ROARING SEA — STILL MIND
SATISH GUPTA
ROARING SEA — STILL MIND Paintings | Sculptures | Zen Calligraphy | Haikus | Revelations
SATISH GUPTA Astrid Narguet | Uma Nair
19 January - 3 February 2019 Visual Arts Gallery, Habitat, New Delhi
The master’s mind is like a mirror: It responds but doesn’t store, contains nothing, excludes nothing, and reflects things as they are. - Chuang-tzu
HOMMAGE AU MAITRE INDIEN SATISH GUPTA : Astrid Narguet
Comment l’âme s’incarne - t - elle dans l’art et l’irradie? J’ai eu l’honneur de rencontrer Satish Gupta il y quelques mois à l’occasion de l’exposition de l’artiste - moine chinois Dachan au Musée National Indien de Calcutta. Une rencontre époustouflante entre deux maîtres qui se sont reconnus et qui partagent la même vision de l’art. L’artiste - moine chinois Dachan a retrouvé dans le langage universel de l’artiste indien le véhicule du Grand Art/ Art Pur, permettant de changer le destin car l’art est un rempart contre l’aliénation de la conscience et l’indifférence spirituelle. L’inde et la Chine, ce voyage dans le temps qui remonte aux circulations intellectuelles et artistiques depuis l’antiquité, a été dominé par un fait majeur : le courant de l’expansion du Bouddhisme de l’Inde jusqu’au Japon passant par la Chine. L’ŒUVRE DE SATISH GUPTA Satish Gupta s’adonne à de multiples techniques artistiques, il est calligraphe, peintre, poète, écrivain, sculpteur, muraliste, designer, céramiste. Il est influencé par la théorie des cinq éléments, thème récurrent dans son travail : le feu, l’eau, le métal, le bois et la terre. Il nous emporte dans une fluctuation de couleurs, de formes, de matières, de mots, de coups de pinceaux matérialisant l’intemporalité dans un flot de sensations, la splendeur de l’Univers prend forme et nous envahit dans une extase hors du temps et de l’espace. L’œuvre de Satish Gupta, empreinte de poésie, exprime la métamorphose du monde et l’animation de l’art pour reproduire le processus de la nature, le modifier, le transformer, équilibrer le mouvement de l’énergie universelle. En effet, l’être s’incline devant la nature et s’il accepte cette dépendance, paradoxalement lui rendrait une véritable maitrise, celle de lui - même. Grâce au rayonnement éblouissant de ces sculptures monumentales de divinités, au mouvement infini s’accomplissant dans ses œuvres, l’essence de l’être est là. L’élan silencieux et majestueux résonne et nous capture. Le souffle vital (Prana ou le Qi) imprègne les êtres comme les choses et pour comprendre le message profond de Satish Gupta il faut comprendre que le souffle guide son pinceau ; c’est le rythme intérieur sans but ni fin que porte l’artiste qui va libérer l’étincelle de vie dans une fusion entre tout ce qui a existé, existe et existera.
L’utilisation de l’encre dans les œuvres de Satish Gupta - un trésor en orient - est un art quasi surnaturel, permettant de procéder à une mise en condition ascétique préalable à l’illumination spirituel de chaque être vivant, a la purification de l’âme et du corps. Son œuvre s’inscrit dans la pure tradition orientale qui est à l’origine d’une méthodologie introspective précieuse, la méditation et l’approche empirique dégagées de toute religiosité ; une contribution inestimable sur le plan des connaissances fondamentales de l’humanité. D’une certaine manière la peinture de Satish Gupta s’inscrit aussi dans la tradition iconographique chinoise. Il nous invite à un voyage spatio - temporel, dans lequel il met en scène des éléments de paysage traditionnel qui nous permet d’approcher l’intemporalité des évènements. La peinture trouve son âme devant les montagnes et l’eau, elle a le vide pour visage. L’eau est porteuse de vie, représente le yin et le yang, la féminité et la masculinité. On aperçoit une cascade entre les roches, des vagues déferlantes sur le rivage ou une partie de rivière à travers les couleurs et les matières tel le chemin intérieur de chaque être, celui d’une longue initiation que l’artiste aborde dans sa peinture avec douceur, volupté, essentialité et humilité. L’arbre occupe également une place importante dans le travail de l’artiste. Symbole d’unité, il est relié au terrestre par ses racines et au céleste par ses cimes, dans un accord parfait du vivant. Fruit d’un savoir millénaire il rayonne d’une puissante influence causale ; à travers cet « arbre de vie », l’artiste ouvre les chemins intérieurs de l’être vers un éveil spirituel. Vénéré depuis les temps anciens, l’arbre incarnerait la vertu des sages et ferait le lien entre ciel et terre, rêves et réalité, esprit et matière, inconscient et conscient, visible et invisible. L’arbre symbolise la fusion de l’Etre et de la Nature, la vie et l’espérance. L’arbre sculpture de Satish Gupta, dont la somptueuse chevelure verte mêle les reflets cuivrés des oiseaux, filtre et capte la lumière comme pour mieux la révéler.
