A solo show of paintings by veteran artist SH Raza includes some of the latest works by the artist that highlight his continuous engagement and experimentation with the formal elements in painting. In his encounters with the movements of Western Modernism as an artist who spent many years in France before moving back to India, he has successfully evoked elements from Tantrism (of Indian Scriptures) in tandem with the brush strokes inspired from Expressionism.
In the current series of paintings, one can witness the subdued color compositions emerging from a central circle (Bindu) which has defined a huge body of his work. The Bindu has been a prime motif in Raza’s paintings and it highlights his interest in symbols, energy, birth and rebirth. The simplicity of the form allows for a regeneration of compositions with different colors and techniques.
Another thread in Raza’s works has been an interest in the landscape, and in one of the works, he brings together the gestural strokes of his landscape with the black Bindu and uses text to form a narrative about the black Bindu as a lover who has come from the sky to the earth upon his request. Raza continues to challenge the boundaries of his own art with these powerful and playful series of paintings.
