Thought-matter link at Kochi-Muziris Biennale’s art show

Kochi: Is there a connection between ‘thought’ and ‘matter’? What lies beyond them?

In a bid to address these complex questions through a large mixed-media art show, artist Raju Sutar has curated a collateral project of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. The independent exhibition that runs parallel to the 108-day contemporary art festival, features five Pune-based artists, including Sutar.

The project, based on a discovery made by late American neuroscientist-pharmacologist Candace Beebe Pert, famously referred to as the ‘Explorer of the Brain’, established a link between what we think, feel and what is happening in human bodies, the curator said.

“She proved that thought actually creates a type of chemical protein in the brain. In reality, it’s a piece of matter,” says Sutar, 48.

Through the exhibition, the artist-curator initiates a dialogue between discoveries around thought /matter and different forms of contemporary art. “If thought is also a matter, where do ideas of conceptual art and other contemporary expressions stand? How does it work on our minds? In fact, I am interested in finding what is not thought,” says Sutar, who works in both traditional as well as digital art forms.

Besides Sutar, the other participating artists are Kathak-trained contemporary dancer Hrishikesh Pawar, Rajesh Kulkarni who has showcased a large clay-based work, painter Sandip Sonawane and Vaishali Oak, who works with fabrics. Each artist has presented a unique interpretation of the collateral’s theme, which is titled ‘Thought is also a Matter’.

The collateral, mounted in Fort Kochi’s Jew Town area, deploys a wide range of mediums that call out the viewer’s attention because of their large scale and innovative art production. These include various life-size paintings by Sonawane and Sutar, who use a lot of geometrical forms, patterns and flat colours to decode ‘thought’.

Sonawane, 53, speaking about his acrylic works that show different geometrical shapes, says, “Three lines are used to create a triangle while four lines can make a square. The idea is to break down the thoughts in a similar way.”

Oak’s colourful fabric assemblages, on the other hand, use the metaphor of ‘seeds of thoughts’ to dwell on the show’s theme with striking designs, layers and patterns.