Rediscovering the Rampart Row cul-de-sac is rewarding. This man put his neck on the block to retain the Sassoon building from demolition post a fire. It is a fine structure of yore and his terrace sweeps a birds eye view of the heritage area. Sadly, none of the new shops in the precinct seem to know the location beyond their cute establishments. Francis Corla, the signboard on the ground floor indicates the wooden flight of steps to his abode. Carrying forth the decades of experience in block printing is what motivates Francis to archive the narrative of his vast collection of blocks and swatches in eye-catching colours. The final impression is refined and sharp as the wooden blocks have been meticulously crafted with metal embeddings in a series of 4 or more stages to create the finished design. This is good news for our handcrafted handloom and deserves a museum in its own right. Lest we forget the legacy and succumb to the cheaper imitations that beguile our senses, may the handcrafted repository reach out in education.
Umrao Jaan Returns
In the 80s, I viewed Bhanurekha Ganesan acquire an evergreen classic aura. Movie buffs were struck by her selection of ornate jari saris, bejewelled with traditional ‘Jhumkas’, the statutory jasmine tied around her bun and her kohl adorned doe eyes. She was a vision to behold on screen and stayed as an unattainable mirage, an aspiration. The lasting impact of her ethereal performance in ‘Umrao Jaan” is iconic as is the cameo in Muzaffar Ali’s film presented by S.K. Jain. I red-circled the re-release of the 4k restored version by NFDC-NFAI. The movie viewing was marked by a coffee table book with essays from Rekha, Raj Babbar, Priti Vyas. I had to reclaim, up and close, a memory that is etched in my mind forever. Co-author Satya embodies her serene presence of my media memory archive since the 80s. Meera Ali and she bring out the captivating book enriched with images from the movie.
Variations on a Tide
It’s a sunshine Saturday and the Ebb and Flow of the day have cast a euphoric spell. Thankfully the crowds that throng Bandstand have not discovered Rekha’s cove, Sea Springs. I revisited ‘Variations on a Tide’ at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke.. This was on the heels of being sent off the cordoned promenade due to high tide and strong winds,Call it optimism or stupidity, the rain Gods are inclined my favour as I head without an umbrella. It was awesome to view the fury of the waves, the magic of the surf and the vibrance of the Sun, Skies and Sea collate. Each work sweeps you with its emotion. In a heartbeat beat you are in tandem with the religion of Nature.
Aji V N’s communion with Nature is exceptional. It translates into his works. The charcoal medium lends a subtle finish aced by Aji’s mastery of the process. The journey from his early days as part of the Bombay group with Artist and Curator Bose Krishnamachari has been lit with clarity, be it medium or process.
“Drawing for me is connected to the earth and to all matter–charcoal is dust, and so working with dust one feels a part of the act of creation –unto dust.
You don’t get that in oil painting.
There is a romance to the pigment…
It is different from the dustiness of drawing.”
Aji’s roots in Kerala instinctively surface in his elephants in the waves. The room of waves spell desire, “To me, waves are a form of desire, they are continuously approaching, embracing you.”
My favourite artwork is the step ladder to climb the tree. It captures the time he has spent in the Netherlands. I believe Nature is the manifestation of Divinity. The turmeric hues of flowering foliage with its plaid of roots in water reveal this mystic. Go visit and let the work do the talking, anew at each visit.
“I try to bring silence in the painting.
When you make a painting which is really silent, then actually you start hearing another sound.”
On till 26 July
On the new Subcontinent
Wishlist met. I checkout the new ‘Subcontinent.’ Fort has a formidable entrant in the gallery space. Among the veteran artists on display the artworks of Rekha Rodwittya and her husband Surendran Nair adorn the walls alongwith a soulful Sakti Burman. The collection speaks of how Art is here to stay bigger and out there for all to partake. Great names, lovely view what more can you ask for?
Viva Sao Joao
Celebrating the Monsoon festival of Sao Joao in Bombaim literally meant taking the plunge in the deliciously warm blue pool water at Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana in Khar, Mumbai. The OG is the sacred ritual conducted to baptise Jesus by his cousin John the Baptist in the River Jordan. The festival symbolically carries on with a dip in water bodies in and around Goa.
First things first. For my ‘koppel’ or crown I assembled fresh frangipani/plumeria/champa which is Goa’s state flower over the optional fiery reds of the Mayflower or gulmohar from the neighbourhood. The stroke of luck was a tree with white flowers blushing a shade of lemon yellow as the pinkish red one near me was leaf abundant with the rain. Refreshed with the swim, some Konkani mandos and yum Goan food my yearning left room for ‘Holle’ or “Donne’. Until then I catch up with a fragrant mutton Xacuti, yellow raisin studded yellow pulao, tambdi bhaji and Seradura. Clearly we savour our cuisine. Quien Sera, sway me more!
Art Basel and Mumbai Monsoon
Shireen Gandhi takes Chemould Prescott Road’s representation of fine Indian artists to Art Basel 2025 for the 15th year! As she keeps elevating the experience here in Mumbai, stay with me as I catch up with the myriad monsoon collections.
A composite that is representative of 18 of their creator stack is TARQ. Each artist’s creation has a process sketchbook and material that accompanies the practice to its outcome. You almost revise the familiarity of the works of the last two years, Rithika Merchant’s folded journal illustrations stand up to reveal her outstanding illustration backed by the related family narrative behind it. Sam Kulavoor has beloved Bombay through his ‘City as a Collage’. The curators have put together the works without forcing a thread of a theme to tie them together titled ‘The Artist As’. Co-curator Vaidehi Gohil points out to the theme of identity in Soghra Khurasani’s ‘Ehsasat’ where in the palms of her daughter recur in her works among other insightful details of the varied creations.
On till 14 August 2025
The Art of Being Foolishly in love with Art
Blame it on the gravitational pull of Visual Art. Call it optimism or stupidity, the rain Gods are inclined in my favour as I head without an umbrella.Be I in West early morn and East by noon, I end up in SoBo. On an insanely hectic Wednesday my feet propel me to view Akara Modern’s ‘Echoes of Bengal: A Collector’s Legacy’ and then Chatterjee & Lal’s antiquities titled ‘Building the Past, an architect collector. The 45th Monsoon collection by a motley of artists fills the venerable Jehangir Art Gallery. Sadly my return train ticket is junked as I juggle Mom stuff, am well fed by a young team of Cadre at Hill Road and can’t return to 47A’s ‘Mentoring Magic’. Added to this week’s wishlist.
What made the trek worthwhile was Sushma Kothari’s solo show ‘Ink and Kin’ at Hirji gallery at JAG. Her print making depth relay details of memory in a sensitive manner. Her story of her fixation with the humble cauliflower yields transformation of the ordinary phool gobhi into an objet d’art. Each cluster of prints derives context from the linocut plate used to render them. The blue series of family photo prints capture her familial narrative. These are over her time in Mumbai and San Francisco.
On till 6th July.
June Curtain Call
While I am still hung up over rainwashed Mayflowers in June, Gallery Pradarshak turned 31 on the 9th of June 2025. The celebration takes over the 4th of July to coincide with a young man’s milestone at the intersection of the creative industries and law. He is one who has endeared me to retain the sunshine in the mundRAIN. Meanwhile, my help punctuates my morning with, “How many garlics?” to break the lingering spell cast by Umrao Jaan.