Between, Beyond and Becoming: Men in Black and White , (Revisiting Art History)

 

 

 

 

The Manifesto-1

 

Before entering the world of Beyond Black and White, the Season II exhibition, I would like to revisit a conversation I had with the artists of Season I, Black and White, about a year ago. That conversation took us on a fascinating voyage through the history, philosophy and artistic significance of black and white in painting. A year later, with the arrival of Season II, Beyond Black and White, the journey continues. I would like to share some reflections from that continuing conversation.

To begin with, let us look at black and white, before moving on to the men behind the art—the artists who have made black and white their distinctive visual language.

Black and White: A Journey from Physics to Painting

"Black is a medium and white is not a colour in painting" was a provocative proposition that emerged in our earlier conversation. It deserves to be examined through the relationship between colour, light, pigment and artistic expression. More than a statement, it opens up a journey into what might be called the physics and philosophy of painting.

In painting, black is not merely the absence of colour. It is an active material and an expressive element. As a pigment, black is derived from different sources, including carbon black, ivory black and lampblack. As an artistic resource, it creates depth, contrast, shadows, outlines, dramatic intensity and emotional atmosphere.

Black also possesses a distinctive visual vocabulary. It can communicate emptiness, mystery, mourning, resistance, power and existential anxiety. As a compositional element, it establishes boundaries, defines forms and gives other colours their visual strength. It can even occupy the entire visual field, asserting an independent artistic presence.

White, meanwhile, presents a different proposition. In the physics of light, white is associated with the combination of visible wavelengths, whereas black represents the absence of visible light. In painting, however, white is equally a material pigment, used to create highlights, luminosity, tonal variations and spatial openness.

Thus, the distinction between black and white moves from the physics of light to the material and expressive practices of painting. It is this distinction that makes the original proposition intriguing, even if it should not be taken as a literal scientific definition.

Perhaps this was the provocative thought that the six artists—Sivaji Tallavajhula, Raju Epuri, Shankar Pamarthy, Rajesh Nagulakonda, Srinivasa Ram Makineedi and Moshe Dayan—introduced through their Season I exhibition. A year later, they seem to have taken that conversation further, stepping into the possibilities of Beyond Black and White in Season II.

Black and White: An Artistic and Philosophical Distinction

Black and white are often treated as opposites. Yet their artistic significance extends beyond the conventional binary of darkness and light.

Black evokes absorption, depth, density, material presence, darkness and visual intensity. White suggests reflection, luminosity, openness, space, silence and visual emptiness.

Black can be interpreted as the material presence of darkness, while white can be understood as the presence of reflected light and the visual possibility of all colours.

The philosophical proposition here is that black and white are not merely contraries. They represent two different ways of making visual space meaningful. If black defines what is concealed, white makes visible the space in which something can emerge. If black draws the viewer into depth and density, white opens up a space for perception, reflection and possibility.

Perhaps this is the conceptual route connecting the three words , Between, Beyond and Becoming.

Between represents the dialogue between two visual conditions. Beyond suggests moving past and  Becoming signifies the continuous transformation of artistic thought, perception and expression.

This, I believe, is the journey of Men in Black and White.

When Black and White Meet a Single Colour: Stories Behind Artistic chore

Interestingly, several celebrated artists have explored the expressive possibilities of black and white, sometimes introducing just one additional colour. Their choices were not always merely aesthetic. They could emerge from the limitations of a medium, the availability of materials, cultural traditions, personal experiences or a deliberate search for artistic essence.

There are fascinating stories associated with such choices. Some are documented in art history; others circulate as anecdotes and interpretations of an artist's practice. Together, they invite us to look beyond the finished artwork and ask why an artist chooses to work in a particular way.

Here are a few examples.

1. GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI — The Power of Black in Architectural Etching (1740s–1770s)

Piranesi's celebrated architectural etchings, particularly his Vedute di Roma and Carceri d'invenzione (Imaginary Prisons), demonstrate the extraordinary expressive potential of black and white.

Through the interplay of dark shadows, intricate lines and illuminated architectural spaces, he transformed ruins, monuments and imagined prisons into powerful visual experiences. His work demonstrates how black ink, without the assistance of colour, can create monumental scale, depth, mystery and psychological intensity.

