THE LISTENING EYE | GOPI GAJWANI
The
buoyancy of a colour conveyed in whispers, the fluid movement of a stroke in no
hurry, the echoing sound of a line suspended in space, Gopi Gajwani engages us
with nuances of visual music in graphic and tonal notations through numerous
eloquent encounters in his paintings. His art practice reaffirms direct
correspondences between disparate sensory experiences as much as it endorses
how each of our senses are capable of doing more than what they are assigned to
do. Gopi’s floating, delicate, thread-like lines drawn with the kinesthetic
rhythm of the free hand, gently stir the surface, awakening the dormant space
with a visual whisper, even a melody unanchored, or a symphony resonating
across the page. One is struck by the gentility of form that has come to become
his quintessential image, much like his own persona.
The
journey has indeed been long and exciting, sustained by the artist through
consistent efforts at exploring the perpetual possibilities within abstraction.
Simultaneously, it has evolved into an internal process that veers away from
all external distractions of the every day, once the work takes him over. It
progresses through acts of deliberation and mediation, where all that is
unnecessary and irrelevant is willfully pruned before the presence of colour or
conte is marked on the surface.
For
Gopi, no painting happens without the ‘sound of music’. Neither can he create
in tense or sad moments. His art proposes a quiet reassurance of life and its
mysterious beauty that moves us beyond comprehension. It reveals itself in
unexpected and random moments, emerging at times from hidden corners and from
behind the veils of the unfamiliar. The energy of colour becomes an alternate
language to express the ineffable and the evanescent.
The economy of expression and the subtlety of emotion is what Gopi has come to master over the years in his artistic practice. One is moved to believe that when grace exceeds measure and spirit takes over matter, art begins to embrace the meaning of life.
For
Gopi, there lies the ultimate joy of creation.
Roobina
Karode, 2018
