These exhibitions in Mumbai highlight Prafulla Dahanukar's contribution to art

Prafulla would certainly have a smile if she saw the murals and street art all across Mumbai todayrdquo shares Savita Apte The art historian and founderdirector Art Dubai is in the city as part of the retrospective titled Prafulla A Retrospective on the Indian modernist Prafulla Dahanukar that opens at the Jehangir Art Gallery this week Like many Apte attributes Dahanukar for her eventual choice to write and research art These twin personas of the artist and patron shape the retrospective curated by Dr Beth CitronPrafulla Dahanukar Pics CourtesyPDAFPut together by the family the retrospective will be mirrored by Prerna an exhibition by 41 fellowshipawardees of the Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation PDAF which celebrates a decade of its own journey ldquoIt is important to understand that she was also a patron of the arts and went beyond her role as an artist As important as it is to celebrate her as an artist we thought it is also important to celebrate her role in sustaining a new generation of artistsrdquo shares daughter Gopika DahanukarA peer of artists like B Prabha and Nasreen Mohammedi Dahanukarrsquos rise post her graduation from Sir JJ School of Art defined her Citron curator of Modern and Contemporary Asian and Asian Diaspora Art at the Asia Society Museum in New York notes ldquoWhile Prafullarsquos name and to an extent her canvases are well known most audiences are not aware of the breadth of her practice across mediums as well as her key role in the development of modernist abstraction in IndiardquoApte adds ldquoI would say Prafulla Dahanukar came to abstraction quite early in her career She had received a scholarship from Stanley William Hayterrsquos art studio Atelier 17 in the Paris of early 1960s It allowed her to witness the abstract creations of postWorld War II Paris and also offered her the opportunity to produce prints that resolved abstraction in her own mindrdquoDr Beth Citron and Savita ApteThe retrospective will delve into the very lsquoIndian philosophy of abstractionrsquo that she defined but also expand into her vast range Citron points out ldquoPrafulla Dahanukar set herself apart in experimenting with various mediums from the beginning of her career This included an important series of prints made at Atelier 17 in Paris in 1961 and more sustainedly her work in ceramic and other mediums for murals and public art installations in Mumbai and beyondrdquoThe murals for instance are an example of pioneering work Starting with the famed mural on the side of the Shiv Sagar Estate built by IM Kadri in Worli Dahanukar went on to create many more in Mumbai as well as in the Middle East ldquoAs far as we are able to discern she was one of the first women to have been granted large mural projects There were muralists before her but they were all men as far as we can tellrdquo Apte sharesThe art historian has been searching through the archives for images of these murals for her upcoming book on the artist and her journey created in collaboration with the family to release next year She will also join Gopika and Citron in a panel talk presented by Asia Society India Ecologies of Abstraction to explore Dahanukarrsquos groundbreaking contributions The artistrsquos daughter Gauri Mehta adds ldquoHer love for experimenting with materials and ceramics in public art murals gradually matured into more introspective and abstract expressionsrdquoFor Citron though the diversity of the retrospective adds to its value ldquoThere are so many jewels in the exhibition but in terms of emotional intensity I would draw your attention to the early watercolours that were part of her 196162 sketchbook mdash these give an incredible sense of her hand as she worked through the possibilities of abstraction at that momentrdquoLike the person herself there are multiple facets to her art that make Prafulla Dahanukar interesting for art lovers historians and students todayFROM December 106 pm preview December 11 to December 1611 am to 7 pm AT Jehangir Art Gallery Kala Ghoda Fort