His prisons are particularly compelling: architecture becomes an expression of confinement, imagination and the human condition. Black and white are not limitations here; they are the very instruments through which the artist constructs an entire world.

2. PABLO PICASSO — The Bull (1945–46): From Representation to Essence

Picasso's eleven-state lithographic series The Bull is perhaps one of the most remarkable demonstrations of artistic reduction.

Created in the Paris workshop of Fernand Mourlot between December 1945 and January 1946, the series traces the transformation of a realistically rendered bull into an increasingly simplified image. With each successive state, Picasso reduced the animal's physical details, gradually arriving at a few essential lines.

The significance lies in this process of reduction. What begins as a recognisable animal eventually becomes an almost abstract arrangement of lines, yet its identity remains intact.

Picasso's bull is a lesson in the relationship between representation and abstraction: how much can an artist remove without losing the essence of the subject?

Here, black and white become instruments of artistic investigation. The question is no longer how much can be represented, but how little is necessary to make something recognisable.

3. M. F. HUSAIN — The Bull: Movement, Gesture and Expression

The bull occupies a distinctive place in M. F. Husain's artistic imagination. His energetic lines, bold forms and expressive brushwork demonstrate how an animal can be transformed into a powerful visual metaphor.

Husain's experience of painting cinema hoardings and his engagement with Indian street culture contributed to his distinctive visual language. His bulls often appear through sweeping gestures and forceful outlines, where movement takes precedence over anatomical detail.

The bull becomes more than an animal: it can suggest strength, labour, endurance, masculinity and an elemental connection with the land.

In such representations, black is not simply a pigment. It becomes movement, energy and character. The expressive power of a single stroke can sometimes communicate more than an elaborate composition.

4. NANDALAL BOSE — The White Cow and the Language of Indigenous Art

Nandalal Bose's artistic practice offers another important perspective on the relationship between line, colour and indigenous visual traditions.

Associated with the Bengal School and Santiniketan, Bose explored Indian artistic traditions, folk practices and indigenous materials. His engagement with the natural world was closely connected with his larger search for an alternative to the dominance of Western academic conventions.

His works demonstrate how line, wash and restrained colour can capture the character of a subject without depending on elaborate colour schemes.

The larger significance of this approach lies in the belief that artistic truth does not necessarily depend on the abundance of colour. The expressive quality of a line, the tonal value of a wash and the character of a subject can together create a complete visual experience.

5. GOND ART — BHAJJU SHYAM: Black, White and the Red of Life

The Gond artistic tradition of Madhya Pradesh provides an interesting example of the relationship between indigenous knowledge, nature and colour.

Gond art draws upon the rhythms of forests, animals, birds, trees, myths and everyday community life. Artists traditionally used locally available natural materials, including soot, lime and earth pigments, while contemporary practices have expanded the colour palette.

Bhajju Shyam's artistic journey is particularly significant in the context of encounters between indigenous visual traditions and international audiences. His experiences in London, later reflected in his book The London Jungle Book, demonstrate how Gond visual language can travel across cultural boundaries without necessarily abandoning its roots.

The use of black, white and occasional red can be read as a powerful compositional choice. Red, in particular, can draw attention to an element of life, energy or transformation against a restrained visual background.

6. WARLI ART — JIVYA SOMA MASHE: White on the Earth

Warli painting offers perhaps one of the most culturally rooted relationships between black and white.

Traditionally practised by Warli communities in Maharashtra, the art form developed on the earthen walls of houses. Artists used white pigment prepared from rice paste against the dark, reddish-brown surface of the wall.

Its visual vocabulary is remarkable for its economy: circles, triangles, lines and geometric human figures communicate agricultural activities, rituals, celebrations, relationships with nature and collective life.

Jivya Soma Mashe played a significant role in bringing Warli painting to wider public attention, particularly through its transition from traditional wall surfaces to paper and the contemporary art world.

The contrast between the white figures and the earthy background is not simply a matter of visual design. It emerges from a cultural relationship between material, environment, community and artistic practice.

The white line becomes a living record of collective memory.

7. MARIO MIRANDA — The Mumbai Crowd: Black as Urban Storytelling

Mario Miranda's illustrations of Mumbai offer another distinctive use of black and white.

