A peek into the unknown, at this art show
Artists always view the world differently from others, observing details that others simply browse over. It is those details that give birth to immaculate forms of art, and one can only imagine what were to happen if the artist also had a geologist’s curiosity.
Well, now that your minds are all fired up with the possibilities of that thought, what if we told you that the answer can be found at an ongoing exhibition in town?
Titled Lamina, the exhibition will showcase solo works by artist Manish Pushkale, who is a trained geologist, and despite no formal training in art, has created his own language of abstraction.
“It is always interesting to see the microscopic version of what we perceive through our retina. With our naked eyes, what we see firstly of anything is merely its uppermost layer... like skin. Our sense of recognition is based on the physical properties of any visual. But the microscopic study of same is a shocking experience to realise what we haven’t seen. It gives us an idea of its organic inside. Naturally then, my works deal with the ‘site and sight of the inside’,” says the artist.
Pushkale’s works display the contrarieties of lightshade, mark-erasure, form-formless, restraint-excess, control-indulgence, but in a way where they seem to exist in a harmonious state. He has a sensitivity to colour and balance, and the subtle abstractions in his work are something that would pull the viewer into a realm that is created solely and purely by Pushkale. He also uses the process of layering which sometimes goes up to 40 to 50 layers, and draws inspiration from foliation, palaeontology, and near-extinct dialects and languages to create his works.
Lamina is clearly a show that one should visit not for the regular works of art that adorn every other gallery wall, but for the depth and visual magic of Pushkale’s works.