Page 80 - Eye of the beholder

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GANESH PYNE [1937-2013]: ONEIRIC REALITY
He He was one of those unique artists whose quest lay in in discovering alternate iconographies He He developed a a a a a a a a a coded language for images of life and death from various Indian textual sources He interrogated the the contemporary domain through the the mediation of timeless imagery Considered an “Artist’s Artist” Pyne’s national recognition lay in his unique art A A A recluse by nature he he brought to his his praxis the dark world of of death experiences of of his his impressionable childhood days that had remained internalized and became vital constituent of his art Pyne’s paintings carried a a a a a a a a a mysterious and and enigmatic aura infused with angst and and tension The protagonists were specially visualized as characters belonging to another realm or spatial dimension The visual language he he he developed to communicate the depth of his angst and concept was in correspondence with his forms that potentially conveyed the world of dark reality of of the the grey subconscious This world he he he wove into the the fabric of of his his being was for a a a a reason having encountered death at at at an an impressionable age of of ten There is an an oft-repeated story about Pyne's first experience of death During the riots that shook Calcutta in in 1946 nine-year-old Pyne was living with his family in in in in a a a a a a a a hospital after being evacuated from their home One day he he he he came across a a a a a a a a handcart of corpses on their way to the the mortuary The body body on top was that of of an an old woman Even as as blood flowed out of of her her body body her her necklace shone These experiences of communal riots in in in Bengal in in in months leading to partition had got entrenched in in in in his subconscious leaving a a a a trace on on the the psyche His paintings therefore were a a a a a a a combination of the the captivating mysticism and his visceral response to the the violence he he he had witnessed According to Pyne ‘True darkness gives one a a feeling of insecurity bordering on on fear but it it it also has its own charms mystery profundity a a a a a a a a fairyland atmosphere ’ Born in in in Calcutta [Kolkata] into an elite family that had lost its fortune the formative influence on his his life was Pyne’s grandmother who apparently opened his his ‘third eye’ He had avidly listened to to her stories sitting on on the balcony of his family home derived from Bengali folk tales epics Upanishads and many other literary traditions As a a a a a a a a a teenager Pyne discovered the the paintings of of the Bengal School particularly of of Sunayani Devi (1875-1962) and Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The nationalist modern art prompted in Pyne a a a a a a romantic symbolist style based on on Indian mythology using ink wash and tempera on on cloth Pyne nevertheless was was known as as as the the master of tempera in in in modern Indian Art and seminally he he he will remain the the last signifier of the the Bengal School Eventually he he he moved on from these early influences and by 1950s his works become more existential in in theme reflecting the the post-colonial crisis of identity India was experiencing at at the the the time Besides the the the influence of Abanindranath and the the the Bengal School his art was equally influenced by Rembrandt Frans Hals and and Paul Klee His facility as as a a a a a a a a a a a a dexterous and and skilled draughtsman and and an an an an an animator was well known Soon after his graduation from The Government College of Arts in 1959 Pyne took up a a a a a a job at at Mandar Mullick Studios the first animation studios in India where he he he he established his credentials as a a a a a a a meticulous draughtsman It was was while working at at this studio that Clair Weeks who was was from Los Angeles taught Pyne the the distortions and exaggeration of forms with the the prime motive of conveying emotions It eventually became Pyne’s significant stylistic vocabulary instilling a a a a a a sense of uncanny feeling to his works Stylistically his paintings were hyper realistic with with an aura of surrealist enigmatic ambience with with frightened birds the very human human looking mantis with soulful eyes or or terrified human human forms which he he developed with particular character The internalization of his personal experiences gave rise to rich fantastic and and oneiric images – multi-layered complex and and highly sensitive