‘Art is an Artefact’

“My work itself is an invention,an artefact. There is an aspect of the cinematic,staging of an event and theatricality here,’’ the artist puts people in configurations to make meaning. But where does meaning lie?

“In the grey space. A rt lies in potentiality,with nothing definite and ambiguity continues in my work,’’ Kaleka moves to a lithograph which shows a man with a distorted face,with mirrors reflecting more images,‘The Conjurer’ shows a man making fire,the glow in the painting so stark and real.

In the painting,‘The Old Restaurant Gets a New Wing,’ Kaleka plays with light to highlight the old arches and new extensions,with the teapots lighted up! Androgynous figures reappear frequently in Kaleka’s work,as do old characters,with unabashed frontal nudity adding complexity and not sexuality to the work.

Kaleka’s portraits of women are bold,attractive,sophisticated,“there’s so much potential in kitsch and the bizarre,’’ Kalekar moves to the reflective ‘Women With Lizard’,the women’s faces and bodies curve in such a way that the viewer becomes part of the circle.

The anti-Sikh riots and 9/11 attacks become the reference point for a work which portrays an old man cutting his beard,“I was told my by travel agent to cut my beard after these attacks,’’ recalls Kalekar.

Time gone by and yet to come becomes the central point in many of Kalekar’s work,with the search,wait and anticipation of the people real and affecting,“a painting has skin,gravity,body. It begins to speak to you and allows you to enter its space. I like to play with light in my work and young artists too must improvise and make the best of everything,’’ Kalekar shows a series of staged digital photographs,which he prints on canvas and which he then paints on,to create new dynamics and energies.

The Conference of Birds and Beasts is a work of depth and expanse that highlights the need for introspection,there is a series of ‘Family Pictures’,‘The Anticipation of Immigrants’ and complex video installations titled Crossings,Man With a Cockerel and Sweet Unease,where food becomes the metaphor for life and the projected wrestling of characters the way we deal with life,“I am not a filmmaker,but an artist who finds various tools to create art than just restrict myself to one form of art. These various tools have also done away with the hierarchies in art and the aspiration to work with new media continues,’’ Kalekar’s two video installations are on display at the Museum.