Le trait de pinceau de Satish Gupta danse sur la toile avec une douceur et une volupté extrême, tout en nuance et finesse, ferme et souple à la fois sans la moindre hésitation. Le geste est une libération de l’âme face à l’ivresse de la nature, qu’il nous dévoile et permet au spectateur d’atteindre le vertige absolu en tournant son propre regard vers l’intérieur comme un chant de mantra. Les performances artistiques de Satish Gupta sont souvent accompagnées par la musique et la danse, comme s’il voulait créer le vêtement vivant de Dieu dans un rituel évanescent et transcendant. Pour ne citer que les calligraphies le long des côtes du monde entier (Normandy, Puducherry, etc…) ou bien encore « Wings of Eternity » les sculptures ailées volant au rythme du pinceau de l’artiste dans le spectacle au Royal Opera House de Mumbai. Mais face à la destruction de la Nature par l’homme, il y a aussi la colère qui s’exprime, la violence primitive et destructrice pour nous faire prendre conscience du besoin de changement, d’une nouvelle vision humaine pour le futur. L’au - delà, la terre et l’humanité : l’artiste retranscrit l’écoulement du rythme céleste entre l’esprit le corps et l’âme, pour regarder les choses, les explorer puisque tout est connecté. Satish Gupta nous guide grâce à son intuition artistique empreinte de prédictions ésotériques, simples et cohérentes. L’art tel un véritable Affresco de la respiration profonde du monde. L’artiste nous fait pénétrer dans un monde ou la métamorphose continue de la vie frémit comme parcouru par le vent. L’influence de la culture japonaise sur le travail de Satish Gupta est importante, notamment avec les Haiku japonais utilisés pour transcender l’obligation de la temporalité de notre langage et ainsi formuler l’unité primordiale, le premier trait. D’autres artistes au cours de l’histoire ont été inspirés ; Morandi par le moine bouddhiste Chinois Mu - xi de la Dynastie Song, John Cage par la philosophie Zen japonaise et l’artiste espagnol Tapies trouva l’aboutissement de sa recherche esthétique dans la calligraphie chinoise. La représentation de l’Univers est à l’intérieur de nous, l’impulsion créatrice de Satish Gupta fait resurgir à nous le gout de l’infini.
HOMMAGE TO THE INDIAN MASTER SATISH GUPTA: Astrid Narguet
How does the soul incarnate itself in art and irradiate it? I had the honour of meeting Satish Gupta a few months ago at the exhibition of the Chinese artist - monk Dachan at the Indian Museum in Calcutta. It was a breathtaking meeting between two masters who recognized in each other a shared vision of art. The artist - monk Dachan has found in the universal language of the Indian artist the vehicle of Grand Art/ Pure Art, which can change destiny, as art is a bulwark against the alienation of consciousness and spiritual indifference. India and China share a common voyage through time, originating in intellectual and artistic exchanges since antiquity, dominated by a fait majeur: the spread of Buddhism from India all the way to Japan, via China. THE OEUVRE OF SATISH GUPTA Satish Gupta works with a wide range of artistic techniques and mediums; he is calligrapher, painter, poet, writer, sculptor, muralist, designer, ceramicist. He is influenced by the theory of the five elements, a recurring theme in his work: fire, water, metal, wood and earth. He carries us away in a flurry of colour, form, material, words, and brushstrokes, materializing timelessness in a flood of sensations; the splendour of the universe takes form and overwhelms us in an ecstasy outside of time and space. Satish Gupta’s oeuvre, imbued with poetry, expresses the metamorphosis of the world and the animation of art to reproduce the process of nature, to modify it, to transform it, to balance the flow of universal energy. Indeed, if we bow before nature, and accept this dependence, we are paradoxically granted true self - control. Thanks to the dazzling radiance of these monumental sculptures of divinities, to the seemingly infinite dynamism intrinsic to his works, the essence of life is present. A silent and majestic momentum resonates and captures our entire beings. The vital breath (Prana or Qi) permeates beings as well as things and to understand the deeper meaning of Satish Gupta’s work it is necessary to realize that this breath of life guides his paintbrush. The artist’s inner rhythm, without objective or end, releases the spark of life in a fusion of everything that has been, is, and will exist.
The use of ink in Satish Gupta’s works — a precious commodity of the East — becomes an almost supernatural
Satish Gupta’s brushstrokes dance on the canvas with extreme subtlety and voluptuousness, combining
process, it allows an ascetic conditioning which in turn leads to the spiritual illumination of each living being, to
nuance and finesse, firmness and suppleness of touch, without any sign of hesitation. His artistic gesture
the purification of the soul and body.
is the liberation of a soul drunk on nature: the artist reveals this to viewers, allowing them to reach a form of enlightenment by turning their gaze toward their inner selves, like the chant of a mantra.