Through his intricate pen-and-ink drawings, Miranda captured the city's crowds, streets, buildings, social interactions and everyday eccentricities. His densely populated compositions are remarkable for their ability to accommodate multiple stories within a single frame.

Colour, when introduced, can direct the viewer's attention towards a particular object, person or event. A small patch of colour against a predominantly monochromatic composition can become a visual narrative device.

Black and white establish the rhythm of the city; colour becomes an accent that makes a particular moment stand out.

8. SAUL STEINBERG — The New Yorker: The Expressive Possibilities of a Single Line

Saul Steinberg's drawings demonstrate how a simple line can become an instrument of intellectual and visual exploration.

His work for The New Yorker combined humour, observation, satire and an extraordinary understanding of the relationship between drawing and thought.

His famous 1976 cover, View of the World from 9th Avenue, offers a particularly interesting example of how perspective, imagination and selective representation can transform an ordinary cityscape into a commentary on the way people perceive the world.

His use of line demonstrates that an artist does not necessarily need elaborate colour or detail to communicate complex ideas. Sometimes a line is sufficient to create an entire world.

Threads Behind Black, White and a Single Colour

Looking across these artistic practices, a few recurring motivations become apparent:

1. Material limitations transformed into artistic possibilities

Printmaking, ink drawing, soot, rice paste and other locally available materials often offered alternatives to expensive or elaborate colour processes. Yet artistic innovation was not simply a consequence of scarcity. Artists transformed the possibilities of their materials into distinctive visual languages.

2. Cultural and spiritual associations

In Indian artistic traditions, colours carry layered cultural and symbolic meanings. Black may evoke the divine, protection, power or the void; white may suggest purity, peace or sacredness; red may signify energy, fertility, auspiciousness or Shakti. The significance of these associations varies across communities and contexts.

A single red mark against black and white can therefore carry a symbolic weight far greater than its physical area on the canvas.

3. Modernist explorations of form and essence

Several modern artists challenged the assumption that artistic richness depends on elaborate colour and decoration. Through monochrome, line, abstraction and reduction, they explored the fundamental elements of visual expression: form, space, rhythm, texture and movement.

In this context, black and white become a means of questioning representation itself.

The Beginning of My Voyage

These examples offer only a starting point for understanding the artistic possibilities of black and white and the occasional intervention of a single colour.

What interests me most is not merely why these artists chose black and white, but how their choices became an integral part of their artistic identities. What begins as a material, cultural or personal preference can gradually evolve into a philosophy of artistic expression.

This is where my conversation with the six artists of Men in Black and White becomes particularly interesting.

Their Season I engagement with black and white initiated a dialogue. Their Season II exhibition, Beyond Black and White, invites us to consider what happens when artists move beyond the established visual vocabulary and explore new possibilities.

The journey, therefore, is not simply from black to white, or from monochrome to colour. It is about the space between them, the possibilities beyond them and the continuous process of becoming an artist.

This is the starting point of my voyage with Men in Black and White.

(To be continued…)

Diction of life in 8x12

( "I'm nobody who are you? Are you Nobody? Then there's a pair of us-don't tell!", Acrylic on Canvas 

Priyanka Aelay)

I have come into this world to live on my own

And you on your own

 If we meet its well and good

If not, it’s also fine

Zen philosophy depiction of journey, akin with Priyanka Aelay’s words “I’m nobody, who are you? Are you no body, too? Then there’s a pair of us-don’t tell!” The exhibition of nouveau 8x12 of paintings, sculptures and new media by coal group of 13 artists held in Telangana state gallery, Hyderabad from 11^th to 21^st November is a voyage for me through the perceptions of Animalism to post animalism. Most of the exhibits drew a picturesque probe of self existence through animate and inanimate objects. Animalism concerns about our basic metaphysical nature: whether we are material or immaterial; simple or composite; substance, property, process, or event; organic or inorganic; etc. In a contextual frame as animalist asserts.  As Priyanka Alley states that “you have to start with a line or a dot to bring forth a complete imaginary world” thus this exhibition flows from a dot and traverse in a cyclic order rather than linear. Though each exhibit explicates individual image but they have continuous flow like energy cycle stating they are Ind “vi” dual. 

