Bottled ocean water, anyone? BY INDIRA RODERICKS | Friday, March 24, 2006 10:51:12 IST
Don't miss Subodh Kerkar's paintings, sculptures and installations=20 exhibited at the Jehangir Art Gallery. Until 18 years ago, Goa-based artist and sculptor Subodh Kerkar was a qualified medical practitioner who occasionally dabbled in art. After a few successful exhibitions he chucked his medical practice and opted to become a full-time artist instead. That was in the beginning, it was only later when he diversified into sculpture and installation art. After five years he returns to Mumbai with an exhibition (at the Jehangir Art Gallery) he calls 'The Oceanic' - each work on display is associated with the marvels of what else, but the ocean. "It has taken me two years to put together this exhibition, while at the same time I continue with my installation work at my studio at Calangute. Here most of the installations are on the beach itself, just like poetry written on the sands," he said. =20 People might remember Kerkar's work two years ago when he had displayed his art at Priyadarshini Park during the Mumbai festival. But this time, the exhibits have surpassed his previous work and range from acrylic on canvas paintings to displays in wood, metal and terracotta, plus the hard-to-miss boats, sails (in glass) and sea shells. Perhaps the most amazing display is what he has titled 'bottled ocean water', all labelled and sealed - one hundred per cent pure with a 7 per cent salt content, he says. Can't get more realistic than that!=20 "I started painting realistic art, which I learnt from my father. Later I moved to images of the sea. Having lived in Goa all my life, painting the sea comes naturally to me. It has been my constant companion over the years and quite frankly I cannot imagine doing anything else," added Kerkar.=20 Comparing the two mediums, Kerkar continued that he is partial to installation art. "That is because," he says, "here you never know what the end result will be. In a painting you would have already envisioned the final product." The work that is on display is priced between Rs. 45,000 and Rs. 2 lakh. Returning home, he begins work on an Art Park in Panjim that has been commissioned by the Government of Goa and developing a two km walk through a forest dotted with sculptures by Kerkar. But what he is really looking forward to is an installation at the Wagah Border which he is hoping to begin work on soon. "Half of it will be on the Indian side the other in Pakistan. Of course a lot of work needs to be done from the required permissions to the basic groundwork. But this is something I am really looking forward to..." he said. http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=3Dfromthepress&subsec= tion=3Dinbombay&xfile=3DMarch2006_inbombay_standard9270 http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp? section=3Dfromthepress&subsection=3Dinbombay&xfile=3DMarch2006_inbombay_standar d9270 ~(^^)~ Avelino