His work follows pure Eastern tradition, one that is at the origin of a precious introspective methodology, a combination of meditation and empiricism entirely removed from the religious; an invaluable contribution to the
Satish Gupta’s artistic performances are often accompanied by music and dance, as though he wants to
shared foundation of human knowledge.
create the living garment of God in an evanescent and transcendent ritual. This is to quote only the calligraphic works the artist has produced for the many coastlines of the globe, from Normandy to Puducherry, or “Wings
In a way, Satish Gupta’s painting is also indebted to Chinese iconographic tradition. Gupta invites us on
of Eternity” — sculptures included in a performance at the Royal Opera House of Mumbai — which seem to
a spatio - temporal journey, in which he stages elements taken from traditional landscapes, allowing us to
fly, mimicking the artist’s paintbrush.
understand how events transcend the notion of time. The soul of the art of painting emerges in the mountains and the water, the emptiness is its visage.
But, faced with the destruction of nature by man, the viewer will find anger is also expressed in the artist’s work, a primitive and destructive violence that reminds us of the need for change, of a new vision for humanity’s
Water is the bringer of life, representing yin and yang, femininity and masculinity. Through the use of colour
future.
and material, one perceives a cascade between two rocks, waves breaking on the shore, or in the current of a river, mirroring the inner journey of every living being: a long initiation that the artist reflects in his painting with
The afterlife, earth and humanity: the artist translates the flow of the celestial rhythm between the mind,
softness, voluptuousness, a sense of essentiality and humility.
the body and the soul, to look at things and explore them, since everything is ultimately connected. Satish Gupta guides us thanks to his artistic intuition suffused with esoteric, yet simple and coherent predictions.
Trees are also an important component in the work of the artist. A symbol of unity, trees are connected to the
Art becomes a fresco, like the breath of the world. The artist draws us into a world where the continuous
earth by their roots and to the heavens by their canopies, in a perfect balance of life. Through this “Tree of Life”,
metamorphosis of life seems to flutter like the wind.
a fruit of ancient knowledge, the artist radiates a powerful causal influence; he opens up the inner paths of the living to provoke spiritual awakening.
The influence of Japanese culture on Satish Gupta’s work is significant, especially Japanese haiku, which is used to transcend the temporal restrictions of language and thus return to primordial unity, to the first line drawn
Venerated since ancient times, the tree embodies the virtue of the wise and makes the connection between
that led to the invention of language.
heaven and earth, dreams and reality, spirit and matter, consciousness and unconsciousness, visibility and invisibility. The tree symbolizes a fusion of the essence of being and nature, life and hope.
Other artists in the course of history have been similarly inspired; Morandi by the Chinese Buddhist monk Mu - xi of the Song Dynasty, John Cage by Japanese Zen philosophy, and the Spanish artist Tapies, who found
Satish Gupta’s tree sculpture, whose sumptuous green foliage mixes with the coppery reflections of the birds
the culmination of his aesthetic research in Chinese calligraphy.
that inhabit it, filters and captures light as if to better reveal it. A representation of the universe is inside each one of us, and Satish Gupta’s creative impulse allows a taste of the infinite to resurface within ourselves. (Translated by Arvind Raman)
Interactive dance by Isha Shervani and gestural calligraphy by Satish Gupta at The Royal Opera House in Mumbai.
Astrid Narguet: Curator based in Rome International department Director, Asia Arts Centre, Beijing, China
ROARING SEA — STILL MIND I was at a peace conference in Normandy, France where I exhibited some scrolls with my haikus and brush calligraphy. There was a gap of a few hours between speakers when my colleague Richard drove us to paint a canvas at the nearby beach which was the famous spot where Monet and Delacroix created their masterpieces. On our way, the weather suddenly turned cloudy and by the time we arrived at the beach there was a big storm. The sea was rough and roaring with fury... I started sketching rapidly to capture the moment and clung to my notebook preventing it from being blown away along with me. Absorbed in my drawing I was scanning the seascape when I noticed Richard who had walked down to the beach and was sitting there cross legged and deeply absorbed in meditation oblivious of the danger the environment posed. It was a very Zen moment — the contrast between the stormy sea and his calm, silent presence in the face of nature’s onslaught struck me deeply and inspired some of these works. I am drawn to Zen aesthetic, because of its simplicity, the play of emptiness and fullness, the asymmetrical forms and voids but above all the silence — the tranquility. The stormy sea, the roaring waves became a metaphor for the chaotic state of our world today where we are governed by insensitive people who are drunk with power and indifferent to the rapidly deteriorating
Paying hommage to Monet
Photo : Abhishek Basu
environment, to climate change. Instead of getting frustrated and shifting blame, each one of us has to think deeply with a calm mind and realise that we are all responsible for this state and find ways to make a better world in whatever way we individually can. I was drawing the pristine beauty of the glaciers in Switzerland when I was informed that the long tracks covering a part of the glacier - the one that I was standing upon - was to prevent it from melting and the Swiss are trying there best to save it. The reality and the immediacy of the biggest problem confronting humankind became so real! Through these works on the elements, I have explored their importance - their life sustaining power. I have painted the awesome magnificence of the mountains, the wandering clouds, the waterfalls, the shifting light and the shadows which at times reveal their secrets to me.