 (Euclaimonia, Acrylic on Canvas, Anand Gadapa)

Priyanka’s and Anand Gadapa’s paintings depict a biosphere perception of the universe. With persistence of imagination and evolution of images and imagery correlated with the tendency of more energy absorbing and dissipating in the niche.

( Crowded Isolation, Acrylic on canvas, Bharath Sayam)

As Bharath Sayam cites “Drawing for me is like giving a form to an idea and then the idea itself becomes the form” through ‘Crowded isolation’ painting. Evolution is existence of millions of years surrounded by millions of objects than live. It creates a natural tendency of mentally limiting for particular limit at any time a ‘body” and attribute it perseverance properties. Thus isolation becomes a movement within crowdedness. This is aptly captured through the physical movements in the painting, rather than portraying in non corporeal postures. 

( Mystical Strength, Acrylic and charcoal on canvas, Nagesh Goud Bolgum)

The transition process is managing to store more and more beyond one’s own body and transmitting it to further generations. Basically that form of energy is physically abundant in animals that’s the “Mystical Strength” depicted by Nagesh Goud Bolgum. The source for strength relies on the source of energy, which can neither be created nor destroyed; it’s a bull’s eye. The black and vivid colors in the images transform from translucent to transparent through the eyes of the viewer with a motif of harappan bull. 

(  Revisiting- Churning of the Cosmic Ocean, Acrylic and charcoal on Canvas, 

Kumaraswamy Bhaktala)

 (One -self in all forms, Acrylic on Canvas, Jayaprakash Doma)

( Nymphs of Lotus pond, Acrylic on Canvas, Priti Samyukta)

The further transition from animalism is a journey of higher learning and the key feature of this is organization of matter would be the need for reflexivity and inventory. The alleyway of this auxiliaries through a mythological metaphors world in the paintings of ‘Revisiting’-churning of cosmic ocean by Kumaraswamy Bhaktala, Nymphs in the lotus pond by Priti Samyukta and ‘one self in all forms’ by Jayaprakash Doma, invariably form as continuity path from biosphere perception to animalistic perception of depiction of dramatic celestial images evolved in tidal wave through the churning of the ocean and yet with an instinct of desire of the ‘life’ in mono appearance. The image of tiger depicted in one-self in various form shows the summit of the life pyramid well composed in a much near to spherical mold. In ‘revisiting’ painting the images of Sura and asuras (mostly male) are altered with the presence of women in an advanced stage of attire, which might throw light on different way of perceiving the event, metaphor and the memory. The ‘Nymphs  in the lotus pond’ portrays various images including different species and inanimate ones in a way conversing with each other inhabited at different locations engulfing  the nature spirits. These paintings invariably make us to re look the river Eco system  as a living source for not only for  life but for a lively imagination process which is ignored and even the judiciary systems pose the question of defining them whether they are animate or inanimate.

( Royal Gaze , Acrylic on Canvas, Ravikanth Masuram) 

The voyage of nouveau takes a different course from this point through the paintings of ‘Royal Gaze’ by Ravikanth Masuram. ‘Royal Gaze’ is a process of back to the roots illustrated in sepia tones and blues of a precedent era. This is the stage of advancement of technology which transformed the land use pattern and driving towards man influenced niche, the post war analytical philosophy has totally erased the image of animal and the interest of nature of us was an interest in analysis of what is to be person. The industrialization and urban revolutions evolved as hand in glove. Two major landscapes occurred in this process, embarking land for industrialization and vast areas for creating resources through the new empires called estates. These steps are major tools for colonizing the space and moving beyond the natural imagination.

( Mapping My City Acrylic on Canvas, Nirmala Biluka)

‘Mapping My city’ by Nirmala Biluka explicitly narrates the zonalization in the urbanscapes. Throughout the world the depiction of cities are nomenclatured as old city and new city distinctly bifurcated by river. Yellow ochre with brown tint in the painting creates the mood of that nostalgia and a zeal for identifying the areas where we grew and played, and looking at new city and modern Nymphs with goggles of old city. 

