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Journalism of Courage
A SPIDERY network of soft brush lines form a head. A set of strong black pen strokes delineate a reclining nude. The pencil leaves gentle traces of graphite that construct the sad eyes of a woman. In fact, reveals Akbar Padamsee, he even likes to draw with an eraser.
However, those are just the tools. 8216;8216;The hand only discovers the image, after a while one just becomes a witness to a greater drama that enacts itself. It8217;s the deeper consciousness that has to be tapped,8217;8217; says the artist whose inward journey intensifies with each day. To him the nude is no different from a head study, since both struggle to convey a sense of purity.
If Padamsee comes across as a big softy, don8217;t be fooled. He can be quite adamant about his views on what art should and shouldn8217;t be. While he may joke about how the sight of a pretty woman quickens his pulse, there8217;s no space in his art for the banal Bollywood siren. If anything, his melancholic nudes provoke one to look beyond the flesh.
But this is one instance where he smiles indulgently. 8216;8216;As long as my collectors have a ready reckoner for my work I don8217;t mind what it8217;s called,8217;8217; chuckles the 75-year-old who is currently busy with several projects, including moving house.
8216;8216;I never thought I8217;d shift out of my Juhu studio, it8217;s so peaceful there. But my daughter Raissa named after MF Husain8217;s daughter is returning from Paris to settle here, so we8217;re shifting to Prabhadevi,8217;8217; reveals Padamsee who shares his home, studio space and life with art historian and critic, Banumati. Together since 8217;83, the artist-writer duo met at the JJ School of Art when Padamsee was lecturing. She was studying painting then, now she8217;s part of the Vadhera Art Gallery8217;s project to bring out a book on Padamsee.
8216;8216;This one is more of a coffee table variety, but I really don8217;t have that much to do with the project,8217;8217; says Padamsee who hates getting involved with such nitty-gritty. 8216;8216;Following the yogic concept of abolition of all mental activity, all images begin with zero as a point,8217;8217; says the artist whose painting of a nude couple once incurred the wrath of Mumbai8217;s morality brigade.
Ask him why he8217;s stopped having shows in Paris and he looks at you incredulously.
8216;8216;I don8217;t have shows in Paris because all my friends, collectors and well-wishers live in India. I don8217;t want the empty glory of saying 8216;I had a show in Paris8217;. I think I8217;ve moved on,8217;8217; says the artist who once had a studio in Paris where SH Raza, Ramkumar and he burnt the midnight oil to discover 8216;modernity8217; in art. Then it was a three-piece suit and slicked-back hair, now the simple white tee and wild salt and pepper head say it all.
While many of his collectors aren8217;t Indian8212;one of the most ardent is a Japanese businessman Masonari Fukuoka8212;Padamsee believes that the Internet is a potent tool when it comes to selling art works. 8216;8216;If I want to showcase my work abroad I prefer to have an exhibition at a museum, not some hole-in-the-wall gallery. I8217;m not concerned what the man on the street in Paris thinks about my paintings,8217;8217; says Padamsee, packing his grey VIP briefcase and slipping into the busy street with the soft deft movements of a man who is done with hurrying in life.
