Minimalist yet exquisite works!

The greatest artist does not have any concept. Which a single piece of marble does not itself contain within its excess, though only a hand that obeys the intellect can discover it Michelangelo Buonarroti.

True to the above saying, Bend, a solo show at Gallery Manora by sculptor Kalyan Rathore has surpassed the exemplary. It is very rare to come across a solo show of sculptures and more than anything else, a show which shows the sculptor’s grit in displaying his sculpted forms with seamless simplicity. 

There is a sense of aesthetic bliss combined with mathematic brilliance to his work of art. The preciseness of mathematical rules, the natural order in nature and the variants that occur during repetition, lie at the core of Kalyan Rathore’s art making. When one recounts of sculptures being as simple as it can get, two international sculptors come to one’s mind. 

Jeff Koons and Alexander Calder. Alexander Calder’s geometric shaped sculptures have captivated many audiences in the world. Jeff Koons also brings a certain playful simplicity in his work. Kalyan Rathore’s works are an amalgamation of technical and mathematical brilliance combined with a desire to narrate stories. His sculptural installations get motivation from form, structure, space and feel that happen in nature-as an intrinsic rate. 

Rathore investigates components of design, formation and spatial plan as observed in nature and their underlying patterns of morphology to recreate them in his sculptures. ‘Bend’ explores the variant  that alters the mathematical code at the fundamental level, albeit from an artistic perspective while applying the mathematical know hows. 

Speaking about the artist, curator Nalini Malaviya says “I feel that Kalyan’s art has evolved tremendously over the last few years and his sculptures are very interesting in how they capture the essence of the forms from nature. Minimalist, yet exquisitely designed. Applying principles of progressive distortion, he repeats patterns to create motifs that resemble flora, fauna and naturally occurring elements.” 

The sculptural forms appear to grow organically in a sequential manner, mimicking growth and patterns in nature, retaining the essence of the shape, form and motif in a geometric layout. “Kalyan’s art has evolved tremendously over the last few years and his sculptures are very interesting in how they capture the essence of the forms from nature. Minimalist, yet exquisitely designed,” she adds. 

 The show is on at Gallery Manora till September 29. 

Another group show featuring six artists is being held in CHitrakala Parishath. Titled ‘Avani’, the show has six artists with their figurative forms of art. Deepthi, Naina Prakash, Akhila, Latha , Amey and Jeetin Rangher form the group. Jeetin is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Bengaluru working with different communities in conflicted zones of Kashmir. His works are aimed at self-healing, transformation and change through sharing and connecting. He has been creating a lot of site-specific performances as well. Deepthi Udupa has captured the local rustic life of Karnataka. The show has an eclectic mix of promising and emerging artists.

The writer is an art expert and curator. , which makes it aesthetically appealing and hence must not be missed