Physical Expression

“The space is very interesting,yet complicated,” says Mukherjee,referring to the gallery in Colaba.” With two large windows on one wall,a break along two walls to make space for doors and a number of pillars scattered all around the room,the Los Angeles-based artist says he had to ponder a bit about what sort of works to create for his first solo in India,and where to place them. Ultimately,he decided to make a series of paintings — eight panels in all — and place them in one corner to form a horizontal ‘L’ shape. Half of the panels run along the end of one wall and the fourth one meets the fifth which is placed on the beginning of the adjacent wall.

On the opposite corner of the room is a series of much smaller,individual works. Done on duralene,a milky white,translucent polymer film with a matte surface,these paintings are primarily in shades of yellow,blue,red and green. They are,however,a lot more abstract than his previous works,insists Mukherjee. “These are more about recording the rhythm of my body on my work,” he explains. While some of his previous works derived symbolism from nature and landscapes,this series,“is

very thought out,but not tied to symbolism. It references a lot of things without being attached to any,” confirms the artist.

The results allow the viewer to imagine. For instance,the first time you look at one of these paintings of linear design,what you see in it is very likely to be different from what you see the second time. “And then there may be times when you don’t see anything at all,” says Mukherjee.