Paz Indica

Beneath the glass top lies a carefully careless heap of papers. One of them is displayed regally, like a king among the courtiers-Octavio Paz8217;s pen scratched a poem on it in the early 1970s.

Remembering the Indophile Octavio Paz

Beneath the glass top lies a carefully careless heap of papers. One of them is displayed regally, like a king among the courtiers 8212; Octavio Paz8217;s pen scratched a poem on it in the early 1970s. Next to it lies a book, with Latvian artist Adja Yunkers8217; abstracts peppered with Paz8217;s poems. Like two old friends, Yunkers8217; artwork and Paz8217;s words are comfortably confined inside a display box. The art gallery at the India International Centre Annexe suddenly seems crowded with greetings from Paz8217;s friends the world over. The works have been sourced by the Embassy of Mexico in India and the Lalit Kala Akademi for the commemoration of the tenth death anniversary of Paz, Mexican ambassador to India in the Sixties, Indophile and Nobel laureate.

The exhibition has been divided into two sections. The first is 8220;Octavio Paz, From Word to Gaze8221;, which contains 20 portfolios and books by Paz in collaboration with artists such as Yunkers, compatriot Pedro Coronel and India8217;s MF Husain. The second titled 8220;Figures and Figurations8221; is a collection of eight collages by Paz8217;s French wife Marie-Jose. 8220;Paz followed a tradition that was both Mexican and French. And he was a poet engaged in a vital dialogue with art,8221; says Conrado Tostado, cultural attacheacute; to the Embassy of Mexico. In fact, it was after Paz met the Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo in New York in 1942 that he discovered the colour and texture of what he would later call the 8220;psychic subsoil8221; of Mexico.

The exhibition has been curated by Marie-Jose and her eight pieces are the most striking of the entire lot of artwork. Each piece is a collaboration between Paz and her: she would convert his poems into colourful, neo-surrealist collages such as 8220;Calm8221;, 8220;The Stamp8221; and 8220;The Weapons of the Trade8221;. The other colourful interaction is between Paz and Husain. Inspired by the former8217;s work The Monkey Grammarian, Husain painted seven pieces using various shades and contours to tell Hanuman8217;s story.

The exhibition is on at the IIC Annexe, Lodhi Estate, till December 9