Gallery Ragini presents Rohit Sharma’s Romance with Delhi Roads

New Delhi: With its aim of supporting the emerging contemporary artists, Gallery Ragini presents Romancing the Road, a solo exhibit of artworks by Rohit Sharma at Choko La, Khan Market, New Delhi from November 13, 2009 to December 10, 2009.

What’s interesting is that the opening of the exhibition will be marked with an evening of poetry by art curator Alka Raghuvanshi, poets Robinson, Laxmi Shankar Vajpayi and Ravinder Malhotra. Says Nidhi Jain, Director, Gallery Ragini: “Art and poetry have an interminable bond and evoke feelings of oneness. Both are reflections of sensitive souls trying to create, understand and contribute to human growth at the highest level. Through this endeavor of bringing the two art forms together, we attempt to explore the romance between poetry and art in an evening of poets reading their works amongst art works and people who love and care about art and poetry.”

Coming back to the exhibits, Rohit’s works focus on the various nuances of everyday life associated with the city roads. Says Rohit Sharma: “Every city has a way of encompassing individuals in its own way. The diversity of the Delhi is extremely spell-binding as there exists landmarks representing the ancient, medieval and modern that gives Delhi a unique identity. The roads that lead on to these landmarks have their own stories to tell. These works thus, talk about Delhi, its antiquity, rich cultural heritage and constant growth.”

Rohit’s romance of the roads has a timeless quality about it as he documents the various periods and the transition that has taken place. His fascination for minute details makes the works subtle-offering a whole new perspective to the viewer making one wonder if there is more to a road than just the destination.

The cow, that plays an integral part of the works, finds itself at crossroads within the changing urban scenario. Interplaying with the maze of the road-converging, diverging, Rohit’s cows are in a state of question, answer, conflict, dilemma and most of the time in deep meditative contemplation.

Rohit explores the idea of Kamadhenu- the mythical cow of fulfilling all desires and wishes it to be true in today’s context.  He shows the helplessness of the Kamadhenu by painting it black, showing it is impossible for the Kamadhenu as well to fulfill the needs of today’s time. His portrayal of the white and black Kamadhenu together shows that they are very much two sides of the same coin. The work titled Kamdhenu with milk displays how human breed wants to empty it of all that it has to offer merrily leaving it as a shadow of its former self.

The use of red in the background in most of the works is a conscious effort to draw attention to the road rage evident in our city. It also in many ways signifies attraction for the outsider. The riddle for the young child to make the calf reach its mother in the work titled Puzzled is a beautiful way to communicate about the present state. On the other hand, Modern Cow shows the replacement of cows by the milk vans. The modern cow (milk van) which travels everyday from the outskirts of Delhi on four wheels makes an interesting satirical comment. The depiction of the vehicles with tails, bringing milk into the city and is a reflection of the cultural change with life moving at an uncontrollable pace.

Rohit is touched by the obvious and easy to ignore but none can deny the role played in the life of denizens of Delhi by the ubiquitous auto-rickshaw. The young man with a backpack pushing the auto-rickshaw makes a subtle comment as how much goes in everyday journey-the cajoling, pleading and threatening.  His vintage car of a bygone era is a reflection of the attachment of the owner not willing to let go taking pride in his possession. He paints his vintage cars golden, showing what they truly are.

These works overall, are a reflection of Rohit’s intimacy with his city, his love of its various simple aspects from the roads, the cows, the old cars, inviting all of us to look at the obvious with a new understanding and sensibility.