My Den / Jaideep Mehrotra

Space is the focal point for Jaideep Mehrotra. Even though he is eclectic with his use of it. Innumerable watercolours, oil paintings, and...

Space is the focal point for Jaideep Mehrotra. Even though he is eclectic with his use of it. Innumerable watercolours, oil paintings, and sculptures, surround him. Hanging from the ceiling, in what seems like a precarious position, is a mixed media piece. Seated on his desk, in pride of place, is his Apple Mackintosh. Computer-generated graphics and moving images are the prolific painter’s latest aesthetic departure. "Limitations, parameters, these things shouldn’t exist in art. There’s a saying that goes something like this, `A stiff branch breaks in the wind, while a flexible one doesn’t.’ In art, you cannot restrict yourself, it’s contradictory to creativity."

And creativity is what this man cannot suppress. Even though he abandoned painting — something he started doing as a child — for business management, art soon conquered commerce. On returning from Africa and the Middle East, Jaideep quit his job to follow his aesthetic calling. "I was forced to make a decision, there just wasn’t enough time for both. Painting occupied a much larger position in my life, once I switched over I never looked back." Despite no formal training — Jaideep basically taught himself, by attending worshops, interacting with artists, and reading art related literature — his work has been exhibited all over India — in Delhi, Madras, Calcutta and Mumbai. He has had a total of 12 solo exhibitions and has contributed to numerous group shows. Now, he plans to exhibit his work outside of India too.

In keeping with his innovative technological take, Jaideep was also the first Indian artist to set up a website. His most recent work, a piece of installation art submitted for a group show, dealt with the senses, with humans and their reactions, to both situations and environments. That the life of such a piece ends with the exhibition doesn’t deter the artist. "It’s like life, transitory and fleeting, an experience of a moment, it should overwhelm you." Increasing exploration of the both the visual and the auditory as means of artistic expression has tuned Jaideep into "the stuff that surrounds". Therefore installation art appeals to him because of its use of space. "In terms of creating the piece, there can be no preconceptions. You really don’t know what you’re going to do, you have to first see the space and then work with it." This led him to realise just how instrumental `space’ is to creativity. Which is why his new workspace — his future den, itself in the process of being created — has beendesigned with this specifically in mind. "The things that surround influence you a great deal, they affect the mind, the thoughts. It kind of plays back into you. Its like you’re in a shell, a cocoon."

Situated on the 15th floor of an apartment block, adjacent to his family home, the new studio will stretch deep into Mumbai’s skies — with a 360 degree view of the city below. Having worked in a place with no windows for two years, he is really excited about his new studio. "When I paint I need to pause, to look outside of where I am — I never had the chance to do that before. I found myself continuously locked in my own space." Not so, not any longer.

Canada, UK and Australia formally recognise a Palestinian state

World5 hr ago

The UK, Canada, and Australia have recognized Palestine as a state, going against the US and Israel's opposition. British PM Starmer aims to revive peace without Hamas and hostage release. Canada and Australia also recognize Palestine, condemning terrorism. Over 145 UN members recognize Palestine, with France likely to join soon.

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