LIVING ART | How reputed artist Ganesh Haloi etched his name as one of the leading painters in the realm of abstract art

Reputed artist Ganesh Haloi has over the decades etched his name as one of the leading painters in the realm of abstract art.

“Ganesh Haloi’s career as an artist that we have on our records begins around the 1950s. But, that was a period when he turned out more figurative paintings. But, his abstractionism took root after he travelled to the Ajanta caves, a tour which was led by the Archaeological Survey of India. This was between 1957 and 1963. So, his abstractionist’s phase really took off from the late sixties,” explains Siddhi Shailendra, curatorial head of well-known gallery Akar Prakar.

Incidentally, after setting up its gallery in Kolkata around 2003-04 and functioning in the city for a fair stretch of years, Akar Prakar also threw open a wing in New Delhi a few years back.

Continuing to dwell on the art of Haloi, Siddhi says that from the late sixties, Haloi’s figures began to turn into silhouettes before the artist shifted to full-fledged abstractionism. This was the period from when Haloi’s works displayed abstract motifs and symbols and gradually transformed into what could be precisely bracketed as abstract paintings.

“He could have thrown up the rare few figurative paintings occasionally even till the eighties, while continuing to churn out abstract works. But, his trip to Rajasthan in the nineties found his abstract paintings assuming a completely changed form. He was deeply influenced by Rajasthan’s extremely rich architectural heritage,” underlines Siddhi. “This is the period from when architectural motifs began creeping into his paintings.”

According to Siddhi, in the monograph that Akar Prakar released recently, Ganesh Haloi – A Rhythm Surfaces in the Mind, an essay talks about enclosures and space divisions that Ganesh Haloi began incorporating in his paintings after his experiences during his journeys to places like Rajasthan.

“It’s important to focus on Ganesh Haloi’s changing colour palette. In the Ajanta period, it was a far lighter palette. In his later works, he starts to use the earthier tones – the browns, maroons, greens and blues. That palette has evolved in a pronounced manner over the years.”

It needs to be pointed out that Ganesh Haloi works with mainly paper and gouache as his medium. Some canvas works also show up in his early phase. One of his series on canvas which Haloi came up with is the one on rivers in Bengal. “He focused on the Subarnarekha River and the series is titled the ‘River of Gold’. It is believed, as we are aware, that there could be gold deposits below the surface of this river.

This series probably epitomises the period from when abstraction starts to make its presence felt in Ganesh Haloi’s works. “We sense from this series that Ganesh Haloi is entering into his world of abstraction. But, he was still using silhouettes as a symbol of abstraction,” explains Shailendra. “This was in the 1970s. He hadn’t completely turned to the brand of abstraction that we identify Ganesh Haloi with at the present moment,” stresses Siddhi.

The artist’s approach to abstraction has metamorphosed over time. During the Ajanta period, he transcreated, through his medium, landscapes and spaces that he encountered. “The language of abstraction that we associate Haloi with now surfaced from the late eighties,” says Shailendra.

Ganesh Haloi’s artistic language from around 2015-16 revolves around spaces and the manner in which he puts to use colours in those spaces. “Some of these works were also exhibited in Documenta 14 in Germany. Documenta was staged in 2017 in Germany and Greece,” says Siddhi.

Talking about the high points of Haloi’s artworks, Shailendra says that the most productive years were during the sixties and seventies, and in the nineties and ultimately culminated in late 2000. Works during these different time capsules are striking and display the evolution in his life as a painter.

“Ganesh Haloi’s language of art sometimes turned very lyrical. There’s a series of black and white works he did as well. Using a certain size of paper or gouache, the monochromatic works take his artistry to a totally different level. His abstraction is so poignant in these paintings. The motifs are comparable to musical notes,” describes Siddhi. The distribution of black colour is what evokes this sense of musicality. One can’t escape this musical atmosphere in these works.

When the artist has used water colours, the paintings are more naturalistic in form. “While remaining abstract, he has depicted trees, the sun and the moon. If one is discerning, the viewer can clearly identify these symbols. Which includes landscapes that Haloi portrays in his paintings,” underlines Siddhi.

Another facet of Haloi’s repertoire, which Siddhi mentions, is Ganesh Haloi’s series of works on scrolls. “For this series, he reached into Japanese scroll paper and worked on them with Chinese ink. The paper was very fragile. But, the artist succeeded in bringing off these paintings extremely deftly. We exhibited these paintings in Akar Prakar, Kolkata from April to July 2022. Most of these works were executed by Haloi between 2021 and 2022. Except two creations which date back to 2002,” informs Shailendra.

According to Siddhi, the artist does not quite prefer his works to be branded as ‘abstract’. “Abstraction in the American or Euro-centric context is disparate from this category of painting in India,” emphasises Siddhi.

An expansive exhibit of Ganesh Haloi’s works has been unveiled at Mumbai’s Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation which is housed in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Museum. “The show has taken off on November 11 and will stretch for two months till the 11th of January 2023,” mentions Reena Lath, gallerist and Akar Prakar’s director. “The Museum has already staged eight shows and this is the ninth one as part of its centennial celebrations. Akar Prakar has supported the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, in part, to unfurl the exhibition. It’s a solo Ganesh Haloi show which embraces a hundred works.

“We are celebrating the artist’s eighty-sixth year, spanning the various aspects of his ouvre through this exhibit. The turnout in Mumbai was absolutely fantastic. The who’s who of Mumbai were there to catch a glimpse of the show. A monograph revolving around Ganesh Haloi was released with the launch of the show,” says Reena. The book has been published by Akar Prakar and Mapin. “We have been working on a book on Ganesh Haloi for the last four to five years. But, it got delayed because of the Pandemic. So, the exhibition is one part. And, the monograph, titled, Ganesh Haloi – A Rhythm Surfaces in the Mind, is entirely an Akar Prakar initiative. It just happened to be launched with the Ganesh Haloi show in Mumbai,” says Reena.

Ganesh Haloi is amongst the artists that Akar Prakar has backed ever since the gallery was set up in 2004. Reena Lath comes up with an interesting anecdote. “When we approached Ganesh Haloi back in early 2000, he told me that if I had to comprehend his works, a visit to the Ajanta caves and Benares was unavoidable. And, I did embark on a trip to these locales,” sums up Reena with a smile.

Ashoke Nag is a veteran writer on art and culture with a special interest in legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray.

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