It was a very Zen moment — the contrast between the stormy sea and his calm, silent presence in the face of nature’s onslaught struck me deeply and inspired some of these works.
Painting the 1.6 kilometer canvas at Puducherry Beach
Photo : Gita Deb Nath
Creating these Artworks has been an enriching, exhilarating and almost a spiritual experience! They are mostly calligraphic in spirit and are my spontaneous response to the world around me. I like to retain the spontaneity of calligraphy even in my sculptures. Though it took me years to create The Buddhas Within, The Cosmic Wave and the Wings of Eternity sculptures, I wanted them to appear effortless... almost as if they created themselves with any traces of my hand being minimal. The play of the transient and the eternal, the solid and the ethereal inspire me deeply.
While doing a calligraphic work, I am deeply in touch with my inner self and with the Divine. It is tremendously liberating... I feel completely free of any bondage, my heart beats faster, my pulse races as I create in wild abandon, not thinking of anything else but just being in touch with life, the sheer joy of being alive, living in the moment in ecstasy!
— Satish Gupta Zazen Studio, December 2018
The pendulum of life swings and swings — just keeping my balance!
ROARING SEA – STILL MIND I mixed media on canvas, 60 x 36 inches
ROARING SEA – STILL MIND II mixed media on canvas, 60 x 36 inches
ROARING SEA – STILL MIND I mixed media on canvas, 60 x 36 inches
ROARING SEA – STILL MIND, triptych mixed media on canvas, 60 x 108 inches
Life poses many Koans (Riddles) to which there are no correct answers. Struggling with Koans over the years — I now realise that the questions themselves are the answers.
KOAN mixed media on canvas, 36 x 54 inches
The only way we can ever possess anything is to completely immerse ourselves in its being, become the object of our desire... become the beautiful flower, the precious object, the wonderful sunrise, the fleeting cloud... the vast sea.
IMMERSE mixed media on canvas, 36 x 54 inches
I
TWILIGHT mixed media on canvas, 28 x 22 inches
II
SURGE
mixed media on canvas, 28 x 22 inches
ASCEND
GENESIS
DISTANT MEMORY
mixed media on canvas, 22 x 28 inches
II
III
I
Hidden in the mysterious landscape are some sacred spaces which offer sanctuary to the tired pilgrim. I found one such.
IV SACRED SPACE mixed media on canvas, 28 x 22 inches
mixed media on canvas, 22 x 28 inches
Up in the freezing mountains, breathing the pure air you cannot but marvel at the majesty of the snow clad glaciers, their pristine beauty. And when the mist envelopes them by it’s ethereal presence you realise how precious nature is and how blessed we are to be part of the whole eco - system.
FROZEN TRANQUILITY mixed media on canvas, 14 x 19 inches
BLESSINGS mixed media on canvas, 19 x 14 inches
FROZEN TRANQUILITY mixed media on canvas, 14 x 19 inches
FROZEN TRANQUILITY, triptych mixed media on canvas, 60 x 108 inches
I
II
THE SOUND OF NOTHINGNESS mixed media on canvas, 28 x 22 inches
mixed media on canvas, 14 x 19 inches
I
II
III
DISSECTING DREAMS mixed media on canvas, 19 x 14 inches
mixed media on canvas, 22 x 28 inches
As I watched the wooden log being battered by the waterfall ‘Gaugin’s’ title of his famous work came to my mind. What was the origin of the log’s existence — surely it was long before it was chopped off from the tree... even before it was a seed which became the tree. And where did the seed come from??? These questions intrigued me and I started musing on my own mortality and life.
DAY BREAK mixed media on canvas, 68 x 43 inches
ADRIFT mixed media on canvas, 36 x 36 inches
DAY BREAK mixed media on canvas, 68 x 43 inches
WHERE DO WE COME FROM... WHERE DO WE GO? I, II, III mixed media on canvas, 60 x 36 inches
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
Rushing, roaring waterfalls, journey into the unknown, the meditating log looks neither up — nor down.
JOURNEY ink on paper, 19 x 14 inches
JOURNEY PAUSED
JOURNEY FLOWING
The log on its journey has many ups and downs just like ours. Does it take time to enjoy the sound of water flowing, does it fear death as it falls down to the precipice or is it exhilarated by the liberating feeling of free fall? Is it lulled to sleep in the eddies of the emerald pools in the mountains, cooled after being exposed to the blistering Sun?
