Page 44 - TheArtsTrust Krishen Khanna

Khanna draws a deliberate line between the above: Khanna in his
biblical world and the contemporary subaltern studio in the early 2000s
opposite: A print of
experience as the poor become the protagonists. Khanna’s famous large-
Similar connotations surface in his other biblical scale mosaic done for the
Maharashtra Nature Park
works, such as Christ Lowered From The Cross and in Mumbai
Doubting Thomas, in which themes of suffering
and human vulnerability take centre stage. Not
separate from his other artistic concerns, the biblical paintings also explore
the universality of human hardship. Whether seated at Emmaus or pausing
image of Mary cradling the lifeless body of Jesus, the artist has repeatedly at a dhaba, whether bearing a cross or unloading cargo, the figures transform
returned to this scene over the decades, modifying its formal structure while these biblical episodes into familiar, essentially Indian scenes.
preserving its emotional weight. His Mary is often monumental, stoic, her The story of the epic Mahabharata has served as another mythological
arms strong rather than fragile, less a figure of grief than of enduring maternal preoccupation in Khanna’s body of work. Returning to it in several phases of
strength. Later in his career, Khanna added a new material dimension to the his career, the artist has explored the theme not as an eternal legend but as a
theme with sculptures. lens through which to decode the moral and social dilemmas of the present.
Perhaps the most radical reimagining within this series is Meeting at Much like his handling of religious subjects, Khanna goes to the Indian epic
Emmaus. In these works, Christ is no longer an ethereal figure; instead, he for its moments of great uncertainty, ethical ambiguity, and human struggle
sits at a bare table with two companions, all barefoot and modestly dressed. rather than for its grandeur or divine resolution. His works draw from scenes

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