Ganesh Haloi’s watercolors come alive in Chennai

Step into the art center of Artworld Sarala, and you will be greeted by a serene swirl of colors – lines of different shapes and sizes that breathe, stop and change like memories. Look closely, and you’ll see that some have delicate fish poking out from the abstract forms. The artworks in watercolor and gouache are part of an ongoing exhibition by visual artist Ganesh Haloi titled Fragments of a Horizon – a work that feels like a poetic echo of the landscapes.

Haloi was born in 1936 in Jamalpur, Mymensingh, now in Bangladesh. After the partition of India, he moved to Calcutta in 1950. Nature is a recurring theme with dots, dashes and lines showing trees, water and lush fields, perhaps reminiscent of a lost homeland.

Following his studies at the Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta, his early stint with the Archaeological Survey of India shaped his understanding of history, memory and multidimensional landscapes.

Gouache on paper Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

In Fragments of Horizon, Héloïse’s watercolors appear as reflections on remembrance, silence, and various dimensions of the human experience. Landscapes merge into a field of color and rhythm – inviting the viewer into a world of abstraction.

“With Héloë, subtlety is everything – her works don’t shout, they whisper. So the real curation was in the space, spacing and rhythm of the exhibition. I focused on showing the range within these 25 works – the different moods, structures and energies in their abstractions and creating a natural visual flow so that the viewer slows down and really absorbs the works,” says curator Anahita Daruwala Banerjee. Are. show.

He added, “There was no dramatic story in the selection – but a quiet narrative of how the works unfold in space. This is where the real curation happened. My role as a curationist is to respect the artist’s language and make sure the viewer actually encounters it, not just passing by.”

Sarala Daruwala Banerjee, director of Artworld/Saralas Art International, says, “Although his work is often considered abstract, he does not consider himself an abstract artist. His art is primarily inspired by landscapes, particularly the lush green landscapes of Santiniketan, where he spent significant time.”

Helloy’s works have been exhibited in major cities across India and internationally – including New York, London, Hong Kong and Dhaka – and are housed in prestigious public and private collections around the world. In the late 1950s, when the Archaeological Survey of India entrusted him with the task of recreating the frescoes of Ajanta, Helloy was mesmerized by the magnificent Visvantara Jataka frescoes. The encounter at Ajanta left a deep impression on his actions. Through her watercolors and profound visual philosophy, Heloi continues to shape the discourse on Indian abstraction.

The show will run till October 31 at Artworld Sarala’s Art Centre, Cenotaph Road, Teynampet. Entry is free.