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Lot Essay
Chotti Si Duniya by Syed Haider Raza refers to a poem with the same title by the art critic and Raza’s close friend Ashok Vajpeyi. The poem speaks of the small world that we inhabit; that it is the truth and that it is beautiful. While Raza inscribes the poem in Hindi on the lower half of the canvas, in the upper section he paints the iconic form of the bindu. The realisation of the innate force of the bindu has been an integral part of Raza's oeuvre since the late 1980s. The form can also be interpreted as zero, drop, seed, or sperm and is the genesis of creation. Here, the focal point at the centre of the concentric circles is both a nucleus of geometric abstraction and represents the concentrated core of energy contained in this small world.
In a strictly formal sense, Raza's style seems to bear some relation to the Abstract Expressionist work of Frank Stella and Jasper Johns. However, while these artists were part of a theoretical discussion on the Formalist movement, Raza's work addresses a more spiritual context. The circle becomes less of a graphical component and more of a focal point representing concentrated energy. This concept has age-old precedents in meditative aids such as yantras and mandalas.
In a strictly formal sense, Raza's style seems to bear some relation to the Abstract Expressionist work of Frank Stella and Jasper Johns. However, while these artists were part of a theoretical discussion on the Formalist movement, Raza's work addresses a more spiritual context. The circle becomes less of a graphical component and more of a focal point representing concentrated energy. This concept has age-old precedents in meditative aids such as yantras and mandalas.