an artist may have woven complex tapestry of thought behind it.
At times the process leaves a pain, which has no name.
It is said, 'The most simple is the most difficult thing'.
021. 24’’x24’’, Acrylic on canvas, UntitledInspiRED WindowsPravina Mecklai, Jamaat Art Gallery, Mumbai
I first met Krishna when he breezed into JAMAAT with a cheerful smile and politely handed me a CD, asking me to have a look at his images at my leisure. This was quite a change from the other brash artists who swagger into the gallery and demand your immediate attention.
A good beginning, that only got better.
When I did have a look at his CD, [which I did immediately after he left] , I was so impressed with his work . The vibrant colours, the sharp forms, the sophisticated compositions. I called him to come over and have a chat.
Coming from a small village in Maharashtra, Krishna’s inspirations are from nature. The reflections and movements on water in shallow ponds. The stones gleaming under the ripples. The feel and fabric of flowers and petals. Inspirations also come from the textured walls of an aging structure. The walls are man-made, but the ravages on it are from nature. Similarly with dusty, rusty metal pieces. Man makes the metal, nature gives it the patina. These variants in texture and surfaces are what fascinated him.
But Krishna had moved from his idyllic childhood village home. Krishna was now in Bombay. He was awed by the tall high rises, the sky scraping towers. His open childhood vistas were now framed by the windows of his city space. His perception changed. His perspective had shifted.
Krishna wanted to use these two influences so strong in his mind and heart. The textures inspired by nature. The strong geometrics of the city. His works had sharp lines demarcating his canvas. They separated the vibrant planes of colours, which were so interestingly textured on his canvas.
It was a joyous meeting of two distinct effects. A jugalbandi of the two India’s -the rural and the urban. Krishna composed these paintings in windows. A frame within a frame. This was how he looked at his worlds, keeping things in perspective.
Krishna is very conscious of his environs and reacts to them. Springtime, and Holi is celebrated with exuberant splashes of colour –reds, blues, greens, yellows playing with each other. As people splashed colour on each other, Krishna splashed paint on his canvas. Autumn brings Diwali – with the warm glow of red, orange, gold and yellow.
Krishna has certainly found his genre, and, a large group of admirers and buyers
And through all this, he continues to teach at the JJ Institute of Applied Art. An artist who is also a teacher, is what makes Krishna the special person he is.
He portrays all this through his “ InspiRED Windows “………
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022. 24’’x24’’, Acrylic on canvas, UntitledEmbracing the Mystic AbstractAshish Vilekar, Mumbai
It is not the desperate urge of progressive simplification, compulsive proposals of catharsize emotions or complex equations of frame of references that support his pictures. The world of colours, their vibrating notions and his fascination for abstraction lead him towards the mystic land of 'The Abstract Art'. That is what I know about Krishna Pulkundwar.
Embracing the mystic Abstract with a statement “I do not intend to say. I wish to present.” An artist invites troublesome tense moments. Still he is expected to continue his journey without surrendering his conscious to those tormenting moments. Krishna also went through this phase. His initial work did reflect the same.
Krishna spent his childhood in the lap of nature; from there he landed in the multi cultured mega city. The city structured with artificial, mechanical components. It was difficult to tune in so was his reaction. Krishna tried to reduce the pressure through landscapes, the only link that reminded him of his previous past. But who can define and interpret the versions of frequent changes occurring in ones mindset? The disturbances lead him to the unknown region of 'The Abstract.' Through the mist of disturbances Krishna glimpsed the visual possibilities.
Accompanied by a fistful of childhood treasures Krishna traveled through the distant land of
'The Abstract.' The restricted nature of the mega city was creating tensions against his past. The volume of the mega city rose higher and occupied the canvas. There were no human beings...just noisy levels of volume and its occupancies. The impressions of his past however showed their presence without making any noise. The aged tree trunks, crushed walls, stones, fauna and the shallow riverbed painted the sea of his vision on his soul. Tensions and stress caused by these two morphed in to his paintings. Krishna accepted their presence.
What exactly does his painting say? When an artist himself declares that he has nothing to say and nothing to convey! What should an onlooker look for? It was exactly here that the crowded, vibrant mega city colours raised their voice and noise to declare their existence. In the restricted walls of the mega city an artist's treasure awkwardly occupied its place!
Why does the crowd dominate? Why a single co-ordinating alliance with the crowded city couldn't appear in the whole picture? Is it continuous denial to the co-existence? Or is it the mutual agreement between the two of them to stay in their restricted areas of freedom? A satisfactory answer to these questions would be further extensions of Krishna's journey.
In the mysterious region of The Abstract Art, equations do not help to unveil mystery! Interpretations and meanings lead to further confusions and debates. Constant occurrence of questions is the only key to open these doors, because the region of The Abstract Art is full of constructed mirage and it still haunts people since it is forbidden. Krishna has stepped in to such a land of mystery and misery.
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