segments and layers and if you don\’t seem to fit any you can carve your own segment and layer! I do not believe one must just look at acceptance from others as a sign of success. We talk about Progressive Art Group. Now, they made their own niche, their struggle was real and different from ours but they all struggled. We tend to look at history superficially. If you think about it, it wasn’t easy for the Progressives either but with time and effort they made their own place in history,” she says.

Her advice to younger artists is simple: there is struggle and one must find a way around it. In the end, it is the art that should be true and people will notice. “For instance, Gaitonde too struggled to make ends meet but he continued his practice with great diligence. And, the art world is in a better position today because there are so many avenues and opportunities. Live each day fully,” she adds.

Talking about how young artists should price their work, she says, “It is a difficult question. They need to trust specialists like agents and galleries. While there is some gap between a gallery and an artist, it can be bridged because, at the end of the day, galleries and artists need each other. You can’t expect a marriage to work in one day. Art is not a product. It requires time to become what it is. Curators must be able to see the honesty of an artist. And an artist must be herself or himself and produce a consistent body of work. You cannot force it. It must be a concerted effort towards growth without being trapped in the cycle of self-imitation,” she elaborates.

Before concluding our talk, we ask Jesal what she is reading now or looking at. “My suggestion is that artists read a lot of biographies because it can help in understanding your own struggle. Start with ‘Lust for Life’, which is the biography of Van Gogh. Joseph Turner’s biography is also an engaging read. I also enjoyed the biographies of M F Husain, Krishen Khanna and Ambadas Khobragade. The letters that Raza wrote to his friends make for great reading too. I also greatly enjoy Somnath Hore’s writings,” she says.

To summarise Jesal’s worldview, it could be said that she believes one has to carve out a niche for oneself with honest and consistent work. Be yourself, and the world will open up to you.