Modern-traditionalist Trailblazer

 

Essay 48. MODERN-TRADITIONALIST TRAILBLAZER

RAJESH KUMAR YADAV's art had, at first glance, departed far from traditional Indian painting. That's easy to see, because Yadav's recent works used not only pop artist Andy Warhol's favorite composition device - repeating images - but also the abstract expressionists' very modern drip and splatter technique combined with collages. What makes Yadav's art distinct from Warhol's are the subjects of those repeating images. While Warhol appropriated pictures of western celebrities and commodities, Yadav chose commonplace elements like light bulbs and heads of what I identified as Hindu priests or "pandits".

My observation though of a gulf separating Yadav's paintings from traditional Indian painting seems to be at variance with Yadav's view of his art. Yadav claimed that his "work comes from the deep connection with the art of India". But perhaps, what Yadav means by deep connection is that the connection isn't visible on the surface, and that we need to delve or dive deeper to discover it. 

Let's analyze the painting that features repeating images of bald heads. As I said earlier, those heads could be Yadav's representation of the heads of pandits which he altered and repeated many times over a la Warhol. Pandit refers to a Hindu priest or scholar well-versed in Hindu scriptures like the Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana. The priestly identity is subtly suggested by Yadav's overlaying what looks like manuscripts torn from some ancient book - which I presume to be those two Hindu scriptures themselves - over those heads. Naif style line drawings of women's faces are also superimposed on some heads. The significance of the latter could be puzzling, but then, this must be Yadav's way of integrating the female principle in what would otherwise be an exclusive male worldview. 

Another painting, the one with repeating images of lightbulbs, to which are affixed found objects to make them resemble faces of men wearing suits with Indian textile patterns, could be taken to symbolize Indian learning and civilization. That is so because a lightbulb, which is a product of technology, is the icon used to denote a brilliant idea.

We can see through those paintings that Yadav's effort in his art practice is geared towards fusing traditional Indian art with the modern Western type. A commendable and smart effort, because by doing this, Yadav becomes a trailblazer of sorts in the art scene of his native India.

Rajesh Kumar Yadav hails from Udaipur, a city in the western Indian state of Rajasthan. After receiving his Master's Degree in Drawing and Painting from Rajasthan University, Yadav worked as an Art Director at Prayas, a school for special children in Jaipur. His expertise and interest in weaving and textile design led him to undertake the revival of the BAGROO project in 1998, with the help of UNIDO and IRRD. Today, Yadav serves as Director of Art Pivot, the center for contemporary art and ideas in the so-called City of Lakes, Udaipur. Yadav is also an ardent proponent and facilitator of the World Art Mitigation Program, where art students from India are send abroad to absorb what they can of the art and culture there, and the art students from there are in turn send to India.

Yadav had done murals and installation art not only in various cities in India, but in New York as well. His paintings have been exhibited in Malaysia, England, and Italy. For his selfless effort in conserving India's cultural heritage and the brilliancy of his prolific art practice, Yadav had been conferred with the Mohan Sharma Memorial Award, and the  State and Best Presentation Award by the Lalit Kala Academy in Jaipur, Rajasthan.