“Chugalkhor” by Ram Jaiswal, watercolour on paper, 58 x 36 cms, 2004
The Bengal School wash technique used here is Ram Jaiswal’s prefered style. “The women in my paintings symbolize emotions,” says the Ajmer-based painter. Apparently, the emotion here—mischief—is unusual for any painting. “The lady, dressed in traditional Rajasthani garb, is listening to some ‘a little bird told me’ bits about her husband,” explains Jaiswal. The Hindi chugalkhor of the title translates roughly as gossipmonger. Jaiswal, 71, studied art in Lucknow.
“Edges” by Kailas Hyalij, acrylic on canvas, 42 x 42 cms, 2009
Inspiration for landscape painter Kailas Hyalij lies right in his backyard—the varied colours of the wilderness that surrounds his hometown of Nashik, Maharashtra. To those he adds his own imagination for a touch of the surreal. The base black in this recent work represents the Deccan soil, but the dominating red is his own. “I walk in the countryside to be alone with nature,” says the 37-year-old artist, “to observe its changing colours and patterns.
“Managing Them, We Manage” by Dr Gopal Nene, gouache-tempera on paper, 69 x 89 cms
Mumbai physician Gopal Nene is also a self-taught artist who uses his childlike art naïve style to highlight social issues. Here, he vividly depicts the goings on at a dilapidated housing complex, where developers get resident-tenants to move out and languish in transit camps. The seated man wearing white is a builder, who has come for the tenants’ signatures. Dr Nene has also provided some irony—by including the emblems of some political parties as well as the skull-and-bones, symbolizing the dangerous condition of the buildings
