As a village boy Bapu with a vernacular language as his only tongue, oblivious of the life in big cities, single mindedly turned his course of his route towards Pune city with a big dream of supplementing his passion for art making.
Artist Bapusaheb Zanje with his artwork
While making his life in Pune, he has seen many unnerving ups & downs. But his resolve was strong to not to be defeated by the demotivating challenges. For him it was a matter of do or die battle. It dawned upon him quite early that in order to survive in the hustle bustle of city life & the competitive art world he had to equip himself with cauldron of knowledge on various subjects that made him a voracious reader & also learnt the nuances of city life.
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He graduated from Abhinav Chitrakala Mahavidyalay Pune & there after he had short stint as a teaching faculty in the same school. But knowing the limited scope of expanding his horizon in the art world as a art teacher at fine arts school, eventually he quit the job.
Bapu as a voracious reader of diverse subjects evidently seems to have been influenced by the Nietzsche’s philosophy which contends that ART IS WAY TO AVOID DYING FROM TRUTHS. He argues by engaging in art making, we can create something that is not true & thus prevent ourselves from being overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of reality.
Bapu further proposes from Nietcsche’s philosophy that art is not a simple imitation of nature, but rather an attempt to go beyond it & understand its innermost secrets. By creating works of art, we can gain a deeper understanding of reality & conquer it for ourselves, A work of art can take us to places that nature cannot take us & that show us things that are hidden from view. It can reveal the true nature of reality & give us a glimpse into possibilities that exists beyond it.
Bapu’s art practice exudes an aura of this philosophy & the humongous oeuvre of his work mainly in stone sculptures reflects the same intriguing narratives that implore the viewers to push the boundaries to strike intimate dialogue with his sculpted creations in stone.
Over the years Bapu has sculpted diverse series of works, but it was always a shift of concept from the earlier ones though there was never a disconnect from his distinct voice of concern. His aesthetics revolves around the concept of roots, procreation & harvest which is synonymous with the cycle of human life, living & non-living beings as well. His narratives of working process connect with the social life of human beings to transcend their mundane realities that life has to offer, rather it’s a way for humans to beauty, which can help them cope with harsh realities of life.
Overriding all the difficulties of competitive art world, Bapu has single handedly created his own enviable space. His creative voice has reached far & wide & he is known by his own unconventional artistic voice. Bapu’s art shows have always been a feast to the viewer’s eyes. His upcoming exhibition will be on view through October 25, 2022 which features new body of mesmerizing sculptures & paintings too. Though his prime interest lies in sculptures. His works are a blend of material approach to black basalt stone with metaphorical ruminations.
He is multidisciplinary artist who is accomplished sculptor, painter, curator. Voracious reader & a writer who has been tirelessly active in the art world for the last four decades with many accomplishments listed in the bullet points of his bio-data of artistic achievements.
The human body has been a recurrent theme in his works, albeit in different evocations. He is essentially an experimenter who is willing to push stone to the limit, inventing new ways to use material in a non-traditional & unique contemporary mode, while figuration still dominates his approach, both in his handling of the material & the objects. The works in this exhibition are formidable with a visible shift towards abstraction which is a result of long experience to the process of art making & his ability to breathe life into the forms carved out of stone is unmatched. As a keen observer of nature Bapu’s themes of art making are heavily drawn from nature itself.
He has been trading on path towards deeloping his signature voice rather than re-imaging the popular styles of our time. He invests in exhaustive process of trying to discover new visual narratives to convey his thoughts & feelings towards the reality of nature & the planet as a whole which lay bare his artistic independence as an art practitioner.
Bapusaheb’s creative voice amplifies his concern towards the continuity of this planet & his sculpted stone art works retains a continuing capacity to intrigue both the sculptor & audience. Visitors of this exhibition will have a more edifying experience.
Deepak Wankhede
From: 25th to 31st October 2022
‘PROCREATION”
An Exhibition of Paintings & Sculptures by Renowned artist Bapusaheb Zanje
VENUE:
Jehangir Art Gallery
161-B, M.G. Road,
Kala Ghoda, Mumbai 400 001
Timing: 11am to 7pm.
Contact: 94220 11825
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