Krishen Khanna speaks of his drawing as an intuitive process: "I start to scratch the surface of a piece of paper Soon enough the pencil moves as if of its own accord, putting my hand this way and that rather like a pencil in a planchet creating a nervous scribble meaningful only to the directing ghost In an output of painting that exceeds fifty years. Khanna attracts more than one reading of his work. His paintings and drawings emerge as nuanced narratives in which the artist plays out his formal concerns, as well as the shifting and unfolding theatre of human relationships Politics and identity remain fluid in the larger question of humanity. Effectively, the paintings constitute a powerful psychological engagement, one that also serves as a document of the passage of time in modern India. While many Indian artists during these decades have slipped in and out of experimentation with other media, Khanna has remained faithful to painting and drawing as central to his art practice. Retrospectively, in a career that has spanned nearly six decades. his large body of work places him at the apex of engagement with everyday Indian life.
Gayatri Sinha is an independent curator and art critic based in New Delhi. She has edited the seminal volume Expressions and Evocations: Contemporary Women Artists in India. Woman/Goddess and Indian Art: An Overview. She is also the author of Krishen Khanna: A Critical Biography. Her curated exhibitions include The Self and the World' (National Gallery of Modern Art. New Delhi. 1997). Vilas: The Idea of Pleasure (Birla Academy. Mumbai, 2000). 'Cinema Still' (New Delhi, 2002). Woman/Goddess (1998-2001, a travelling exhibition) and 'Middle Age Spread (National Museum. New Delhi, 2004). She has been credited with a Department of Culture and is also the recipient of a Ford Foundation award.
Krishen Khanna's paintings cater to the eyes of a cross semen of viewers and invoke a feeling of exhilaration in everyday existence. It seems to us that, as an arrest, he has been distinctive in accepting in his work multiple factors rather than focusing on the purely formal aspects of painting. This has made for richness rather than purity.
The response evoked by his work has not been purely aesthetic, containing as it does a strong moral undertone which is more humanist rather than didactic. Art is not seen as a separate or secluded aspect of human activity but one which encompasses all. It is this comprehensive view which made possible the large mural on the dome of the Maurya Sheraton at New Delhi and the enormous drawing of the Chola migrations. In addition of course, to the innumerable paintings and drawings which he has executed.
There is a belief in this country that actions performed in previous lives have repercussions in the present one. Should this be so, it would seem that the sum total of Krishen Khanna's past actions is bearing a rich harvest now.
We are delighted to have known him and consider ourselves fortunate to have had the privilege of acquiring a variety of his work, a selection of which is published in this book: It brings us great pleasure having been able to contribute to this publication in celebration of Krishen Khanna's 80th birthday and it is our sincere wish that he should continue his journey with added strength and fortitude.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
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