Giving streets of Delhi an identity

Romancing The Road is a continuing saga of Rohit Sharma’s obsession with Delhi. Currently on display at the India International Centre, the exhibition comprises works spread over four years. A young veteran at the age of 30, Rohit Sharma has been in love with the roads that he paints for some time now. When depicting any place many artists equally emphasize the cityscape, Sharma is more intrigued by the subtle nuances that define his Delhi. Romancing The Road allows the viewer to share the artist’s perspective about the journey and not the destination. His roads show everyday objects associated with the streets and portray a larger than life imagery. Encompassing varying times Sharma shows how Delhi has been an equal lover to the ever evolving subjects that grace its labyrinths. Some months ago this writer had seen some of works from this collection as a part of a different exhibition. What stuck the mind was the sheer audacity of the colour and juxtaposition of the humble cow on the map of Delhi. This time around the cows and autos act more as motifs in a continuing manner. Venerated in all forms the cow comes alive in three avatars in Sharma’s world; there is the ubiquitous menace on the street version, the mythical fulfiller of desires Kamadhenu and in a new age version of a milk van. There are some other works that truly stand out include Convincing for Destination which has a man pushing the auto across the stenciled map of Delhi evokes the all familiar feeling of haplessness. The other one that wonderfully encompasses the entire exercise is Delhi on Road (Puzzled) features a young lad clad in a red T-shirt labeled Delhi with his back to us and looking at the map trying to make sense while there are two cows on the edges. After viewing the entire lot one can’t help but notice the conspicuous absence of the faithful cycle rickshaw and the monolithic DTC buses or even the omnipresent sarkari Ambassador cars. The artist revealed that those were on the agenda in the second part of the series. One odd canvas would have been a good idea but to have a whole series of nearly 30 really large canvases (22”x30") is, it then, pushing the idea too much? The repetitive autos, the same cows and animals; is it trying too hard? Not really. Rohit Sharma’s keen eye for detail escapes the trappings of the motifs. Also the use of red as a backdrop on many of his works, the artist convincingly portrays a serious sense of rage that has been associated with Delhi roads for years now. This is a fascinating experience and one awaits the next layer of the romance. The author is an entertainment news editor and works for many websites related to event, bollywood, music, movie, concerts and theater. Visit one more interesting article of author: The Kirans or visit: http://www.buzzintown.com/artistes_type--artist_the-kira ...

Name*:
E-mail*:
Captcha*:
Text*: