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This is an artist whose work
ranges from the figure to the non-figuration ... an artist difficult to
bracket. In fact for Padamsee it not the bracketing which is of consequence,
for his main pre-occupation is with the form, volume , space, time, &
colour. He is very conscious of every mark that he makes, the process of
creation is one of contemplation and articulation of thoughts and ideas.
"While working he has a
blank canvas on which he tries out everything before applying it to the final one,
the reason for doing so is that he wants to avoid error" - this for
Dadiba Pundole (Pundole Art Gallery) sums the whole persona of Akbar
Padamsee and his works. Though very meticulous in his method of working, the
colours in his paintings pulsate with throbbing energy, for he is a master
colourist.
Although he is best known as
a painter, Akbar Padamsee has experimented with film-making, sculpture, and
writing as an art critic. His formal education was in the fine arts -
Padamsee graduated from the Sir J.J. School of Art in 1940 with a diploma in
painting and series of sculpture classes behind him. In an interview with
Dnyaneswar Nadkarni, he comments:"In those days, learning painting in
that tree-studded campus was a heady experience." An ex-professor from
the J.J. School describes him as an "aristocratic intellectual, aloof
from the usual hurly-burly of the school," showing a rare seriousness
and sense of direction as an artist.
The more familiar of his
body of works are the "metascapes", " mirror images",
(non-figurative ), the figures & "heads".he keeps going back
and forth between them. The metascapes are a development from the
landscapes. The mirror images show his concern with the duality of
existence, of form & space. The figure is treated not as an individual,
not even in the heads where the association with portraiture is even
stronger. The only occasion when he has handled portraits, is in 1997, with
the Gandhi series, done on paper with water colours & charcoals.
Padamsee's pioneering spirit
has allowed him to experiment with a wide range of mediums: the gamut of the
traditional ones, to the most recent of the additions of computer graphics.
Whatever his chosen medium he conveys a command over use of space, form &
colour.
Padamsee's aesthetic
practice is intricately involved with an investigation of the human form.
Particularly renowned for his Heads and Nudes. He has moved from the world
of paints and canvas to the digital world. He held his first digital art
show in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai in January (2000).
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