Artist Vijender Sharma is known for his series of portraits including the likes of M.F. Husain, former President of India Abdul Kalam. He is also credited with bringing alive the late poet art critic Keshav Malik. A solo show titled ‘Illusions of time’ by artist Vijender Sharma is being exhibited at Dhoomimal Gallery in collaboration with Allure Art till 7 December to showcase relationships and an understanding of humans with the environment. The curatorial essay for this show is written by Sushma K. Bahl and Nipun Soin.
Vijender’s work engages with fantasies, real life encounters and mythical characters. He has also done portraits featuring Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha and Jesus Christ among others. His expertise in giving the revered figures his own positive and open-minded interpretation is reflected in his painting titled ‘Salvation’, which features Christ adorning a crown surrounded by symbols of love instead of thorns. There is also a cinematic realism in some of his paintings that stem from his work with Bollywood films and television serials as in ‘The Masks Player’ and ‘Lady with Masks’.
There are other creations that mark his measured brushwork entailing details as in the stitched-up figure surrounded by calligraphic messaging in ‘Life is Life’. The painting titled ‘Big Bang’ presents the dilemma of the tied-up sperm or may be a soul. ‘Desire for Rebirth 1’ and ‘Desire for Rebirth II’ paintings rotate around the notion of cycle of life-death-rebirth. Offering a touching contrast appears ‘Desire 2013-II’ where the seed is trying to tear apart the cover and come out of the womb cutting through the blood red umbilical cords and the body itself. In contrast appear two different compositions both titled ‘The forbidden fruit’. Their graded palette of red and gray, with the figure appearing in one case, is symbolic of Adam and Eve. Also noteworthy is the contrast in the nude body’s background and foreground as painted in ‘Gold and Body’. “I like to focus on the anatomy and structure of the figure” asserts the artist who is fearless when working on the figure in his paintings.
One of the works in this series is part of the Bollywood star entertainer Amitabh Bachchan’s collection. His most recent work is a twelve-piece composition ‘Realism to Abstraction’ which traces a journey and presents an interesting point in this contemporary artist’s track. His work lays special emphasis on the sensuousness and beauty of the figure. “I like to focus both on the inner emotions and outer appearance of my protagonists” claims the artist who has mastered the art of creating a different and third colour of his own design by mixing two or more of the readily available ones.
In a candid conversation artist Vijender Sharma says, “It is a good reminder of my days of struggle and keeps me grounded. Another high point of my career has been the invitation received from the then President of India Abdul Kalam to make his portrait. Art is a way to display of our inner self by colours or any other way. I feel all colours are around us. I can see them. I can hear them. I can touch and I can feel. Colours are the immense magic of life.”