Padamsee on his oeuvre and contemporary art

Artist Akbar Padamsee’s pre-occupation with head forms a large part of his oeuvre, followed by figures whose shape and size altered with changing times, but always found inspiration from surroundings. “I draw my figures and forms from the world around me that I know intimately, but viewers also find there is a sense of detachment or alienation in them,” says 87-year-old Padamsee.

The Mumbai-based artist’s fascination for “heads” began when he was four years old. “In my father’s shop of German glass lanterns, I would draw faces in the margins of accounts book,” recollects Padamsee. It is these heads, art lovers in the city would closely see in a solo exhibition of his lithographs that are displayed at an ongoing exhibition ‘A Life Less Ordinary’. These 20 lithographs, portraying heads, were drawn by the octogenarian during 2008-2010 and have been brought here by Dhoomimal.com.

“The immediate inspiration for these faces is my own,” Padamsee tells Metrolife. “The first image we usually see is our face in the mirror and that is always a reverse image. It is both similar and dissimilar to the original and I think that is what captivates me. It’s like I open a door and see myself. It’s the first cognition of self.”

When he went to Paris in 1951, his figuration was undergoing a change. “Female forms that I had painted in 1951 with their elemental faces like primitive cult objects changed to the growing physicality and massiveness of figures,” he recalls. “From 1955 onwards, the defining contours began to disappear and figures became more and more massive. In 60s, the massiveness was scaled down and in 80s, the mood of the figures became pensive and sad. Figuration became heavier than that of the 60s but not much different. The bodies and faces aged a little.”

Unlike his contemporaries, he never restricted himself to one form or style. He has worked with multiple mediums like watercolour, sculptures and photography, without leaving his distinctive stamp on the work. “I was mainly doing oil paintings in Paris, and drawings also happened simultaneously. I did photography and sculptural work as early as 1951.

Metascapes – if we combine both landscapes and cityscapes together – happened around 1954.” “I have always used whatever media I could get. I had worked with students in early 60s, I travelled a lot and picked up whichever medium appealed to me,” says Padamsee who has also made two short abstract films namely Syzygy and Events in a Cloud Chamber.

Admitting it is difficult to make a living by doing art, he says “for almost 14 years after I started painting, I never made any money and survived on support from family. But money was a concern only for survival, not for making art.”

The contemporary artists are facing similar challenges as works by modernist painters are fetching money in crores, but the veteran artist feels in testing times, perseverance is the key. “What is contemporary today will no longer be so in few decades from now,” he points out.

“When we were younger, we never asked for concessions and fought our own battles. So yes, one has to be patient. I remember a time when I was doing only drawings and people would come and tell me to do paintings as they would be more lucrative, but I never changed my stance. I believed one has to stick to one’s convictions and you will be rewarded for it,” he says.

This determined approach has reflected in his works where he hasn’t compromised with the quality or thoughts. He strongly believes that artistic expression lies in provoking and questioning. “The role of an artist is to look within and beyond and create art.  Change comes on its own.”

“I feel an artist is a dangerous person. You can’t put the artist in a box and expect him to function within the rules and norms of society. He should be left free to explore unknown realms and what’s new around him will announce itself through his work,” he says. The exhibition ‘A Life Less Ordinary’ is taking place at Triveni Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam, till November 11.