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Paintings of New York-based artist of Indian origin on display at Kala Ghoda
Natvar Bhavsar says this is a very special exhibition for him as its happening in India after 1970 and that too in Mumbai
Natvar Bhavsar’s paintings look like scenes from the cosmos. The Gujarat-born, New York-based artist’s large-scale works have been displayed at the prestigious Boston Museum of Fine Arts; New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum; the US Library of Congress; and the Australian National Gallery.
Forty-five of his paintings will make their way to India for a solo show at the Delhi Art Gallery in Kala Ghoda. The show, Homecoming, spans works between 1970 and 2000 – meditative floating fields of colour that somehow appear saturated and ethereal at the same time.
“My work is like going on a walk in the wilderness,” says Bhavsar, 83. “In nature, you are reflective of your experiences and in the process you touch base with different beauties and realities of life.”
Kishore Singh, the show’s curator, says Bhavsar’s paintings are unique. He uses dry pigments and a binder but no paintbrushes, a technique that requires tremendous physical exertion. It’s shares many common elements with abstract expressionists and colour-field painters of 1960s’ New York.
New York and its vibrant art scene have in many ways inspired Bhavsar’s works. But so has India. “I don’t like to be classified as an Indian, American or any other artist,” he says. “I have taken many elements from NY, but have always carried along the gifts from India.”
Mumbai too has a special place for the artist. Back in 1954 Bhavsar visited the city for an art-school exam and loved its people and vibrancy. “This is a very special exhibition for me as its happening in India after 1970 and that too in Mumbai,” says Bhavsar.
ENTRY IS FREE
WHAT: Homecoming
WHERE: Delhi Art Gallery 58, VB Gandhi Marg, Kala Ghoda
WHEN: November 20 to January 25, 11 am to 7 pm. Closed on Sunday
CALL: 4922-2700