( Luv  Hyderabad, Acrylic on Canvas, Shankar Pamarthy)

Shankar’s painting of ‘Luv Hyderabad’ reflects the strokes of Mario Miranda’s Nimbhu pani; each city has its own course and culture. Hyderabad known for chit chat over ‘ek chai and ek empty’ (one cup of tea and one empty cup), ‘Luv Hyderabad’ has vital and lucid strokes of movements of time and space as natural flow because of genre of the artist’s profession. The only thing I missed in this painting was His master’s voice (HMV) device. Which   was part and parcel of Irani hotels in those times, HMV symbol depict a German Sheppard sitting in front of the gram phone illustrates the transition from Animalism to Post Animalism. Those Irani hotels were not only abodes of chit chat but locations for identifying the people and mapping their mundane life. At that time the present colonies were villages in transition and gram phone record was a key instrument in concurrent changes.  

( Concurrent Trends in My Village, Acrylic on Canvas, Narsimlu Kandi)

‘Concurrent Trends –In My Village’ by Narsimlu Kandi is delineation of this. The figures in ‘Concurrent Trends - in My Village’ are all in standing posture envisaging the momentous change in alter attires. History is assumed in terms of time and space. But History is just an half an hour or hour journey from the location we reside. It’s neither so far nor a tedious journey, its accumulation of memories in a rapid change and we have lost the capacity to store those memories in a rapid change taking place in few seconds and the age of nostalgia is shrinking day by day. 

( Tale , Teller and Told, Acrylic on Canvas, Laxman Aelay)

We share those nostalgia through different discourse and one such is ‘Tale, Teller and Told’ by Laxman Aelay an indication of post animalism discourse. The local narrators or tellers recreated that era through their memories passed to them form generations and furthered by adding the current events with their local knowledge not only to entertain the audience but it pass on the information about change. As stated by Laxman Aelay ‘one day the narrative in the background itself will come into the lore and present itself-life like canvas move or become a movement itself’ The life size image of teller and told has distinct 3D effect and similes of transition which recite, though the performers might become extinct but the narration will continue, it goes into hibernation but seldom ceases, because it’s the stage for it to transform as mineral resource for narrative capital.

(  Re-finding Form, Steel and scarp material, Shivaramachary Yerraginnela)

‘Re-finding form’ sculpture by Shivaramachary Yerraginnela lucidly expresses that images which are much pedestrian and derivative than what they seemed back then. Because time on little snippets is a function of space both cease at same instant. While viewing at the sculpture my memory is driven by an image of wind flowing through a cloth placed by drying, the flow of the wind on the cloth creates an air tide on the cloth making it like a river. And it just withers away in a second, transforming the event into a metaphor and memory, so making the flight its self a means,applause to Manvinder Dawer, curator of nouveau 8x12 for this flight of clock wise and counter clock wise.

Green Musings

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/reviews/green-musings-58807

 Review of my Book Mattigudu- A view on Environmental poetry

Forests melancholy

Never ending legend.

            Long time back a conversation with my tribal friend Vasanth about forest land made me perplexed. The question was that “we measure our land that is cultivated in terms of its yield and the Forest department allocates the land in terms of cents, acres etc. which we do not understand and measure the forest in that way, so can the issue be resolved?” the remedy for the historical mistake is finding its way in Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA). But the varied perceptions of the administration are making the situation more and more complex and further alienating the tribals. Basically the Forest conservation Act premise is that 33% of land area should be under forest cover (Indian Forest Policy, 1952) which will be under threat due to this Act and for this reason the delay took place in implementation. Revenue Department, Forest Department in the country hold maximum land and the tussle between these departments is existing from their inception stage and which will not be resolved. And in between them comes Tribal welfare Department in the implementation of the Act.

 Convergence rarely found in enacting the law is leading to a state of confusion and ambiguity. Surveys and resurveys have become a perennial task because of the perceptional differences. The Act states rights for the people in three different modes, individual pattas on land which is cultivated by individual families. Community pattas, on land which is commonly used by the entire community and for other forest dependents like grazers, non timber forest produce collectors etc. in reality  ACT never entails rights to the communities these are only privileges and concessions. And all the rights reside with forest department strengthening the erstwhile Acts.

