Page 26 - Jehangir Sabavala - TheArtsTrust

to the sumptuousness of the spirit these works alluring yet with a pervading sense
convey. His art of the time was a result of his of threat, mirror the experiences of
incessant need to keep growing, expanding the artist himself, who undertook
his scope and paring back the restrictions of many a daunting journey through
his academic training. Imbued with a sense his life. ‘Under The Shadow Of...
of electricity and growth, the resulting art II’ and ‘Treeline II’ are examples of
featured birds mid-flight, trees straining to the faceted landscapes that he was
touch the skies and undulating dunes. enamoured by.
Clouds, a consistent fascination for the Another feature of Sabavala’s
artist, too feature heavily alongside rising works that can be noticed during this
peaks. Potentially informed by his stay in time period, well into the 1990s, is his
the Kumaon hills, he was taken by the sight frustration at the destruction of nature
of clouds amid the looming icy mountains. at the hands of man. His anguish with
The airy, hazy clouds in Sabavala’s works this and the ceaseless vehicles that are
function as a beautiful juxtaposition time and mortality are depicted through
against the geometry of the land or the the natural worlds of his creation.
birds that dot it. What once seemed Through his usage of colour and subject,
ominous now functioned as a backdrop he made sure that the gloom or doom
for birds of prey that seemed menacing of the theme would not translate onto
but also seemed to invite the viewers the canvas. An untitled work from 1998
along with them. This would give rise to showcases his use of jewel tones to actively
the ‘Bird Forms’ series. dispel the sombre nature of his paintings.
The landscapes from this period The figures of his work also made a
seem to pre-date modernity and comeback, turning from previously wraith-
embrace the tranquillity of existing like forms into ones that proudly took on
scenes from Iran, Afghanistan and other volume and made their presence known.
parts of Central Asia. The zigzagging Amongst the many human subjects he
rivers, once again, cut through dealt with during this period were purdah-
the mountains while remaining clad women, travellers and monks. These
unmoving. His technique here groups now faced the viewer as opposed to
mimics the art of jewellery-making, walking away, adding to the air of mystery.
cutting the land into various planes His protagonists took on the imagination
and adorning it with jewel-adjacent of the artist who favoured the classical With his trademark half-smile
tones. The greys and pale blues figure over the contemporary one. Some also and iconic moustache
in the 1980s
of the past made way for brighter displayed Sabavala’s rendition of the Indian,
ceruleans, amethysts and citrus a more Orientalist take that leaned into a folk
tones. Many of these landscapes, interpretation that bared the artist’s soul. Figures

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