Abstract imagination on canvas

T here were different aspects to the art exhibition which was organised by the Bangalore Cosmo Ladies Circle as a charity fundraiser, at the Abstract Art Gallery in the City.
Part of the exhibition was taken up by budding, young artist Bharat Rajpal, whose two dozen paintings were on display and the other part was a selection of work from I-Art featuring established artists like Milind Nayak, Hiremath, Lokesh Kalinga, Bhaskaran and Shraddha Rathi among several others.  
It was Rajpal’s third exhibition and his enthusiasm was infectious. He talked visitors through his different paintings  describing in great detail the inspiration behind each one and the passion that moved him.
“I am a Bangalore boy, who loves to paint ever since I can remember. I like to take a subject that is generally iconic and go to town giving it an irreverence and complexity on my own,’’ he says.
A dark brooding water colour and a pencil sketch of his rock idol Axel Rose, a ponderous Charles Darwin complete with beard and bushy eyebrows, a schizophrenic abstract woman in fragmented colours, a Parisian subway montage, faces, masks, ice cream sundaes, gods and still life complete with zany titles, Rajpal’s subjects are as varied as his style and imagination.
“What do you make of this work?” he asks a group squinting at a black and white abstract. “It’s a house I’m trying to rent. Do you see the windows, the lamps, the latch key and the whole set of images embraced by the trees in the background.”
“I also took the classic ‘David’ and turned him into this distorted pencil sketch as I found the original too boring. Picasso, my idol, I have outrightly imitated in this abstract watercolour and my passion for high end expensive bikes is reflected in this painting of a Busa,” he enthuses.
The I-Art collection from diverse artists was also varied and interesting and were priced affordably. An unnecessary appendage to this worthy cause was the extremely late appearance of starlet Jennifer Kotwal, who chose to keep the gathering waiting for well over an hour beyond the stipulated time for no good reason.
“The smaller the artist, the later the appearance. It’s probably just their way of trying to impress on people how ‘busy’ their schedules are,” remarked one of the irritated bystanders.