Mohan Singh

The inner and the outer sphere, the intimate and the social sphere and their corollaries, is the supreme formulator in the current body of works by Mohan Singh. The articulation of this palimpsest has been done through a series of single figures, or rather faces, tinged with a colour palette that knows no boundaries. Part of the reason behind Mohan Singh’s conscious decision to confine himself to a rigid formulation of singles in his art was because it afforded him a rare freedom. The artist could use his form to psychologically internalize and publicly contextualize the responses and feelings of the youth of today. As a teacher and an artist, he is privy to a firsthand exposure of daily interaction with the young and therefore their tastes, their longings, their said and unsaid statements, represent the right opportunity to shape his art practices.

The figures thus become a reflection of society, where contemporary changes, and depths of feeling surface as colourful pictorials, where each colour is applied with meaning. ‘The clear-cut applications, rather than the more pale translucent hues of soft solidity provide a deeper connection. With the character’s feelings and expressions,’ says the artist

ln a sensitive handling of so many ideations, duplicity could have been a fumbling step. But through a dexterous use of colours, the single minded devotion to a lone face for each portrayal, and the defining of the world of emotions through every trick in the pack, Mohan Singh has peopled his canvases with more than JUSTART.