Vijay M Dhore’s Symbolic Elements
“When you start a painting, it is somewhat outside you. At the conclusion, you seem to move inside the painting.”
Fernando Botero
Hidden metaphors in art are symbolic elements that artists subtly embed in their work to convey more profound meanings, often compelling thoughtful analyses to reveal them. These cyphers can be visual or thematic, designed to provoke reflection on abstract concepts. Vijay M Dhore uses colours, textures and accidental shapes which represent something beyond their verbatim meaning.
What Does ‘Unveiling Metaphors’ Refer To?
The idea to name Vijay M Dhore’s series ‘Unveiling Metaphors’ seemed apt for the paintings, which involve looking ‘beyond and beneath’ the surface to notice the visual suggestions. By decoding these painterly cues, viewers can uncover concealed narratives on society, history, culture, or the representation of man and woman in nature. Connotations and reverberations of the human correlation to the environment focussed on the notions of accord, vulnerability, and the interplay between genders, mingle with the inherent meanings of shapes, colours and codes.
They have been moderated by subtleness and suppleness, with a perceptible proficiency, to convey the interconnectedness of life and the spiritual magnitude of existence. These have been a cyclical theme in his paintings where the emblematic artworks do not institute an exact language where meaning may be exactly determined.
The Paintings at ‘Unveiling Metaphors’
Along with reconnoitring the accord in nature, artist Vijay M Dhore arrests its opulence, intricacy, and ultimately its transformative or metamorphic passages, through silhouettes, unadulterated contrasts and stimulating abstractions. Shadows and subdued patterns in the background often add a sense of drama, clandestine, or grace to his compositions, allowing one to focus on the essential outlines and overlapping contours while leaving room for vision and understanding.
The distorted space or entity serves as whispers in the void for subjective reality, emotions, beliefs, or altered states of consciousness, often reflecting philosophical ideas about perception or existence. It turns the painting into a layered dialogue between the artist and the bystander, travelling through the transparencies of textures. In his distinctive technique to accentuate forms, transport mood, or abridge multifaceted panoramas, there is a deliberate use of numerous rollers to create shadows and lights and also texturally striking contrasts and shapes.
Transparencies in textures within the paintings allow the artist to generate penetration, subtle layering, and a sense of ethereal lightness, allowing for gradual transitions in colour and form in the compositions. A few blotches in the contrasting imagery roofed with brushstrokes echo conflict and a few startling harmonies. Even the blurred coloured areas withstand attention as images in themselves. In crux, Vijay M Dhore’s art augments depth and intricacy, deeper interpretations, while revealing personal meanings. And finally, abstraction becomes the ultimate declaration of the artist’s freedom.
Visiting ‘Unveiling Metaphors’
The solo show ‘Unveiling Metaphors’ is going to be held at Jahangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, from 26th November to 2nd December 2024 with Chief Guests; Rishiraj Sethi, Director (Aura Art eConnect Pvt Ltd, Mumbai); and artist Prof Anil Naik. The Guests of Honour for the programme are artist Hina Bhatt (Hina Bhatt Art Foundation, Pune); Prof Ravindra Dattatray Kulkarni (Vice Chancellor, Mumbai University); and Prof Sunil Baburao Kulkarni (Director, Central Institute of Hindi, Agra).
Image Courtesy – Dr Alka Chadha Harpalani
Alka is an artist and art writer with a diverse career spanning teaching, e-learning projects with the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), and editorial work. An alum of the Government College of Art, Chandigarh (BFA) and Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (MFA, PhD), she has been recognised with numerous prestigious awards and honours.
