A Passion With Time: Arpana Caur at Indigo Blue Art |
 Arpana Caur, Tree of Suffering, Tree of Enlightenment Oil on Canvas, 5 x 5.5 feet Buddha is seated in a yogic posture meditating on reality, the pure Truth. To both sides are two kinds of trees. The tree of suffering and the tree of enlightenment. One is black, the other white, metaphorically connoting ignorance and enlightenment, samsara and nirvana. Much has been written and said about Arpana Caur's genius. And it's hard not to fall under the spell of this wonderful, soft spoken humanist. Deeply rooted in the Indian tradition, hers is not an art of violent disclaimers. She places herself firmly within the artistic traditions of figurative narration and emotive colours. Influenced by India's rich lineage of miniature painting she was not tempted, like many of her contemporaries, to seek herself in the art of the West. Yet Arpana is not without an individual language. Her work isn't one of harsh alien colours and distraught cubist forms. She draws heavily on the elements of the traditional miniatures for her visual maxim. Iridescent colours, the frontal rounded human body, the themes of India's rich folklore, multiple religions or many current issues all speak to our core. This isn't an art that demands long explanations. It is immediate and direct. But before you go thinking that Arpana creates an India of the past, her art comfortable and safe, unquestioning or unthinking, you couldn't be further from the truth. She lives within this society and is constantly aware of it dualism. We are a society fraught with decisions. The success of the capitalist society has left us with unending choices. And like the wonderful byproducts of the consumerism we'll go along with the loudest and the commonplace. And many of us have no time, interest or inclination to contemplate the larger issues of right and wrong. But Arpana's work is constantly aware of the two sides. Not content with mere commenting she boldly takes sides, addresses the issues and speaks her beliefs. A humanist, her art puts a spoke in the turning wheel of our daily lives allowing us the all important pause. Arpana began her professional career when in 1976 she was chosen by M.F. Husain to participate in a group show at Triveni Kala Sangam. This exhibition was followed by another exhibition organized by the German Cultural Counselor on contemporary Indian art. The critical acclaim Arpana received in the reviews of Mr. K.K. Nair in The Hindustan Times and Mr. Kaul in The Statesman led to her first one person show in Shridharani Gallery in 1975. Since then, she has had over 30 solo exhibitions and participated in more than 25 group shows in both India and abroad. A passion with time marks Arpana Caur's first solo exhibition in Singapore. The selection of artwork for the exhibition reflects her inspiration through literature and poetry and how she has been greatly influenced by the traditions of miniature paintings. Obsessed with constructing a world of binary opposites, the duality in Arpana's works compels the audience to not just see but look beyond the canvas into a world of contrasts that confront us frontally. It is in particular her continuous obsession with Time and Space which is successfully explored through the choice of artwork in this exhibition.
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by Dutch artist Ronald Wigman. Video from the opening at the coffee connoisseur.
