M F Hussain’s cutouts go on display at a Kolkata gallery

The cutouts in bright red, black or blue-orange colours retain Husain’s signature style of painting patterns of animals or humans in bold strokes.

“The unique set of works shows the master’s trademark style and bold figuration and it occupies an extraordinary place in Husain’s rich and widely varied public art career, which spans painted billboards and murals to installation and film.

“Aesthetically, like Matisse’s famous cut-outs, they stand halfway between a drawing and a sculpture, showing the rhythm of cutting and sensuality, actively interacting with the architectural setting around,” Richa Agarwal, Chairperson, Kolkata Centre for Creativity, said.

For these works, the artist drew on plywood the outlines of the protagonist in chalk and cut out the form before painting on it.

“The subjects were inspired by the ancestral spirits of man, deity and beast in a sacred space,” eminent art curator Ina Puri said.

In one cutout, a magnificent animal, in all black, stands frozen in time, she said.

“Reminiscent of a rural landscape, we have the Krishna-like figure playing the flute riding atop a bull in another composition in a mood that is, in contrast, lyrical and gentle. Apart from these are figures, of human shapes almost erotic, suspended in the air, limbs stretching out, strands of hair flying in the wind or caught in arabesques as if dancing to silent symphonies,” Puri said.

In the show, the works, called Ahmedabad Series, were created based on the designs of the cut-outs Husain himself made and installed in Amdavad Gufa in Gujarat, the unique architectural project he and architect, BV Doshi, together had conceived.

“A tribute to Husain, one of India’s most celebrated modern painters, even after he died in 2011, the exhibition is a prominent highlight on our gallery’s calendar,” Agarwal said adding that these works, unlike his other famous creations, are not widely known and discussed,

These two-dimensional cutouts were carved out in 2008 and belong to KCC’s own collection, a spokesperson said.

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