Art Is A Visual Affair
The Buddha in him has been rekindled again, as Bihar- based artist Sanjay Kumar is back after an 11-year hiatus to showcase his imagination of Buddha. One of the most striking features of the exhibit is an installation displaying a bowl full of arms and ammunitions. While the entire exhibition talks of Lord Buddha, this installation propagates his preaching of non-violence.
And perhaps it’s an ideal time to do so. Agrees Sanjay, “It’s a mere coincidence that the exhibition coincided with the 26/11 anniversary. The message I’m trying to convey through this piece of work is quite relevant in today’s world. The installation encourages people to give up non-violent practices and settle for piece. It’s not possible for me to get every individual to do so, but people who see my work can atleast inculcate the preaching. That’s why the guns, grenades and other ammunitions that advocate non-violence are shown dumped into the container”.
Sanjay, who is presently exhibiting his paintings and installations titled ‘The Silent Sermon’ at the Tao Art Gallery, has always been painting images of Buddha. However, his version of the spiritual leader, often regarded as God, is indeed a different one. His Buddha is adorned with ornaments, and has a neck which is longer than the one seen in most images and sculptures of the sage. In fact, according to the ancient Buddhist school of art, features of the Buddha are to be strictly portrayed in a specific manner, without any ornaments. But Sanjay begs to differ. “A lot of people know who Buddha is and how the spiritual leader looks, In spite of this they have liked and appreciated the version of Buddha,” he argues Buddha is so beautiful and the ornament enhance his beauty. The long neck too is to place the ornaments and thereby increases the effect of the work.
“There is no harm doing so. It does not damage his personality in any way,” he states, continuing, Buddha comes from a family of kings and would have been a Prince had he not renounced the world and attain moksh. He would have then been adorned with ornaments, just like you see him in my works. Like Raavan’s 10 heads depict his intelligence, in the same way, the ornaments depict Buddha’s beauty. The purpose is not to decorate Buddha, I just portray him the way I visualize him. Art is a visual affair after all”.
His works narrate Buddha’s life history, from his days in the palace to his days in the woods. In certain works, Sanjay has used the Madhubani style of painting, a folk art form hailing from Bihar, that depict royal courts and social events such as royal weddings.
And what is ‘The Silent Sermon’? “Discourses are given by speaking, but monks speak to their students only through their silence. And Lord Buddha was a master of silent sermons. Visual art too is the same. It needs to be seen to be understood. It’s for people to perceive what they want,” Sanjay Concludes.
