Art
Gardens in Minimal Lines
Untitled 34, watercolour on paper, 20x27cm, 2012.
Ganesh Haloi's works on paper, featuring black as the dominant colour, make wonderful use of petals of nature, which seem like objects flying in the air. The artist simplifies nature using geometric shapes such as squares, triangles, circles, lines of waves and dots. This is best exemplified by the triangular shapes in his works that seem like fans spreading out on paper. Haloi does what the painters of the sixties would do, i.e. expressing thoughts through simplicity. Artists like Picasso and Braque saw everything in geometrical forms. Simplicity was the defining factor in their works.
Haloi makes extensive use of black in his works, as he believes that black represents colour and not just add to the dramatics of a painting.
The artist, Haloi, who is originally from Jamalpur, Mymensingh, moved to India in 1950, following the partition. He grew up in refuge camps, searching constantly for food and shelter. As a child, Haloi went through a traumatic period when he and his parents sought refuge in Kolkata and the trauma of his uprooting can be seen in his works.
Another painting of Haloi's is held within a grey square with lines drawn on both sides; a green line can be seen on the left side of the painting. Another work features an abstraction which almost looks like a face of a person in a mauve backdrop. The painting is complete with squiggles on top and a flower in white with its stem coloured in green and mauve. Next we see an abstraction in black. There appears to be a hint of a figure on both sides of the painting. Flowers are shaped from what appear to be alphabets and numbers. Another work shows a collection of flowers, falling in a straight, single line. There are grey dots, representing parts of plants, at the back; the painting also features triangles, some black and others grey, sitting on top of another. There are squiggles in between in black which represent flowers being held upwards. These are seen in a frame of grey.
The next painting shows objects flying from the ground to the sky in the form of delicate lines. This image too is a representation of paintings from the sixties, as it uses geometrical figures to portray elements from a garden. Similarly, we see strips of black in the bottom of the painting to appear as if a broom was cut up. In one corner is a collection of delicate greys. Next we see an abstraction, developed perhaps from letters from which emanate a branch of small fruits, cascading all over in abundance. The squiggle painted from one end of the painting to the other shows constant movement while the delicate seeming flags represent a feeling of rejoice. The complete painting uses black, grey and white as the predominant colours.
Untitled 47, watercolour on paper, 26x34cm, 2012.
Ganesh Haloi's latest painting exhibition, organised in collaboration with Akar Prakar Gallery in Kolkata and the Daily Prothom Alo at the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, was held to raise funds for an art centre in the artist's original home town in Jamalpur. The exhibition titled 'Rhythm of Reality' feature geometric shapes displayed on canvas in a clumsy manner. His paintings merge colours with the geometric shapes; we get triangles in colours as diverse as burnt-sienna, emerald and ruby-red. Most of the paintings are framed in grey; while some feature square motifs of hand-made paper, others feature chrome yellow and jade lines with smudges of green and grey.
“Nature loves everyone with an equal amount of affection. In front of my house there are vast expanses of gardens,” says Haloi, who has achieved many awards as recognition of his talent. “As I was born in Jamalpur, the forests, birds and animals of that place have become an integral and nostalgic part of me,” he adds.
Referring to Nietzshe's philosophy of 'return to nature,' Haloi too believes that mankind cannot exist without nature. “In our cement jungles of multi-storied buildings and no room to take a walk or for children to play, the situation is grievous. The pollution in our rivers, such as the Ganges is intolerable. Fields that are covered with grass today, took thousands of years to grow green and fertile. It cannot be right to cover them with slabs of concrete,” Haloi says.
Haloi moans that when houses used to be built earlier, special care would be taken to ensure that nature was not covered or stifled. He uses the example of the river Ganges stating that even though it is considered to be sacred and holy, it has become polluted over time. “The waste of the factories is thrown into the river just as I'm sure it is done over here. I wonder what progress the Industrial Revolution has brought about. I cannot quite measure the time factor, in half an hour I can fly from Kolkata to here. Had I walked, it might have taken me six months. Huan Tsang walked for three years to examine our Indian Subcontinent. You cannot quite compare time in the past with the present times,” says Haloi.
Haloi's use of geometric shapes is a conscious decision to depict nature in a unique manner. “When geometrical forms take the part of nature, they only simplify the shapes in nature. I do not copy nature, as seen in photographs. There are diagonal lines and vertical lines, and some crosses and circles. If I throw the geometrical shapes in a square—it will appear to look like a landscape. My work is in black and white, as one can see colour in both black and white, just like in the portrait of a person,” explains Haloi.
Asked about his teachers and students who studied alongside him, the maestro Haloi said, “All those people who studied with me or a year or two before, or after, achieved fame and made a name for themselves. Shorbori Rai Chowdhury, who was my classmate, and Shokti Bormon, who lives in Paris, are well-known. Gonesh Pyne is also among those who made a name for themselves. Bikash Bhattacharya, who is junior to me, falls in this category of reputed personalities. In the sixties period, artists who came forward, all won feathers in their caps.”
Talking about paintings in general, he says that if one is doing some work that belongs to any one topic, the work then becomes a series. Using his own work as an example, he says that when he works on nature continuously, it can be a series as he is working towards a point.
Touching the subject of galleries and their dictates, the artist nonpareil says that sometimes galleries do tell the artist to paint in a particular way or work on a particular subject for the paintings to sell easily. Certain forms and shapes and colours are more in demand than others, the maestro says. Some accept the advice and dictates while others go their own way.
“In I950, we left East Bengal and faced many difficulties, like most uprooted refugees. I wanted to exhibit my large paintings in Bangladesh but have been unable to do so, as even the framing was done from across the border. The paintings have no glass but plastic sheets to make the items non-breakable. This exhibition was basically organised to create awareness about art.”
The accomplished artist was encouraged by his mother and art teacher Ghafur Miah to engage actively in his love for art. He studied at the Kolkata Government Art College and says that he enjoyed studying there. “When I taught at the Art College, my colleagues egged me on. Today, I'm a freelancer, painting at my will at the age of 77,” smiles the artist.
“He never tried to imitate nature for the purpose of beautification. He has a philosophy behind his work, spectacularly Buddhism. He had conflicts, both personal and cultural, as he grew up. His art grows from an inward fulfilment. The simplicity we see, took time to master. The simplification came through years of practice,” says art critic Mrinal Ghosh.
Most of the works displayed in this exhibition was painted in 2012. The others were taken from collections from 2005 to 2009. The strong geometrical lines and shapes in his work display supernatural elements. We see the play of light and shade in his works. The geometric lines left on the blank background portray the vastness of nature, showing how the artist glides with time.
Ganesh Haloi's exhibition began on August 28 and will continue until September 8 at the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts in Dhanmondi.
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