When we look into the times of yore reasons for creation of laws reveals the accession of rights from the tribals. The 1855 , first forest policy monopolized the timber species as state property which was furthered by the 1865 Forest Act in controlling the forests, In 1866 forest department was formed. In1876 traditional rights of tribals were taken over by the state. 1894 Act strengthened the claws of the colonials and in the name of public purpose tribals where thrown out to the fringes and became aliens within their domains. In Post independence era they were portrayed as encroachers. The 1952 national forest policy in the post independence followed the footsteps of erstwhile. Voluntary settlement and reclamation of podu lands is beneath this policy.1980 forest conversation Act stated non conversion of forest lands to any other purpose.1972 wildlife conversation Act promulgated ban on hunting and squashing the spirit of tribal culture who are surviving on hunting and food gathering. Carrying of implements like bow and arrow are projected as offence. 1988 national forest policy came with a motive of communities’ participation in forest management. Respective states have drawn some provisions and concessions for the tribals over timber and Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP), which seldom saw the light even after two decades.

 Indigenous management

 Shifting or Podu cultivation is watershed in human civilization by domesticating land for food production and a shift from previous mode of living which still exists in many parts of the world. The shifting cultivation or podu was done in two ways, on the hill top and plains which is termed as konda (hill) podu and Chelaka (plain) podu. The culture of the tribals revolve around the hill cultivation .Both the forms of cultivation involve community participation. Presently the practice of shifting has declined due to various factors and these forms of cultivation have become almost permanent forms but the culture and traditions woven around them still prevail. In hill cultivation organic methods are adopted. Forests were never considered as an individual property by the Tribals’ and utilization of forests was ecologically complimentary and symbiotic.  The management practice created space for individuals, groups who are dependent on fuel, fodder, NTFP etc and community utilization. Which was an integral part of the management, the dissection started with sectoral departmental management and created conflicts among the communities which still prevail in different forms for accession over the domains. The dissection continues in the FRA which dismantled the existing social fabric.  

The cliché of development

The conflicts between different stake holders (user groups) of the forest emerge due to rights, accession over the resources.  These are historically evident and surfaced during Joint forest and community forest management period due to categorizing and specifying the rights to specific villagers and denying the accession to other dependents. The accession, rights on forest resources were created based on economic and social strata of the community, strengthening the social stratification. And even to this date breaking this discrimination is a major tussle. Rather solving the course FRA furthering it in terms of bifurcating through the stratification of users. The decision of identification of these users was laid in the hands of gram sabha but the Forest Department has formed the Forest committees at Panchayat level in Andhra Pradesh (A.P). The Panchayat Raj extended to Schedule areas (PESA) were not found in spirit and action at the ground level. Hence the power of identification still relies in the hands of the department and it successfully identified the people and even issued the entitlements. Which were not to the expectations of the community. Large chunk of villagers haven’t got the benefits. Muvalla Muttaiah from kodu tribe of Bondaanguda of Padmapuram Panchayat, Araku mandal of Vishakhapatnam dist says that “we are aware of the Act and aspiring to get the rights for peaceful living and awaiting for it”. Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GOI. (31-10-2010), reports that Andhra Pradesh state that total claims received were 3, 29,858. 3, 22,955 Individual and 6,903 community claims. Total area -14, 44,049(acres) and distributed 1, 67,582 including 1, 65,482-Individual and community-2,100. Majority of entitlements were given to women and many villagers are waiting for the entitlements.  But to dismay in the areas of wild life protected areas, potential mining zones, construction of dams’ areas the entitlements are denied. And without the implementation of FRA the projects are cleared.

A.P. Tribal welfare dept. report states that except in Vishakhapatnam the distribution is accomplished, analysis of villages of Marripalem, Maddulabandi, Iridapalli, Karakaput and D.Gonduru of Paderu mandal of Vishakhapatnam dist state that 107 claims are disbursed and 106 are women. The worst victims of resource degradation are women and they are first ones in forest conservation igniting from mundane activities from household chore to the global strata. And after years of struggle the forest lands are in the hands of women but development is curtailed due to lack of spirit. Sanamma of Kothragondi of Araku area of Vishakhapatnam states that “women are more capable than men and manage household responsibility and the resource” and hopes to get the entitlement and wishes development of the land The future course of this act has dyadic dimension, individual land and  community forest development inclusive of taking in consideration of other forest dwellers interests.

The melancholy of forests comes to an end only with a perceptional change in the management systems, which requires an amalgamation of traditional and modern systems of management and niches landmark in forest conservation with women’s headship. This sews a sea change in socio, economic and political fabric of society.

(3-7-2012)