JOURNEY FLOWING mixed media on canvas, 14 x 19 inches
mixed media on canvas, 19 x 14 inches
The sound of falling water, sometimes gushing over the rocks sometimes trickling down in the gap between the rocks and falling drop by drop into the pond below are the music of nature’s symphony.
SYMPHONY I, II, III mixed media on canvas, 60 x 36 inches
SYMPHONY I, II, III mixed media on canvas, 60 x 36 inches
The moment we reveal our inner self without hesitation — we merge with The Divine. DANCE OF THE BRUSH mixed media on paper, 36 x 60 inches
There are Buddhist techniques of meditation by which you can control and form your dreams. The idea is for us to realise that this Samsara is only illusions, and therefore we must not be attached to it.
STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS I, II, III mixed media on handmade paper, 60 x 36 inches
STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS I, II, III mixed media on handmade paper, 60 x 36 inches
Time just stood still as the mountain revealed itself to me and gave me a glimpse of the dream like world.
FOREVER WORLDS mixed media on canvas, 28 x 66 inches, framed 36 x 76 inches
ONE NOTE OF ZEN mixed media on canvas, 22 x 54 inches
If the mind is clear like the August moon there is no difference between an oasis and a mirage. DENSE LIGHT mixed media on canvas, 14 x 19 inches
WINGS OF ETERNIT Y “May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks,” answered Gandalf, who knew the correct reply.” - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Annotated Hobbit: The Hobbit, Or, There and Back Again
Satish Gupta the artist, sculptor, poet, thinker, calligrapher, the Zen being is an ensemble of aesthetics. He contemplates the beauty of the earth to find repeated refrains in nature, to unravel within his own inner journeys a silent spring. One such journey began years ago when he carried an Eagle’s feather from South Africa all the way to India and since then his fascination for this element from nature has been a climb into the mountains to get good tidings.
WINGS OF ETERNITY copper with copper plating, each wing including stainless steel base, 15.6 x 8 x 8 feet, 450 kg. approximately
Purity of form This sculptural installation in the incarnate residue of an eagle’s wing is an emblem of reverie. In sculpture, Satish seeks above all, the purity of forms. When he recreates the wing in copper, he wants to find the balance between the quasi - abstract, and the real. He gives it a majestic mould in the way he fashions the veins of the feathers to create a signature that is most symbolic, and he wants to be able to shape it as he pleases... passionately to create his ideal. This “purity of form” results from Satish’s striving for simplification, to distill freely from the subject the essence of clear, and expressive lines, which he animates with subtle inflections and – most innovatively – the striking, contradictory notions of positive and negative space. The thin veins in the feathers give way to rays of light and the incandescent air stems from its accessibility. We recognize the motif, admire the graceful form and are aware of the hegemony of the poise born of vision and continuity.
The chief’s eye flash’d; but presently Soften’d itself, as sheathes A film the mother eagle’s eye When her bruised eaglet breathes. You’re wounded! If Browning exemplifies an eagle’s love for her young ones, Satish takes us back to Greek mythology. “I am also inspired by the Greek myth of Icarus and have created several canvasses on the theme. The cautionary tale about over ambition led to this sculpture. While the desire to go beyond the Sun to the stars is laudable, in our quest, we must not destroy the home planet in ignorance or greed. In this floating world balance is needed.”
Flight and gravity “Flight has always fascinated me,” says Satish. “I lost my father in an air crash when I was only four and a half and that left a deep impression on my young mind. It was this tragedy that was instrumental in my becoming a painter and a sculptor as my mother was preoccupied with finances and my siblings, I was left to my own devices - painting became my anchor and helped me cope with the situation.” Perhaps the loss left Satish with an innate desire to explore and create multiple journeys in the worlds of the sky and wheel their silent course. “Man flying unbound by gravity, Man reaching out into space and leaving his cradle (the Earth) behind - fires my imagination,” he affirms.” I finally visited the Space Centre in Texas last year and relived the dream of the space pioneers. I saw the massive Space Shuttle and wondered how it must have been to fly in it and float back to Earth.” In life too the eagle is a symbol of magnificence and the strength of soaring with eagle’s wings and virtually being monarch of all he surveys. We could think of so many examples - the Catskill eagle that can dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces. And even if he forever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains; so that even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle is still higher than the other birds upon the plain, even though they soar. The eagle also reminds us of Robert Browning’s famous poem Incident of the French Camp when Napoleon saw his young soldier who came with news of victory was shot and bleeding. And the poet says:
Complex aesthetic ideas In some ways Satish plays with the notion of sculpture as an object mounted on a pedestal and viewed from
the space exhibited - it will encourage viewers to traverse the space all around it so that they have a dynamic relationship with the area they inhabit. We are looking at the eagle’s wing as an intervention into the space of sculptural architecture and a process of mapping the self - evident features of the aesthetic experience onto the reality of a given space.
