Artline

It is really very heartening and encouraging to see the young with a mission and a cause. And young Payal Sodhi has plenty of both. For the last couple of months she has been working towards bringing Art from the Heart 8212; a Chandigarh Special, which is an exhibition of the works of the eminent Delhi based painter, Manu Parekh to the City Beautiful. Manu Parekh himself is a committed artist whose present collection of works is to be put up at the Alliance Francais is Art Gallery from the October 26 to January 2, has been done specially as part of People for Animals PFA crusade for creating a kinder, gentler world for all. Artists are people with that extra bit of sensitivity and that is why a scribble a doodle, a brushstroke, a dab of colour becomes a work of art, when executed sensitively. And it is this innate sensitivity which brought the 100 artists in Delhi together to contribute for the cause of lesser beings. Today more than ever before they are contributing generously to causes. The People forAnimals spearheads a popular movement for respecting all life on this Earth and is a small but crucial part of India8217;s growing environmental awareness. So caught up we are in our own little sheltered cocoons and in our existentialist angst that we often fail to be sensitive towards other sentient creatures. So absorbed are we in our daily affairs that hungry undernourished canine species which are not petted or closeted at home by their owners, are not even spared a stray thought. Millions of animals are killed, battered, dissected and mutilated for no reason at all. PFA works to give the unwanted, unloved, abandoned, sick and injured animals the help and protection they need8221;.

The Chandigarh chapter of PFA was established in 1995 and has ever since been campaigning for animal rights and welfare. It has to its credit the Jeev Rakshak Seva which is the first ever animal ambulance in the city, Basera the animal shelter for stray and sick, an active adoption service to find stray animals loving homes, and the most essential of all sterilisation and vaccination for stray animals, through free mobile veterinary camps in slums and villages. In December 1997 the capital8217;s finest artists came together, contributed their time and talent to help the city8217;s neediest creatures by donating a work of art for their cause. For the first time more than 100 prominent Delhi artist came together in one show. Each work of art is more than just a painting or a sculpture.

It is the means to save a life. The proceeds can go to feed a hungry dog, treat an injured mule, rescue a homeless cat, free a performing bear, train a new vet, house an abandoned cow. It aids in spreading compassion to all animals. Ever since the PFA established itself three years ago, it has been having an annual fund raising campaign to run their various projects. A group of three friends, Payal, Madhuri and Aparna, avid animal lovers started the local chapter. The three young graduates were completely motivated and committed to the cause of compassion for animals. 8220;Animals are very much part of our everyday life. They have been seen as Vahanas of our gods and goddesses, they have been seen worshipped as gods themselves, they have been used in sacrifice for the welfare of man, they have given us food, clothing, faith, and are a part of religion. Animals are part of the cosmic whole, and art too recognises their presence. We do not need a Madhuri Dixit to inspire an artist, animals too have been the museof many an artist,8221; says Payal with a deep conviction.

In 1995, they brought in the popular commercial hit play Saalgirah, followed by a fund raising dinner with Madhuri Dixit and Sanjay Kapoor at Hotel Mountview in 1996. In 1997 Times Bank and Cadbury Schwepps pitched in for raising funds and this year PFA approached Maneka Gandhi for a fund raising event. Maneka had organised Delhi for Delhi with a lot of well known Delhi based artists. PFA Chandigarh, chose painter, Manu Parekh for holding an exhibition and sale of his works. Parekh agreed immediately and will be in the city with 20 paintings. It will be for the first time that Parekh will exhibit in the city. A graduate of the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, Parekh8217;s earliest creative involvement in the art was not with the visual arts but theatre. He went on to spend several years as designer with the Weaver8217;s Centre, Bombay before devoting himself entirely to painting. The influence of theatre has persisted in his artistic expression.

8220;His brushwork, whether in his oil paintings with their thick impasto surface, reminiscent of American abstractionism or his painting delicate rice paper has physical energy. In fact even when there are few explicitly human elements, the human presence is almost palpable,8221; says art critic Gayatri Sinha.