‘The language of art is formal......

‘The language of art is formal... it is also opaque... it is a language of qualitative cognition rather than of intellectual comprehension...’ – J. Swaminathan

To me Bhaskar Hande's visual vocabulary reaffirms this thought.

When I first saw Bhaskar Hande's work, I was struck by the sheer luminosity and tonal quality of his palette, by the symbolic imagery of his black-and-white lithographs and the simplicity of his sculptural forms.

Bhaskar Hande makes graphics, paintings, sculptures and works in other media as well. He is a Dutch national of Indian origin and comes across as a highly intuitive and philosophical personality. After a stint at J. J. School of Art in Mumbai, he left for the Netherlands to pursue Liberal Arts at a university there. His training in diverse streams of Art and an inherent leaning towards poetry made him the artist that he is. He is particularly drawn to the abhangs (a form of devotional poetry sung in praise of god Vitthal) of 17th- century mystic Sant Tukaram which also find expression in his visual language. His art seems to amalgamate the mathematical and the metaphysical.

In Bhaskar Hande’s repertoire spanning 32 years I can see evolution from a painted surface involved in an intense exploration of material to a surface saturated with pure pigments; a transition from an aggression of line and colour to pulsating stillness . The space continues to be imbued with a strong emotional content and lends the resultant visual a hypnotic effect making for a transcendental experience. On display in this exhibition will be his lithographs, paintings and sculptures.

Whereas the lithographs and sculptures are a visual tribute to Sant Tukaram and the Bhakti movement, the paintings draw inspiration from the Sufi and Varkari tradition of Bulleh Shah and Namdev.

Bhaskar Hande's earlier work has its roots in the ideologies of spiritual thinkers and poets. His later paintings, like the current exhibits, represent contemporary influences. The transforming environment, be it social, cultural or geographical, takes on the shape of geometric forms and merging colours on his canvases.

Art and Aesthetic is privileged to showcase the work of Bhaskar Hande.

Anchal Shinde

Director, Art and Aesthetic