Sanjay Kumar Unbound by Maria Louis

Rhythm and hues.... these two words spring to mind when confronted by the fluid figures and fantasy-laden world that characterize the canvases of the reticent and unpretentious Sanjay Kumar. Some artists can be very eloquent in their enthusiasm to convey their concerns or the effectiveness of their chosen medium. Here is one who prefers to let his paintings do the talking.
Fortunately for him, they do!

His canvases speak volumes about his search to answers to existential conundrums. Movement, a symbol of life, is an almost tangible aspect - be it the fluidity of bodily gestures frozen in his figures, the dreamlike sequences exposed to the harsh light of day, or the fleeting emotions captured in his faces. Having mastered the art of depicting the realistic in his early days of struggle, the artist now leaves that to what he considers the more capable medium of photography. He has found the courage to surrender unconditionally to flights of fancy ... and the rare confidence to bare his soul.

And so, Sanjay Kumar's recent body of work reveals a vivid imagination charged by the forces of the supernatural while he grapples with the nature. For instance, Dancing around the Moon, a predominantly blue canvas that takes recourse to fanciful delight in the rhythmic forms of the human body circling the sensuous moon, displays this freedom from worldly shackles. Time Unbound is more grounded in reality and uses the language of corporal through the passionately red figures trying to hold on to the temporal as represented by the clock.

The many hues of Colour speak as evocatively in his works as the rhythm of movement does. This is especially evident in Checkmate, where he uses different colours to emphasize the varied expressions and emotions running through the faces of each of the three players as they win or lose in this parody of a game of chance that could very well be life itself.

While imagery is what is significant to this artist who looks upon technique as secondary, an examination of the latter is important for a true appreciation of his work. He has experimented a great deal, having worked on canvas and paper with water colours, oils and acrylics. Rarely using the brush, he resorts to the more tactile feel of the rag.... and employs the palette knife when he feels the urge to lend texture to surface.

But what this Allahabad-born-and-bred artist finds most fascinating is the rusticity of wood and its ruggedness of character, so much like his own before it was polished by an exposure to the classical arts and poetry thanks to the influence of his erudite father, a teacher and post-graduate in English Literature. No wonder he works so hard on designing the frames for each painting, revealing the grain, exposing the texture and etching words into the surface in accordance with the image it contains.

Simple....but far from simplistic, his subjects display a unique confluence of motion and emotion, passion and compassion, the real and the unreal; while his technique results in a harmonious blend of surface and depth, light and shade.

Unassuming and retiring though he is, Sanjay Kumar does not shy away from the ugliness that surrounds us. He is as bold in the subjects he addresses and his approach to them as his colours are in their vibrancy. Consider Dormant Desire, a reflection on the ugly undercurrents that motivate man to indulge in acts he would not even entertain in his conscious state. The artist does not cloak his statements in the garb of nicety.
He is unafraid to call a spade a spade.

For that, for his unrelenting quest for truth in pursuit of a chosen vocation that can often be a cruel master, and for nurturing his unquestionable talent and skill in giving shape to the nebulous realm of the imagery, he has earned his share of the spotlight on the stage of contemporary Indian art.
Inspired by a variety of classical European painting styles - be it the realistic depiction of movement in the human body and the emotions it reflects, or the surrealistic touches that uplift the images to a higher realm. He believes that the true art is born out of an infusion of fantasy into reality. He resists even flattering comparisons to Byzantine art and would rather not be pigeonholed as that would infringe upon his freedom. Here, then, is Sanjay Kumar Unbound...

The writer is art critic, columnist and freelance writer/editor