JOIN USSolidarity Forever’, an exhibition to promote peace, was held last week and had three eminent artists showcasing their paintings — American artist Kabu, his son Zero Bey and Bengaluru-based artist John Devaraj.
The three expressed their sentiments against war, poverty and social trauma through their works and raised many questions.
The several large canvas paintings spoke about the various forms of oppression. John’s paintings were a reflection of reality.
“I am trying to draw the attention of the world to hatred and destruction.
I have seen them take place everyday and my images are a result of that. War and
aggression spread fast while money and possession make one feel alienated,” said John.
Kabu MBII, an artist of many talents, processes and genres, believes in the goodness of humanity. He feels that this is his driving force and has the power to overcome
all the negativity of the world.
His art gives him the exploratory and investigative tools necessary to decipher all aspects of the known and unknown world. Abstract and exploratory, his art talks about a sinner and also where we all come from and go back to. His inspirations are Mahatma Gandhi and Indian culture.
“I have studied about India in depth and had always wanted to come here. It is a great country with people from various cultures. It seems like a point of convergence to me.”
Zero Bey seeks to interrogate ideologies of repression and subversion through painting. He has seen the cost of conflict up close and personal and felt the need to point out global oppression and obstructions in the path of social justice. In the exhibition, he depicted the different facets of a woman, like Goddess Kali, and Dalit women.
“I have been immersed in Indian culture and tradition. Before coming here,
I studied a lot about Indian mythology and spirituality. I have been deeply moved
by Indian goddesses like Kali. Her courage and how she transformed herself is brilliant. I have a deep concern about the role of women in the world. I have a daughter and I worry about her future and the world she will be living in. Will the voices of girls be heard? These things really bother me. We live in a world of demons — like capitalism, poverty and abuse. I choose to be a voice against these restrictive ideologies,” said Zero.
The trio plans to takes the exhibition abroad and urge more artists, musicians and dancers to show their concern towards humanity and peace through their works.