[1]In his latest show ‘Losing Sight of Perspective’, Dhanur Goyal emerges as an autodidact artist who attempts to simulate form through rhythmic abstraction, in a series of works which are essentially drawings/paintings done in pen and ink on paper.
This exploration of form manifests itself both in referential and non referential manner, as if the artist is trying to discover a style to express his vision of the world. Thus there is a spontaneous element in some of his works that is artless and innocent of intentionality, while others seem to be pre meditated and worked upon.
His oeuvre can be divided into three main categories, each quite distinct in colouring, style and treatment from each other. The first is created by free flowing red or orange lines over swathes of dark background colour, which are free from any image-text reference. There is an elementality and energy about these creations, the colours strong and primal pulsing with a primeval rhythm. One notices a massive solidity in the lines, unrelieved by a lightness of treatment or touch.
Then there are drawings that suggest human and animal figures: deer, elephant, rhinoceros, dancing couples suggestive of prehistoric paintings and tribal art. Certain technical devices that are also derived from the folk- tribal matrix such as cross hatching lines delineate form, superimposed over swirling lines. A sub text of power play and inter personal relationships in the placement and play of figures exists in some of the works that is quite interesting.
Perhaps the most effective works on display are the landscapes done in elemental green on blue. Like the first set of paintings there are no major tonal gradations or differentiations in these artworks also. The artist does not sketch out a forest or a lakescape, pure colour and lines are used to reflect calm and soothing natural forms.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/losing1jpg-060