History and memory The detailing of the copper wires in the feathers, the identical characteristics of both sides unveil a creative evolution of modernist style in the creation of this sculpture which harkens international avant - garde to transgress hallowed pictorial conventions that have been in place since the Renaissance. The graceful curves animate the wing and play off contrapuntally with the convex and planar shapes. Light is the critical player between form and the textures. In a courageous gesture, the wing stands upright and majestic, like a fragmented relic that speaks of history and memory. In the creation of the wing Satish establishes the clear conception of the materiality of a single form from nature. In the discourse of art and sculpture traditionally there was a belief that sculpture begins where material touches space... adding to this tradition, Satish experiments, using the reverse idea, and concludes that sculpture may begin where space is encircled by the material.
Complex aesthetic ideas In some ways Satish plays with the notion of sculpture as an object mounted on a pedestal and viewed from a distance. This sculpture that is not carved, it is modeled and constructed to interact, both physically and intellectually, with the viewer and our environment, it will create a combustion of evocative echoes according to the nature of the place and space that it inhabits. The wing is composed of many smaller facets. Within these simple arrangements, Satish compresses a wealth of complex aesthetic ideas, implicitly celebrating sculptural conventions and elevating the work of art on a pedestal, as he draws attention to the concept of three dimensionality, and the expectation that there must be craft and talent involved in shaping the object. This work is wholly volumetric as it rises off the floor. The angular arrangement and the shape and size of the copper materials he uses are that which determine the size and form of the final work. Each unit of the work is proportionately progressive - and each portion of the work commands equal attention. As in all successful sculptural creations, the work commands a strong presence in its space and engages the viewer to interact with it and the negative space surrounding it.
Time and immortality A deep philosophy emanates from this creation. It takes us beyond lands and civilisations, it embraces the idea of the earth as one abode. In Arabic tales the feather is called Risha. Its presence is a statement about the bird as a being. In terms of the sentience of birds it speaks to us about being and non - being. While its fullness is expressed through the emptiness it claims for its own it is also a leitmotif of time and immortality. The eagle is absent but its wing is present – to stress the presence of something through its absence – makes even the unimaginable possible. It also holds within a certain equilibrium - that could be achieved with the perspective offered by space and time. It associates the magic of distance achieved, to the mystery of time, to the inevitable nature of events, that change landscapes and human figures but also give us a treasure trove of tales that belong to a tangle of shades and shadows which are given life when brought out into the leaves of a book to read. “On the contrary, I think it can show us all those stories in full light, so that every event, every date becomes expressive and persists as an eternal reminder of how human sensitivity and greatness of action and deed is needed on planet earth,” maintains Satish. The wing gives shape, gives voice, gives life to the richest dimensions of existence and the most inarticulable splendors of the human experience when we take time to observe and record elements from
Nonetheless, its simple, ubiquitous materials make it fundamentally personal and offer a certain reflective and
nature’s bounty. Indeed the nourishment of nature and the art of solitude both walk side by side and Satish
austere presence to the piece. There is an implicit articulation of three - dimensionality that draws attention to
is one such being who awakens his own spirit in the silence of his studio in Gurugram near Delhi.
This wing bears testimony to the truth that the realm of sculpture must employ modeling to create form. Satish goes a step ahead to adapt fleeting effects of form to enhance light catching surfaces so that he creates dialogues that brim from within. In the finer details of gold layering we discern a cohesive structural discipline – in generating form. He fosters a deeper understanding that mass and space, solid and void, should be accorded equivalent value. These twin aspects of perceived reality each interpenetrate the other, and for the purpose of representation the functions and outlines and patterns become an integral part, symbolically as important as the pattern of elevations. As a result this sculpture takes on the aesthetic of an installation which provides an optical and spiritual expression. There is no inner side without the outer. Both elements are fused into one significant ensemble. In the creative process, as in life itself, the reality of the image is a conceptual imprint of the absent positive... It not it the presence of the thing but rather the absence of it that becomes the cause and impulse for creative motivation. This installation will inspire nature’s peace and love for birds, to flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The wing will echo tales of freshness into you, and refurbish you with an energy, that will say that while we are inheritors of the earth, we also have to start being caretakers who can bequeath this beauty to future generations. John Keats says: “The poetry of the earth is never dead.” And so be it.
Uma Nair Critic & Curator New Delhi
Like the stone carvers of Ellora’s Kailashnath temple who created the masterpiece out of a single mammoth rock by chiseling away all that was superfluous, all that was not the temple, I create an emptiness in space by meditating on what I conceive as the spirit of the sculpture.
GOLDEN WINGS (Left) sculpture in copper & stainless steel with gold plating, H: 40, W: 24, D: 7 inches
FLIGHT (Right) sculpture in copper & stainless steel with patina, H: 48, W: 20, D: 6 inches
Kalyanasundaram Shiva, installation in the Himalayas
ICARUS FALLING copper with gold plating, 7 feet x 32 x 5 inches, approximately 40 kg.
Does the wave before dissolving on the shore — question its destiny?
