Past Forward

An ongoing exhibition pays tribute to abstract artist Prabhakar Barwe by a few of his close associates,and in the process also comments on the Indian art,which,curator Girish Shahane feels,faces a danger of being ruled by the 24/7 news cycle and overlooks the potential of stillness and slowness.

Written by EXPRESS FEATURES SERVICE |
February 7, 2010 12:18:24 am

An ongoing exhibition pays tribute to abstract artist Prabhakar Barwe by a few of his close associates,and in the process also comments on the Indian art,which,curator Girish Shahane feels,faces a danger of being ruled by the 24/7 news cycle and overlooks the potential of stillness and slowness.

Apart from Barwes own works,the exhibition showcases works by four artists from his alma mater JJ School of Art Madhav Imartey,Yashwant Deshmukh,Prajakta Potnis and Parag Tandel. Titled Legacy: A-vanguard,the exhibition is currently on view at Gallery Threshold,Lado Sarai.

Not surprising,it is the everyday objects that are the focus in most works. If Yashwant Deshmukh has a mill stone and bucket in his work,the senior-most member of the group,Madhav Imartey,who has worked with Barwe,has typewriters,pylons and cement mixers.

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The idea for the show emerged when Shahane came across Barwes Alphabets of Nature on the 40 th anniversary exhibition of Gallery Chemould held at the National Gallery of Modern Art,Mumbai,in 2003. I grew interested in exploring the opposite of the avant-garde,work that without being reactionary in intent carries no hint of temporal urgency whether in its materials,its subjects,or its relationship to current event and yet engages us with its visual facility, says Sahane.