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As we move forward in time there
are certain movements and thoughts which have a timeless quality about them. .
Such is the case with the architects, thinkers and artists who belonged to what
is known as the Bauhaus tradition, And for me the third principal of the Bauhaus
School at Weimar stands out as an iconic architect and thinker. Often his one
liners God is in the Details, and Less is More, are like musical fugues which
propel artists and architects to initiate unusual vocabularies.
When I look, at Hemi Bawa's
recent collection I move my gaze from the present to the past and then to the
present future. There is a perfect marriage between the two materials of
the past and the future steel and glass. While the modernists have used both
glass and steel in their effort to breaks with the past, the contemporaries are
using glass and steel to innovative and test their ideas with the two diverse
yet hard materials.
I move back to the beginnings of
modern architecture to Franks Llyod Wright, to Walter Gropius to the Glass House of
Philip Johnson and then forwards to the Tokyo International Forum
designed by the new York, architect Rafael Vinoli. There is one common thread
which appears like a recurring motif, and that is glass and steel. These two
materials are now moving from structurals of buildings to objects of the
interior.
While modernism was responsible
for not just innovative use of technology, but it also encouraged the re
examination of every aspect of existence and led to a forward progressive
movement in mind, thought, art, literature, design and architecture. Jin within
this domain materials found itself chartering paths into territories which were
hitherto alien or forbidden.
Following the trails set out by
the progressive and eclectic modernists, materials started getting a new lease
of life at the hands of painters and sculptors, At the turn of the century as
we move into the 21st century 'vision impura' becomes a living reality
particularly in the landscape of sculptors and visual artists. It is this
blurring of boundaries between two distinct and hard materials that Hemi Bawa
now emerges with a fresh surge of ideas.
Primarilya visual artist, where
critics often refer to her work as having a 'mysterious, quiet quality",
glass is one of the many materials Hemi works with. While she uses a
host of materials, from stone, metal to glass, it is the idea which guides her
to choose the material. "If I feel a certain form looks better in glass,
then I will do it in glass. If I want a form to portray a feeling of strength
and power, I use a large stone, or if I feel a certain piece will look, better
in Bronze or Aluminum or Glass I use those." It is the concepts which
drive Hemi to choose the material and not the materials which provide the
muse.
The easy confidence and control
over the two mediums glass and steel propel Hemi to create a body of work, which
has not been seen before. The paintings which are framed within steel, the glass
abstract forms embedded in steel, the artworks where glass and steel have been
fused together foreground that two positives can yet make another positive. For
Bawa the joy of working with glass is the "its' both tough and fragile and
traps light beautifully." The same qualities can also be used for steel.
Steel an alloy made with iron and
carbon has an elasticity, ductility, hardness and a tensile strength stronger
and more brittle than iron, glass is more amorphous, a more solid material yet
strong and exceedingly brittle. The two are not easy materials to sculpt upon
yet the two together are formidable. And it is in this interplay of two
diverse and difficult materials that an unusual knot is tied.
What is really special about this exhibition is
the way the art work hias evolved and developed. While Hemi Bawa one of India's
most innovative glass artist has worked with the modem material of steel, a
distinctly new visual language is being created. Both glass and steel are not
part of the indigenous art practice of the country. While painters have
used glass at different moments of time and in special areas for example in
Tanjore and Kalighat paintings glass has not been part of the mainstream Indian
fine art practice. In a similar vein steel too has not been an integral part of
the Indian art practice. In traditional Indian sculpture bronze, stone, gold,
silver, iron were more the norm. In contemporary art Balan Nambiar is one of
the few contemporary artist who has really explored steel. Steel as a medium for
various reasons, its complexity, expense audits sheer materiality made it a bit
out of reach for the artists 'Inspired by Steel1 thus becomes a singular show
where the traditional, modern and contemporary voices are joining hands and
walking on a path which is yet to be developed and explored.
Hemi Bawa and Jindal Stainless become two
important partners in this show which is part of a new cosmopolitan voice
emerging from India.
Dr.
Alka Pande
Curator
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