THE COSMIC WAVE Ripples in the fabric
Sea weeds swaying
we seek reasons,
of time...
like a blind dragon
causes and effects
having lost Is time just a memory
its way
The butterfly just dreams
in thunder clouds Space an illusion?
...unmindful
— just dreams
Dissecting memories
Of the double rainbow
- Satish Gupta
I slice the wave
on the horizon
— the wave of
A revelation?
consciousness
An opening?
surging through my veins Time past has no
THE COSMIC WAVE sculpture in copper with patina, brass and stainless steel, W: 16, H: 8, D: 5 feet, approximately 375 kg.
Pushes the debris of
obligation to justify
unresolved encounters
It’s actions —
Zazen, 18th February, 2018
DOES THE WAVE, BEFORE DISSOLVING ON THE SHORE QUESTION ITS DESTINY? We all leave our footprints behind — traces of our existence. Unlike other living beings, why does man need to immortalise them, build pyramids, build Taj Mahals? We are very conscious and aware of our footprints, which in a sense are our symbols, our search for immortality. We are afraid to die — why, when life is just one flowing river merging with the timeless ocean?
LEAVE ME MY OWN WORLD Leave me my own world this little world of mine so fragile, so frail - Germain Droogenbroodt
My poet friend Germain lives with his wife Lilian and two loving Dobermans, Gaia and Athena in idyllic surroundings overlooking the Mediterranean with rolling olive hills in Spain. The panoramic view from his hilltop is simple and has an aesthetic beauty filled with music and pauses of silence. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to share this tranquility while drawing to his poems. But the landscape around is changing very fast with the so called “development”. We often wonder how long it will last - this serenity. We all have our precious worlds - where we don’t want any intrusion - more than the physical, the ones that exist in the mind. I treasure mine, my mind - space is so precious — It is what keeps me alive!
LEAVE ME MY OWN WORLD copper with antique finish, D: 15, H: 22, W: 22 inches copper with antique finish and gold leaf, D: 15, H: 22, W: 22 inches copper with antique finish and copper leaf, D: 15, H: 22, W: 22 inches copper with antique finish and silver leaf, D: 15, H: 22, W: 22 inches copper with patina finish, D: 15, H: 22, W: 22 inches
Like mist, bliss is all pervading — It’s up to us to experience it.
When you can think about your life as just a wave in the Cosmic ocean, there is no fear of death because you know that you will dissolve back into being the vast ocean.
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MEDITATION collage in wood, paper, ink & photograph, 16 x 12 inches
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MEDITATION collage in wood, paper, ink & photograph, 16 x 12 inches
collage in wood, paper, ink & photograph, 12 x 16 inches
CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS The inspiration for this sculpture has come from Sufi poet Attar of Nishapur’s The Conference of the Birds, which is a celebrated literary masterpiece of Persian literature. In the poem, the birds of the world gather to decide who is to be their King as they had none. The Hoopoe - the wisest of them all - suggests that they should find the legendary Simorgh, a mythical Persian bird which has been compared to The Phoenix in Western mythology. The Hoopoe leads the birds - each of whom represent a negative human personality trait which prevents them from attaining enlightenment - in search of Simorgh. Only a few of the birds manage to reach the end of the journey, and find themselves staring at their own reflections on the Lake, the dwelling place of the coveted Simorgh. This sculpture is installed normally in the open air in my studio and I wonder if the birds that come and perch on it there are on a journey in search of knowledge similarly.
CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS sculpture in copper and stainless steel, H: 16, W: 18, D: 18 feet, 750 kg. approximately
Photo : Sina Kuhnt
Satish Gupta is a painter, sculptor, poet, writer, printmaker, skilled draftsman, muralist, designer, and calligrapher. His works have a deep engagement with mysticism and Zen spirit. His works were exhibited at the Venice Biennale and Art Laguna, Arsenal and at The Deborah Colton Gallery in Houston in 2017. They have been exhibited in over 36 solo shows at important art galleries and museums internationally including Shanghai Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Sacred Arts, Brussels and The National Ethnographic Museum in Slovenia. Satish is known for his monumental copper sculptures. His has created an 11’ high sculpture of Surya at the T3 at Delhi airport, the Devi at The Leela palace hotel in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, Zen Forest in Ritz Carlton in Bangalore and a 30’ mural at the International Airport. He sculpted the Utsav Murti of ‘Ling Bhairavi’ for Sadhguru’s Isha Ashram in Coimbatore. His monumental sculpture ‘The Buddhas Within’ is in the permanent collection of The Prince of Wales Museum (CVSM) in Mumbai. His book ‘Zen Whispers’ was released at the Jaipur Literature Festival in 2018. His sculpture “Wings of Eternity” was the centre of the event around which there was an interactive dance performance by Isha Sharvani and gestural live calligraphy by the artist at The Royal Opera House in Mumbai.
2015 - 2016
“The Buddhas Within” sculpture in copper in the permanent collection of The Prince of Wales Museum (CMVS) in Mumbai.
