Life is a mystery.
So is the art and the artists.
I first met Kamal at his own art gallery which he courageously opened in Adarsh Nagar, Andheri, Mumbai, a locality popular with the TV and film industry. It was impossible for me to think of an art gallery, which was opened by an artist, who is new to the city and was staying in an rented apartment. I like the man and his gallery space, which I visited more than once.
Kamal kant was not a known name in Mumbai art circle at that point of time but he had spend time in Delhi, working in different discipline of art that includes- drawing, painting, sculpture and murals. But that is not enough. He was also active in writing on art and editing literary magazine in Hindi. He is a creative jargon, who loves to remain free when it comes to creating art. He believes- one can make living by doing various kind of works related to art, but when it comes to personal expression and exhibiting in galleries, your work should must be free from market pressures.
Once he invited me at Gorai beach, where at his friend's form house, he was creating human heads with cement. I saw him working like a magician with cement.
Afterwards, there was a gap of many years in our personal encounter. Suddenly, he informed me about his exhibition of paintings at Studio Desh.
I have always enjoyed looking at his drawings. In that show, he painted his own bold figurative human form in bright colors. That was the beginning of his decision to devote more time for artistic quest.
The young man from Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, has come a long way. Now he is painting bold huge colorful abstraction. I witnessed him working in his studio at Kandivali. He has brought a tremendous playfulness in his art making. His current set of paintings reminds us the urban walls, which is the most important human creations in the history of our planet.
We have created walls around us- Walls of- Color, Cast, Race, Religion, States, countries, Society, Politics.
Walls- created out of insecurity of various types also create prison, and fills us with longing for freedom.
But colors of these wall-like abstract works, also give us unique aesthetic experience of vivid urban human emotions.
Ravi Shekhar
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