THE PATH, 2008
Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
Like many city artists, Venkatesh Pate dreams of living in the unspoiled environs of rural India, removed from the frenetic lifestyle of the megapolis. The city embodies the hustle and bustle of metropolitan life, fast-paced, ever-changing, an urban dystopia; the city yields to no man. Trying to impose order in this inherent bedlam is a variety of civic signs and signals, which funnel the willing urban population into a semblance of organisation. Signals, which aim to instill discipline into the lives of the undisciplined. Without the aid of these often-banal structures, urban dwellers would sink into a mire of chaos. Traffic signals, stop signs, one-way signs, no parking signs: all instruct the inhabitants of the metropolitan centres and in turn, the populace becomes accustomed to following these signs and signals almost unconsciously. So much so that these urban citizens abdicate all accountability - they relinquish this responsibility to the signs and signals. So inured does the urbanite become to this way of life that very soon he stops listening to anything but external signs; ignoring centuries of built-in reflexes and intuitive thoughts, eschewing, in the process, originality and creativity.
Spend time in front of Venkatesh's works and many things become clear: his artistic practice is his way of dealing with the urban jungle that is Mumbai. The densely populated, hyperactivity of Mumbai is counteracted in his works. In each, he ekes out white space to balance the clutter and noise of his urban existence. This space is a sanctuary, devoid of imagery and of the plethora of elements that accost the urbanite. He studiedly uses black and its variations; both to highlight the weightiness of his images and for its perceived masculine identity. The images are purposefully male; the torsos exhibiting perceptibly strong well-formed musculature.
The impression conveyed however is not that of macho aggression, but the strength and rhythm of the muscles are imperceptibly meditative. The tension between the dualities of empty white, devoid of all colour and detailed black, the sum of all colours is heightened by the grid lines which traverse each work in a different way setting up their own unique trajectories. To Venkatesh, grid patterns, in sharp contrast to the organic musculature, represent the solidity of discipline; discipline in life and work, which he opines, gives structure and rhythm to his days and redeems his urban existence.
Although the works are replete with personal symbolism, they also harbour the ancient symbols for the elements: earth, air, and water. Nor are these referenced in vain, but rather, amplify Venkatesh's major concern: that urban growth and the ever unrequited quest for more is rapidly strangling our natural resources. The works presented here are not mere decoration but an artist's voice, visually enunciated, straining to be heard above the din and the clutter that is life in Mumbai.
- Savita Apte,
Director, Art Dubai
Acrylic on canvas 60” x 48”
Acrylic on canvas 144” x 48”
Acrylic on canvas 60” x 48”
Acrylic on canvas 60” x 48”
Acrylic on canvas 60” x 48”
Acrylic on canvas 60” x 48”
Acrylic on canvas 48” x 48” (diptych)
Acrylic on canvas 60” x 48”
Acrylic on canvas 96” x 60” (diptych)
Acrylic on canvas 48” x 48”
Acrylic on canvas 48” x 48” (diptych)
Acrylic on canvas 48” x 48”
Acrylic on canvas 24” x 48”
Acrylic on canvas 108” x 72” (triptych)
Acrylic on canvas 72” x 36” (diptych)
Acrylic on canvas 72” x 36” (diptych)
Acrylic on canvas 60” x 60”
Acrylic on canvas 72” x 36” (diptych)
Acrylic on canvas 120” x 60” (diptych)