Upcoming exhibition to showcase Sohan Qadri’s paintings

New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS) He was one of the most reclusive artists of our times. Thus, whenever Sohan Qadris name surfaces, art lovers sit up and take notice. Bringing attention to some of the most sought after works of this master-artist, renowned for tantric art, is an upcoming solo exhibition, showing fifty of his paintings.

The exhibition titled "Celebration: Paintings by Sohan Qadri from 1970-2010" is a collateral event of India Art Fair, scheduled to take place from January 20 to February 5 at Kumar Gallery here.

The exhibition includes oil impastos on canvas, ink dyes and incision on paper works. Many of these works are being exhibited for the first time, Kumar Gallery said in a statement.

Sohan Qadri (1932-2011) was an internationally acclaimed artist deeply engaged with spirituality. Qadri abandoned representation early on in his long career, incorporating Tantric symbolism and philosophy into his vibrantly coloured minimalist works.

"Painting is a total and complete visual expression for me. I use colour's full and innocent power field similar to the deep state of meditation. I keep my cleverness and concern down. A paining is not a riddle. It is joy and ecstasy," Qadri has been quoted in a text, accompanying the exhibition.

In 1966, Qadri left India for East Africa, Europe and North America and later had studios in Zurich, Paris and Toronto and participated in more than forty one-man shows, in Bombay, Vienna, Brussels, London, Oslo, Stockholm, Montreal, Toronto, Los Angeles and New York. He passed away in 2011.

"The exhibition includes oil impastos on canvas from 1970s and 80s to his later works of the 90s and the new millennium that were done using ink dyes and incision on paper. This is an odyssey of a pioneering Indian abstractionist," said Sunit Kumar, Director, Kumar Gallery.