Exhibitions at Sakshi Gallery, Akara Art will highlight artworks from the 1900s

Expressing the silenceArt never grows out of style it never makes an irrelevant comment So while a look back at the work of Indian artists created in the 1900s can help understand the trajectories of individual artists and periodic movements or reflect its time they also find applicability in our current world Like Sakshi Galleryrsquos The Sorcererrsquos Apprentice which looks at 30 of C Douglasrsquos work from 1990 to 1996 a time that gallery director Geetha Mehra calls a productive and creative time for the artistWork by C Douglas mixed media on paper 1992During this period his works began to feature abstract figures that began capturing human forms caught in picturesque turmoil ldquoDouglas is an expressionist his work is born from an outpouring of emotions and personal experiences through which he can communicate with himself and the public at largerdquo Mehra shares At a time when social media platforms are updated by the second with all forms of expressions interactions and happenings whether personal or on a larger social level silence goes unnoticed Emptiness is hard to communicate Works such as Douglasrsquo carry with them a hollowness that lends expression to the unspoken depths of human loneliness fatigue and angstGeetha MehraldquoThese figures are almost trapped and trying to break through the paperrdquo Mehra notes She highlights the artistrsquos use of textures on paper Unlike canvas on which you can layer using a technique like impasto Douglas textures his paper with tea stains and organic material like sand charcoal and mud mixed with glue by crumpling and tearing the paper creating grooves across it Itrsquos almost as if the paper is absorbing the artistrsquos angst This texturisation merits an inperson encounter instead of a digital login to view the exhibition Mehra mentions that this will be the first in a long time that the artistrsquos works are shown in the city Another reason to plan a visitOn August 22 to September 20 11 am to 6 pm Monday to Saturday at Sakshi Gallery Third Pasta Lane ColabaLog on to sakshigallerycomUnfollowing a trendThe second series of Akara Artrsquos threepart exhibition called FollowUnfollow shows the work of painters born between the 1930s and rsquo40s Founder Puneet Shah points out that the showrsquos title highlights the artistsrsquo unfollowing of their predecessorrsquos style and outlook similar to the social media phenomenon of following and unfollowing platform usersWoman Destroyed by Nalini Malani watercolour on paper 1986It showcases artists who set the pace for modernist and contemporary Indian art including Nilima Sheikh Nalini Malani Gulam Mohammed Sheikh and Nasreen Mohamedi among others Gallery manager Shreemoyee Moitra notes that this series highlights the period when women artists take prominence collectively for the first time in the history of Indian art Check out rare collages by Nasreen Mohamedi and Zarina Hashmi and a portrait of a refugee family by B Prabha who is known for her portraiture of pretty fisherwomen a shift from her conceptual stylePuneet Shah and Shreemoyee MoitraldquoThe show is an archive of contemporary Indian art going back to postIndependence It gives the audience an opportunity to see and trace back the pivotal moments of Indian art history through certain highlighted worksrdquo Moitra signs offOn August 26 to September 17 11 am to 630 pm Tuesday to Saturday at Akara Art Churchill Chambers ColabaLog on to akaraartcom