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拍品专文
A self-taught artist, Sudhir Patwardhan’s nuanced works illuminate his keen observations of the complexities of urban life. His dignified depictions of the Indian middle class at work and in transit – whether waiting at train stations and bus stops or crossing crowded bridges – are based on his personal experiences and insights living in Thane, a congested satellite city of the heaving metropolis of Mumbai.
In early works like Grey Wall, the artist expertly balances close observation with calculated distance, almost protecting his subjects and the rhythm of their everyday lives from external influence. He explains, “My aim is to make figures that can become self-images for the people who are the subjects of my work. One of the questions I have asked myself in this context is how close or distanced must I be from the figures I paint. Too close a relation may overburden the image with the artist's private impulses. These impulses give the image intensity, but at the same time they may also insulate the image from other approaches.” (Artist statement, Place for People, exhibition catalogue, New Delhi and Mumbai, 1981, unpaginated)
In early works like Grey Wall, the artist expertly balances close observation with calculated distance, almost protecting his subjects and the rhythm of their everyday lives from external influence. He explains, “My aim is to make figures that can become self-images for the people who are the subjects of my work. One of the questions I have asked myself in this context is how close or distanced must I be from the figures I paint. Too close a relation may overburden the image with the artist's private impulses. These impulses give the image intensity, but at the same time they may also insulate the image from other approaches.” (Artist statement, Place for People, exhibition catalogue, New Delhi and Mumbai, 1981, unpaginated)