"
The raging horses, galloping through the canvas, come charging into your living room. You can hear their stomping and loud whines, urging you to join them in the adventure.
That’s not a scene from an Indiana Jones movie, but a new series of paintings by Dinkar Jadhav.
Here is our interview with Dinkar, an upcoming Indian artist, to know his story, his inspiration and creative process.
The mud bulls and a torn calendar:
Coming from a small village in Maharashtra, consisting of only 30 huts, there wasn’t much for Dinkar to play with besides mud and dust. The schooling system that existed in the village came to an abrupt stop at the fourth grade, giving little hope to the kids of any prosperity.
While no one knew what art really meant in that sleepy village, its essence was defined by one of the most popular events in village, a bull festival. Unlike some venues, where they make the bulls fight for amusement, in his village, the farmers decorated the bull elaborately to celebrate their existence.
As a 3rd grader, he was highly amused by what he saw during this festival. He was so inspired by the form and elegance of the bull that he started making small replicas with mud (the only art material available). At this point of time, he didn’t even know there was something called paint and art was a profession.
He continued to make his mud replicas, until one fine day, he discovered a torn calendar, with artwork on it. The innocent child inside him was amazed by the brilliance of the work. Bringing his prized discovery home, he replicated the entire calendar on his sketchbook, in the process, learning the art of drawing.
Discovery of an artist:
Life carried on in the village at its own pace. But, as there was no schooling after the fourth grade, his school teacher, who happened to have seen his sketches, suggested his father to send him to a school 15 kilometers away. It was unheard of for kids to leave their village and live in an unknown place at that age. But, that’s exactly what happened.
While in school, he continued to explore his artistic side, sketching and finally painting. It was one of these paintings that he made, depicting the farm life, got selected for an international show. Right then, he knew, art is what he was going to pursue, the artist inside him had been discovered.
William Turner in English:
Searching for his path as an artist, got him into an art school in Pune. It was a big step. His family did not approve and being the eldest son, he had responsibilities. But, the options were limited, art was all he could or wanted to do.In college, by sheer chance, he came across an old and dilapidated copy of a art book on William Turner. He didn’t know English, but he knew he was in love with the artwork. He made one of his friends, who was more well educated to translate the whole book from English to his native language.
In his fascination with Turner, he created more than 500 landscapes in less than a span of 12 months. His work, while trying to mimic Turners style, was inspired from his childhood experiences in the village.
Galloping Out Of The Canvas:
Over time Dinkar has experimented with multiple themes, styles and topics, depicting them on his canvas. Until one evening in Mumbai, outside the Taj Hotel, he came across his most important muse.His muse came in the form of a horse, which happened to be pulling a Victorian cart. The majestic wild beast was meant for the open jungle, to race with the wing. Here, he was being forced to ferry tourists around in a concrete jungle, racing not with the wind, but fighting the pollution.
While standing in traffic, his eyes, met that of the horses, which were filled with pain. They had a story which needed to be told. That’s when Dinkar decided to make a series dedicated to the horses of Mumbai. Overtime, his horses have become wilder, bolder and more powerful. They seem to be galloping out of the canvas, sending a gush of wind at the viewer, transcending him to the world without barriers and concrete.
If there was a place I want to be:“I do not wish to live in Venice or Paris, my dreams are simple”.
Dinkar said that if there was one place where he could live and paint all his life, it would be the village where he grew up. But, unfortunately, the village lays buried under a dam, which was build there displacing all the families and the memoires associated with it.
Pains of an artist:
Being an artist might have its perks, but it comes with its our hardships and troubles. For the freedom to create as he wishes to, he has to worry about how to make his work sell on a constant basis.What he paints this month needs to sell next month, to help him continue doing what he loves. The art market as a whole, he thinks has gotten very commercialized. Not enough people are trying to understand what the artist is trying to say and are more interested in how it would look in their living room.
He feels that while most artists are not able to market themselves or are reluctant to do so, it’s becoming critical for their survival. An artists work now does not end with just creating a master piece, he has to go out and find his buyer.
What to expect:
“I am currently still amused by my muse, the horse”. Dinkar plans to continue exploring his theme with horses, making then wilder, bolder and stronger. His colors would be fresher with lots of red, balanced with white and yellow and strong charcoal strokes. There would be more play of light and shade and greater inspiration from nature.To conclude, We wish him luck with all his new work and look forward to seeing his horses gallop out of the canvas into your living room.
"
