The Great Divide

Veteran Jehangir Sabavala is clearly an example of the 8216;purest8217; school of thought; where the brush and palette reign supreme and t...

Veteran Jehangir Sabavala is clearly an example of the 8216;purest8217; school of thought; where the brush and palette reign supreme and the only thing that makes it to the canvas is paint. While he is very open to in-depth exploration, this is one painter who8217;ll never enter the pop culture scene

FROM the name itself 8216;pop8217; and 8216;kitsch8217; indicate that it8217;s all about the topical or what8217;s in vogue. In that sense the purest-classical discipline of painting is more enduring and has a greater historic value that goes beyond 20 to 30 years.

As a purist I don8217;t feel threatened at all by the demand created by such trends. I have been quite lucky to have a very steady and enduring market, with a coterie of buyers who have a taste for my style.

However, I must clarify that being a purist doesn8217;t mean being stuck in a groove. It8217;s a myth that the we are averse to research or experiment. One is constantly learning8212;heaven knows there8217;s so much to explore8212;it8217;s just that experiments are carried out mainly with the paintbrush and palette knife. It8217;s just a more distilled and in-depth approach where the search is almost spiritual and intellectual.

Having said that, pop imagery is not necessarily mindless or less intellectual. It8217;s just that it engages a different set of one8217;s interests. A perfect example of this would be the recently concluded exhibition at the National Gallery of

Modern Art in Mumbai, where the lower half of the gallery was dedicated to the popular. The Dome housed the more classical works that have stood the test of time. At once, one can gauge the appeal and intent of these two ways of expressing oneself.

Self-taught painter Lalitha Lajmi is happy to dip into everyday objects that are readily available as inspiration for her canvases and water colours. Her exposure to the popular side of art inadvertently comes from her close proximity to Bollywood. If late brother Guru Dutt fuelled the earlier days, inspiration now comes from daughter Kalpana Lajmi

I WOULDN8217;T say that what I choose to paint is downright pop or kitsch. But it does have an element of the street and the everydayness of life. In that sense it isn8217;t pure or classical. Objects like paper boats, the telephone, kitchen utensils, mirrors and masks. These articles however gain a symbolic value that is over and above the literal meaning ascribed to them.

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They play a role or help to unwind the story that I am trying to convey through my work. I also have acrobats, tightrope walkers and jugglers who signify the other performances that we constantly rely upon to go through life.

Besides the acrylic on canvas and watercolour works that I8217;m known for, I have experimented with collage work and painted on other media, like wooden boxes and book-shaped lampshades. This gives a serious art practice, variety and an element of fun.

For the collages that I did for the Millennium Show curated by Arshiya Lokhandwala, I used photocopies of Rs 100 and 50 Gandhi currency notes along with painted images. My intention behind using Gandhi was to talk about freedom. Another notable work was the collage I did for the 100 Years of Cinema exhibition. Here I used stills from Guru Dutt8217;s films and press cuttings that were woven in with a few painted images.

I think that popular imagery needn8217;t be seen as something vacuous and can imbibe a lot of meaning. Besides, since I am a product of my time, I don8217;t have a desire to produce timeless works. They too will have their place in history.