Metropolis Moorings

Stories define artists and in addition give credibility to their ideas, no matter how incredulous. Stories also reassure us and challenge us. From complex metaphorical images to simple observational studies they are both a product of our attempt to gain understanding while simultaneously being an agent that drives and influences our perceptions. Kalicharan’s works assembled in these series of representational abstractions reflect a microcosm of experiences and points of view of life in a metropolis that emphasize the powerful effectiveness of the visual as a tool for contemporary discourse. “Over the years my works were born out of my observations of people that I saw in places that I had visited,’says Kalicharan.” I have always had an interest in studying working populations wherever I went. From that interest my observations always went deeper into their lifestyles and the simplicity of their everyday being. Years ago I had gone to Orissa –and visited the Behrampur district-I saw the tribals-I was deeply moved by their lifestyle. They stored grains in one place-and they lived on the principle of sharing –each family picked what they needed –I was amazed at the idea of selflessness. Over the next few days I realized that their lives were moulded according to their to their needs and they did everything according to the little they had.Everything they did was for daily sustenance.Then over the past few years I came to Delhi saw that suddenly in the name of development there is an upheaval.The way I looked at life changed.My works became a testimony to the upheaval I saw and experienced-wherever I looked I saw a change of the skyline-so I created my ideation of the concrete jungles-its like a peep into buildings-the glimpse of the curtains of existence.All over the world –open spaces are vanishing-we are becoming victims to not just global warming but even man’s greed-there is no breathing space .” Looking at the canvasses we realize that Kalicharan is giving us a visual narrative of tackling issues of the environment, fine lines and colour zones and dark and light tonalities sometimes spookily rendered , give rise to thoughts of global warming and man’s current rate of effect on planet Earth. With his From the Window series it is as if he has painted the sky and the scene that is reflected in chaotic confusion . Closer scrutiny show that we could think of many things –it could be a factory in the distance that pumps out smoke, while in the foreground a smog of infinite details beckon us and we could imagine it being observed by a tethered sparrow resting on a withered branch. His Celebration series make us think of how human beings have been recording their own existence and experiences at least since the creation of the cave paintings . Embellished through ritual and passed on through generations, myths and tales have formed beliefs and offered escape from the mundane. The vehicle of story enhances empathy and creates catharsis while giving the viewer the opportunity to suspend disbelief through the medium of visual narrative. Kalicharan’s Celebration series gives us the dichotomy. Here are abstractions that are born out of experience –and in each canvas the artist is telling us about varied stories of origin, answering questions displayed in tandem with the meaning of existence . Diverse answers—face us when we look at his work Sea Change –there is a self-analytical correlation of a realistically painted portrayal of different strips-so much like the quotidian necessities of emotional camouflage—and yet it offers insight into the artists’ inspirations and intentions. Kalicharan’s work is linked to a larger commentary on urban living. In his little granular cadences he also deals with themes of war, climate change, and popular icons in minutiae . In a single work we see the cross, its as if he has combined the forces of fine art, illustration, and abstracted experience to give us worlds of highbrow and lowbrow art into dialogue with each other.With man’s progressive commoditization, art has to sacrifice some of its loftier ideals. It is no longer necessary to be an artist to be among the cognoscenti. With this breakdown of barriers comes the opportunity for the visual in all media to unite under common themes. The grainy texture of the acrylic paint is a perfect metaphor for the granular image of a vintage snapshot, but the scene in fact illustrates a fictional scenario made up from observation of real human figurines. It is the overview of life in a metropolis that is truly uncanny given the stillness and inanimate quality of Kalicharan’s subjects even as he unravels moorings in an urban jungle. UMA NAIR DECEMBER 2015