A riot of distorted complexities

Artist Anurag Anand brings together 60 intriguing works as a layered narrative in his latest solo exhibition titled Echoes, at Silver Scapes gallery in New Delhi. These are works laced with his deep-seated understanding of man-made structures and the human emotional spectrum.

“The man-made structures and their interplay with nature and humanity form the carrier of my thoughts,” says Anurag, “coming together to tell a story or to transport the viewers to a place from their memory or their fantasies. What each work shares with the viewer is deeply personal and rooted in their own experiences and memories.” The collection is his labour of love across three years and brings in renditions of village scenes. Some of these were inspired by his early days in Chhapra in Bihar, before he left home to join a boarding school.

“The mental images of the unrestrained and vast village landscapes that my little mind would paint back then have perhaps found a way to seep onto my canvases as well,” he shares. “The shapes that I paint, and their distortions, originate from a place of thought, not obscure fascination. To me, they are meant to add to the message or the emotion that the artwork holds for the viewers.” From the triangular roofs of huts huddled in a village to sunset dipped ochre skies to wandering peacocks and goats, geckos on balconies, moonshine-hued homes, amber pools and silhouettes of trees, it is a mixed landscape that creates a visual dialogue, and an expression of nostalgia rooted in rural freedom.

Then there are the laden urban narratives persisting in silence, pulsating with the soul of spaces we often overlook. Call it a quiet conversation between the multiple elements that compose his works. In Harmony, the muted pink marries the soothing green to etch forth the movement of the womenfolk in the village. Searching for the Divine II brings in a striking assembly of houses and windows to resemble the mark of Shiva at first glance. Kerala Calling arrives in calm repose, with mini mountains of coconuts and the blue swirl of the river by the village.

His fascination for oil paints brings in the flexibility of mixing colours and playing with the palette, with the slow-drying also making it the toughest medium to work with, especially on large canvases. What is his biggest challenge? “Honestly, the ancillary expectations from an artist are many in the present times. From marketing art to maintaining a healthy social media presence, it is these other aspects of being an artist that pose a challenge for me. Yet my biggest learning has been managing criticism,” confesses the published author who has 15 books to his credit. “Art exposes one to critique, sometimes founded and often unfounded. It is important to be able to filter the criticism one receives; to accept only its constructive constituents and weed out the rest. This is something I have been consciously practising, but am yet to master entirely.”

As Anurag allows his instincts to shape his art, he lets the emotions flow in organically, which shapes the forms on his canvas. “My art is a compendium of my observations; life viewed from my lens. There is no pretentiousness to it. No burden of conformity or aesthetic orthodoxy. No stylistic limitations. Just plain and unbridled expression,” he says, celebrating human experience, and the complexities, contradictions, and beauty of life.

It’s a rustic, earthy palette for the corporate professional who dives into his emotional matrix to create his compositions.

“I consider myself a student of life, observing my surroundings and the people I encounter daily, their expressions, reactions, and motivations. These observations reside in the crevices of my mind as learnings, memories, or reflections. When I paint or write, they emerge from my mental storage to express themselves in colours or words,” he says.