2nd April 2016, Saturday – 16th April 2016, Saturday
I CELEBRATE was artist Randhir Khare’s 7th Solo Exhibition. Stunning in the range of techniques that it revealed, this show by the distinguished Pune-based artist, poet and folklorist delighted each and every visitor with its innovative use of line, colour and medium. Though widely varied in its many forms of expression, his work was held together by the powerful theme of celebration.
There was a multi-media presentation following the inauguration that explained the concept of The Book of Life, and visitors were encouraged to creatively contribute to the community installation on the theme. “I celebrate through line and colour, the world inside me and the world outside me. I mirror the earth and the web of life that it reveals to me,” said the artist.
THE BOOK OF LIFE: Gyaan Adab’s on-going Community Art Project inspired by Randhir Khare’s art displayed the work of numerous children, young people and adults who celebrate their own lives. Visitors will be encouraged to experience the artist’s work then contribute their own visuals and words on special handmade paper that will be provided to them. Students, teachers, parents and individuals alike came in and did their bit of community work. One could see the joy spread on their face as they used different colors, mediums and lines to express themselves. You can find the work of the plethora of visitors who’d come and contributed to the Book of Life in the images shown below.
About The Artist: Randhir Khare’s art is in private collections in India, South East Asia, England, Ireland, USA and Canada and his drawings have been used in many of his own books for children and adults alike. He has helped children, young people and adults to express themselves through the arts and find their own voice.
The video link for this event shall be put up shortly!
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Randhir Khare introducing students to the concept and theme of his exhibition.
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The Book of Life at work!
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Even teachers contributed to The Book of Life!
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Gyaan Adab’s on-going Community Art Project inspired by Randhir Khare’s art displayed the work of numerous children, young people and adults who celebrate their own lives.
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Randhir Khare talks about ‘I CELEBRATE’ during the inauguration.
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An audio-visual presentation explained the concept of The Book of Life to those present.
The Art Of Randhir Khare –
In pen and ink, acrylic & mixed medium on paper and canvas
Stunning in their range of technique, line, form and colour, the works on display celebrated through line and colour the world within us as well as the world outside us.
According to the artist, ‘That which is inside me is enclosed in circles, floating prehistoric forms merging and separating, interlocking, dissolving into orbs of energy. Each element becoming symbolic of all that makes me who I am. That which is outside me is alive with intricate patterns that nature is made up of. I mirror the earth and the web of life that it reveals to me. I work with pen and ink on paper, and ink and acrylic on canvas. The surfaces of paper and canvas aren’t large but deep and intense. The work on show is roughly divided into three parts: Mandalas Of My Heart, Mountain Births & Earth Lines.’
Khare’s meticulous yet energetic pen and ink drawings powerfully reflect both the personal as well as the collective and without crowding spaces he manages to invest his visual creations with expanded symbology. ‘ When a line begins to move across blank space, it charts a pristine path – creating on its way a passage of certainty… A line gains life when you allow it to catch its own flow, which in fact is your flow. You need to trust lines when you give yourself to them.’
On the other hand, his use of colour on paper, canvas board and canvas is muscular and exuberant – colour and textures revealing themselves with astonishing rhythm and balance. ‘Colour offers me new ways to express myself as I journey along my path of light and dark.
Sometimes, when I work with colour with my fingertips and palms on paper and canvas, I can feel the touching and stroking of my skin on the surface, releasing the colour, spreading, dabbing and gently flowing – colours kneaded into colours, releasing new tones and textures, birth and rebirth merging and separating and the great pulse of the surface beginning to throb into life.
Then the time of letting go – fingertips and palms moving away. When I look at my palms I can see the way in which the paint highlights the mesh of patterns on my skin the universe of myself.’
THE BOOK OF LIFE
A highlight of this exhibition was the BOOK OF LIFE project inspired by Randhir Khare’s art on display. Visitors of all ages were invited to experience the artist’s work and then contribute their own visuals and words which celebrate their own lives on special handmade paper that was provided to them. Children and young people from eight city schools as well as well as people of all ages participated and their art adorned Gyaan Adab’s event area.
