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THE ART AWAKENING!By Joanne Pinto Pereira
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THE ART AWAKENING!By Joanne Pinto Pereira

Aug 02-Aug 08, 2025, JO-GO ART August 1, 2025 , by

ARTISTS convey what the mind’s eye sees and keeps you woke. I let out a big sigh for having missed the Jehangir Sabavala Memorial Lecture, “Show and Tell” by Mort Chatterjee. For an artist, his audience and patronage are paramount. The talk covered with rare peeks of private and institutional artworks, a preliminary mapping of collecting and commissioning strategies of Indian art over the last century.
The Artist in Focus is my creator’s table of impactful art. The purpose ingrained in creative expression could relay a personal or collective journey. It is an accolade to the resilience of those who endure to stay the course.

Shan Re: Layered Consciousness
 SHAN RE has conceived her abstract series from a close encounter at the edge of life. Her awakening led to her artistic vision. “Layered Consciousness” is a visual exploration of environmental awareness and ecological sustainability.
Says the Bengaluru-based artist who has travelled a long list of countries to exhibit her work, “I try to explore the complex relationships between humanity and nature through abstraction using textured layers to symbolise our evolution. Bold colours meet and blend, reflecting our struggle between consumption and conservation. The artworks capture our critical moment where awareness must evolve into transformation if we have to achieve true ecological sustainability.”

Connecting through Colour
 “COLOUR is the powerful language through which I create my narratives. I use vibrant, bold colours to evoke emotions, set moods, and create visual impact, to convey energy and intensity, while softer, harmonious colour palettes evoke a sense of tranquility and balance. The juxtaposition of colours and their interactions within the artwork can be visually stimulating and emotionally resonant,” says Shan.
She explains, “Abstract art is not about understanding — it is a language that does not use words, yet it speaks directly to the heart. I believe that by embracing art in our daily lives, we can cultivate empathy, creativity, and a deeper appreciation for life.”

Art for Therapy
 WHILE Shan has a list of commissioned work, including by the Maharajah Srikantadatta Wadiyar, Royal House of Mysore, Kochi International Airport, Business Jet Lounge, Kochi and the JW Marriott at Golfshire, she is driven to art as a tool for wellness. Her journey brought sensitivity to use her visual artistry and advocate for the medium of art for mental health wellbeing.

Feisal Kills It
FEISAL Alkazi’s theatre and stage expertise were evident at the launch and readings of his novel “The Artful Murders” on July 24, 2025 as a part of Literature Live. This is an author who clearly has been absorbing human behaviour and not just describing it. The reading of excerpts made you feel like the characters were gesticulating in the setting alongside. The effortless build up of the plot had him complete a substantial part of the sequel as contracted with publishers “Speaking Tiger.”
The conversation that followed between him and Shabnam Minawalla, journalist and author, was an insight into the process that accords Delhi-based Feisal his long innings in captivating his audiences. A befitting reward for those who made it in the rain to The Little Theatre, NCPA.

Tyeb Mehta Centennial
THE language of humanity is what this remarkable artist professes. Tyeb Mehta’s seminal works of “The Falling Figure” are rooted in the trauma of the partition of India in 1947 and the post-Independence struggle for survival, both personal and collective.
“The Trussed Bull” speaks of his recurring themes of violence and suffering, as does his “Woman on Rickshaw,” which conveys the paradox of the rickshaw puller. These prints, along with his diagonal series, form part of the “Tyeb Mehta’s Centenary Limited Edition Portfolio” launched on his 100th birth anniversary on July 26, 2025 at Jehangir Art Gallery by the Tyeb Mehta and Saffron Art Foundations.
Each of these artworks has created records in terms of valuation and is a great acquisition for a collector’s portfolio. Recently, the 1956 artwork went under the hammer for a record value of INR61.80 cr. Like his artist peers, the Progressives, Tyeb learnt to paint with limited resources. The artist was mentored by Charles Gerrard, the principal of Bombay’s Sir JJ School of Art, in the decade leading up to India’s Independence in 1947. His centennial was marked with scholarships for two students from the institution.
His legacy was commemorated by a lecture by Ranjit Hoskote. It paid homage to the remarkable artist whose influence has shaped Indian modern art, and as importantly, is a commentary on India at the cusp of Independence and after. As I took the train back, the reflection that hit home was the triumph of his persevering expression. It surmounted the struggles that birthed his artistic vision. The 100th year of his birth reminds us of the wealth of documentation, visual essays on the social fabric at a critical point.
Tyeb Mehta is known to have once said, “You see, with myths one cannot be in a hurry. They should settle into the memory so that you can stop and dwell on them at length.” For the artist, though, it was a tryst with harsh reality, the turning point of history, and the many emotional dimensions of a nation and its people. The distorted expressions of his protagonists convey raw emotions. This fragility comes through his metaphoric use of the bird and other animals.
“I did the first drawing of the bird as far back as 1983, but as I went along, I generally began to feel that the bird always flies, so why not make it fall – it’s a contradiction in terms. The bird can be made without bringing in flying because that has a different kind of body-lifting movement. Falling means you have more or less given up. It’s an interesting idea because I work on fragmentation. It’s one of my preoccupations.”

What will you do for the forest?
RESTORING the Art of Living of yore is the new awakening. The world has reason to hope with mindful attempts to conserve heirloom, ancient grains, and indigenous food cultures. I am in reverence for earth’s memory. It is what keeps our gut health in fine fettle, and likewise the soil and environment. In focus were the forests of the Sahyadri range and its traditional harvests. Again, the abundance of programming led me to go in early to Sarmaya Museum to catch up with OOO’s initiative to safeguard the future of India’s wild foods and prevent them and eventually us from extinction. Of the 6,500 seeds they have managed to acquire in their seed bank, over 4,000 varieties of rice only.
The takeaway for me is that our seeds and grain belong to the earth and its people. They are not for anyone to patent. I had to miss the insightful conversation between Chef Thomas Zacharias, Shailesh Awate, Co-founder, OOO Farms and Gayatri Desai, culinary researcher and founder, Ground Up. Pune, but will view the recording and so can you.

Coming Up
A WOMAN who has quietly impacted the art world over four decades, in particular, photography, is Niyatee Shinde.
Niyatee launches the 1st edition of Women in Photography (WiP) curated by her, in collaboration with Farleys, UK, as the inaugural partner. Structured to be an annual initiative by the ZiiP Foundation that is committed to the upliftment of women photographers and the ecosystems that sustain their practices.
Her curation hosts a cohort of 25 Indian women photographers whose practices reflect the expansive range of approaches —documentary, conceptual, performative, and interdisciplinary — that define contemporary photography.
“Over my decades of working in the field, I’ve had the privilege of engaging with women photographers from across India and the world. Time and again, I’ve witnessed how structural barriers — lack of visibility, institutional support, and global platforms —continue to shape the careers of women practitioners. WiP is a response to this imbalance, and a step toward reimagining a more equitable photographic canon,” sums Niyatee’s raison d’être.
The exhibition at Farleys opens on August 5 and is on until October 31, 2025.

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