Beyond Geometry and Memory
Speaker: Yashwant Deshmukh
Discussants: Mahendra Damle and Abhijeet Tamhane
May 29, 2015 | 6.30 pm
Visitors’ Centre, CSMVS, Mumbai
Yashwant Deshmukh, now in his early fifties, looks back at and beyond the evolution of his practice that spans over 25 years. Deshmukh’s canvases reverberate what his innumerable drawings silently observe. A brief interaction with his work exhibited so far might lead to traces of ‘style’ – muted colours that subdue layers of texture and almost geometric shapes marked with bold outlines. These impressions do last, as Deshmukh maintains a steady pace. During the two and half decades, a gradual process of arriving at an accomplishment in form and style, sensing a comfort zone and then a departure, can be sensed in his oeuvre.
The first departure the artist made was from the Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai, where he was trained. He took to drawing with a resolve to unlearn. The solitude ended after many months, and so did the artist’s search for subject. His drawings and the imminent paintings had revealed to him that the subject is within. He became a narrator of his own visual experiences. His technique facilitated aggregation of the personal. The artist took geometry to a literally impossible task- to evoke feelings. The presentation and conversation is aimed at mapping the points of departure in Deshmukh’s work. It is a journey to the expanses of Vidarbha region, to a distant village in Vasai, to Mumbai where he lives and works and to the cities and countries he visited while his work grew beyond cultural codes.
Yashwant Deshmukh is a painter based in Mumbai, and the basic element of his work is the interrelationship of form and space. He graduated from the Sir J.J. School of Art in 1988, and received the prestigious Bendre- Husain Scholarship in 1993. Deshmukh’s work has been a part of several group shows in leading art galleries in India and abroad, including the 3rd Biennial Bose Pacia Modern Prize, New York, 2001. His seminal solo exhibitions at Jehangir Art Gallery and Bombay Art Gallery in 2008 received wide critical acclaim, and his latest participation includes group shows at Gallery Espace, New Delhi and Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai in 2012.
Abhijeet Tamhane is a journalist whose writings present keen observations of the socio-political undercurrents in visual arts. He writes for Art India, Art &Deal and Varta and has interviewed various artists including Yashwant Deshmukh for a Thailand based magazine in 2007. He introduces firsthand experiences on the Venice Biennial and Documenta through writings for Marathi readers. Kalaa Bhaan (making sense of art) is a column he has widely contributed to, and currently he is the editor of two opinion pages of the Loksatta, Mumbai.
Mahendra Damle is a painter, writer and educationist. He has consistently developed pedagogical tools in visual arts for over twenty years and has taught art, architecture, fashion, furniture design and animation. ‘Art Thinking’ is a programme designed by him for schools to create integrated learning through art. Currently, he heads the department of Fine Arts at Rachana Sansad, Mumbai and contributes as a columnist in Loksatta titled ‘Kalnyache Drushya Valane,’ that explores the nuances of visual perception.