A portfolio of his haikus and paintings ‘Zen Space -
‘Silent Eternity’ was exhibited at The Prince of Wales
Within & Without’ was released at Gallery Art & Soul
Museum (CMVS) and at the Jehangir Art Gallery in
in Mumbai.
Mumbai. The show continued at J W MARRIOT in Juhu in Mumbai.
‘The Five Elements’ paintings on The Bodhisattvas were exhibited in the National Museum of Shanghai
His monumental sculpture in Copper was acquired
in the show ‘Forms of Devotion’.
by The Prince of Wales Museum (CMVS) in Mumbai.
Zen Space show of sculptures and paintings was
Santa Barbara Museum patrons visited Zazen Studio
exhibited at the Oberoi hotel in Gurugram. It continued
in Gurugram.
at The Habitat Centre, New Delhi. A film on his sculpture ‘The Buddhas Within’ was
2017
screened at Asiatica Film Mediale in Rome and at
‘I Am’ an interactive dance, music, poetry and live
Matadero, Spain by Basu Foundation for the Arts.
calligraphy event by the artist in collaboration with Daksha Seth, Isha Shervani, Tao Issaro, Pipa Lester
‘Small Works’ a show of his works on the Lotus was
and Devissaro was held at Zazen Studio.
held at Roberta English Gallery in San Francisco as part of the Asia Week.
‘Meditations on a Mandala’ his sculpture was
‘Meditations on a Mandala’
exhibited at Art Laguna Prize in Arsenal.
His sculpture in Copper ‘Meditations on a Mandala’ was part of The Venice Biennale.
Zen scrolls with haikus and drawings were exhibited at The National Ethnographic Museum in Ljubljana,
He created calligraphic scrolls at Toulouse, France
Slovenia.
on Water.
‘Khushi’ an NGO auctioned his Triptych on the Ling
Satish did an Art Residency in Mauritious at Maradiva
Bhairavi which was created in collaboration with
Resort in collaboration with the Basu Foundation for
Sadhguru.
the Arts where he painted the ocean.
Calligraphic works were created at Muir beach in
His sculptures were shown at the Swiss Embassy
California.
during the Art Fair in New Delhi.
A collaborative sculpture in woven textiles and Acrylic
Satish created three monumental sculptures in
with Sarita Handa was on view at Bikaner House in
ceramic and Copper for Art Ichol, Madhva Pradesh.
New Delhi. He participated in ‘The Inner Path’ a festival of ‘Visions’ Show at The Deborah Colton Gallery,
Buddhist film, Art and Philosophy presented by
Houston exhibited his sculptures and paintings.
Teamwork in New Delhi.
2018
Painting the 1.6 kilometer canvas at Puducherry Beach
‘Wings of Eternity’ a multimedia event with an aerial
Satish created works inspired by a visit to Mongolia.
dance by Isha Sherwani and live gestural calligraphy by the artist on stage was presented at The Royal
On a visit to Normandy beach in France he painted
Opera House in Mumbai.
‘Roaring Sea — Still Mind’ while attending a peace conference at Tapovan ashram. He also exhibited his
ZEN WHISPERS his book was released at The Jaipur
Zen scrolls there.
Lit Fest. He visited Nagaland to observe the migration of the He did an Art Residency at St Moritz sponsored by
Amur Falcon which led to writing some haikus and
Reine Victoria Hotel, Basu foundation for the Arts and
creating sculptures.
OFC which inspired him to paint the glaciers and the waterfalls.
‘Zen whispers’ an exhibition of his works was presented at the Sutra Foundation in Kuala Lampur.
Gupta made a painting “MA” which was 1.6 kilometre
Ramli Ibrahim – the internationally acclaimed Odissi
long on the beach in Puducherry. Many dancers
dancer who is the national living treasure of Malaysia
interpreted the five elements and danced along
and Geetikashri danced and interacted with him
with him as he painted the canvas – perhaps the
while he painted a canvas on stage.
longest in the world. Mahesh Vinayakram created live music to inspire the artist. This work MA on the five
His sculptures were exhibited in the show “i Sculpt2”
elements was to bring awareness to the public about
at The India International Centre in New Delhi.
the need to conserve our resources and protect the environment. The Aurodhan Gallery presented the work and Vardhman sponsored the canvas.
Firewood does not last all night — the warmth of shared love does.
Copyright © 2018 by Satish Gupta
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
TEXT & CONCEPT
Satish Gupta DESIGN
Pavan Java ESSAY
Astrid Narguet | Uma Nair PHOTOGRAPHY
Raj Salhotra PROCESSING & PRINTING
Archna, www.archanapress.com
1, Madhuli, Shivsagar Estate, Worli, Mumbai - 400 018 T. 22 - 24965798/ 24930522 | E. galleryartnsoul@gmail.com | W. www.galleryartnsoul.com
zazenstudio@gmail.com
www.satishgupta.com