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Amit Ambalal
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"Painting for me is a process of discovering oneself...it becomes a metaphor of a larger thing,"
Born in 1943, Ahmedabad, Amit Ambalal was a businessman, until he became a full-time painter in 1979. So taken in was he by his passion of becoming a renowned painter - his childhood dream - that he sold off his family owned business in 1977 to pursue this passion. Amit was 57 at the time.
Ambalal recalls, "My inspiration was my...
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"Painting for me is a process of discovering oneself...it becomes a metaphor of a larger thing,"
Born in 1943, Ahmedabad, Amit Ambalal was a businessman, until he became a full-time painter in 1979. So taken in was he by his passion of becoming a renowned painter - his childhood dream - that he sold off his family owned business in 1977 to pursue this passion. Amit was 57 at the time.
Ambalal recalls, "My inspiration was my mother who learned art from Chhaganlal Jadav, the renowned painter of Gujarat. I remember spending my time working on paintings even in my school. In fact my aptitude for art was so appreciated that even when I drew during my math class, my math teacher appreciated the good work and told my parents of the work of art I had created." Ambalal was educated at a school founded and run by Leela Sarabhai.
But coming from a business family, art wasn't quite appreciated by all the members of his family and he was forced to pursue a formal education. Ambalal eventually graduated from the Ahmedabad University with a BA, B.Com. and LL.B. He soon joined his father's business and took over as the Managing Director. Even as the MD of a company, Ambalal saved his Sundays for the paint and easel and worked with his guru, Chhaganlal Jadav.
His work can basically be divided into two categories. One has a contemporary approach to tradition via the popular religious traditions. And the other is the historical Rajasthani Nathdwara devotional paintings he has been creating for the last 14 years now. Part of his work also revolves around human drama.
A prosperous society embedded in a destitute society is thus oft the focus of his work. His portraits of India are simple and a direct means of him coming to terms with the horror he sees around him. He has a unique ability of perceiving quirks and flaws in human behavior and making them part of his great pictorial scheme on canvas. Its often been noticed in his canvases that where his faces, body and gestures are devices of his irony, it's the color, design and texture that gives his paintings the light and easy mood.
Hypocrisy doesn't bother him, he prefers to splash it on canvas and mock the world thus. Says he, "I don't decide what to paint before hand, the initial idea may be from a newspaper photograph I have seen in the morning or an antique sculpture. Then as I am painting something starts to grow inside that canvas, and that takes on the final form on the canvas."
Be it historical or contemporary, his work is paired with the critical, irreverent humorist creating a satirical representation of the everyday and the divine, filled with eccentric human and animal protagonists.
A large part of Amit's work is in watercolors and this he explains by his fondness for the medium, says he, "Watercolors have a knack of telling you when the painting is complete, apart from its luminosity and transparency which is not seen in other mediums." Amit is known to work with pure colors and let them mingle on the paper rather than his color palette.
Ambalal's first solo exhibition was in Ahmedabad in 1980. Since then he has had several shows around India, and in several group exhibitions abroad. Even after a track record of over 40 solo and group shows, he still considers himself to be a student. "After a show is over, I feel I have something more to learn," he says.
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Born
1943
Ahmedabad
Education
Graduate in Arts, Commerce and Law
He had his art education under Shri. Chhaganlal Jadav
Exhibitions
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2010 'Sermons in Ceramics', Amdavad...
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2010 'Sermons in Ceramics', Amdavad Ni Gufa, Ahmedabad
2008 Presented by Gallery Espace, New Delhi at Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2008 Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2006 ‘Black Spring of the Blue God’, Organized by Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai and Gallery Maya, London
2005 ‘Leela, The Lightness of Being’, Bodhi Art, New Delhi and Singapore
2004 Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2003 ‘The Civitella Experience’, Hutheesing Visual Arts Centre, Ahmedabad.
2002,03 Archer Art Gallery, Ahmedabad
2001 Galerie F.I.A., Amsterdam
2000 Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2000 Archer Art Gallery, Ahmedabad
1998 Galerie F.I.A., Amsterdam
1998 Archer, Herwitz Gallery, Ahmedabad
1997 Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
1996 Herwitz Gallery, Husain Doshi Gufa, Ahmedabad
1994 Gallery Espace, New Delhi
1993 Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
1993 Hutheesing Visual Arts Centre, Ahmedabad
1992 Contemporary Art Gallery, Ahmedabad
1992 Gallery Escape, New Delhi
1990 Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
1986 Sanskar Kendra Gallery, Ahmedabad
1986,90,93,97 Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
1984,92 Contemporary Art Gallery, Ahmedabad
1983 Sangat, Ahmedabad
1983 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
1980 Urja Art Gallery, Baroda
1980 Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata
1980,93 Hutheesing Visual Arts Center, Ahmedabad
Selected Group Exhibitions
2015 'Remembering Bhupen', Sarjan Art Gallery, Vadodara
2011 'Masters Ltd: Limited Editions', Gallery Beyond, Mumbai
2011 'Of Humour, Wit & Satire', Gallery Threshold, New Delhi
2009 'Think Small', Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
2008 'Mapping Memories – 2, Painted Travelogues of Bali and Burma, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi
2008 'Mapping Memories – 1, Painted Travelogues of China and Greece', Gallery Threshold, New Delhi
2006 'Drawing Show an Act of Art II', Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai
2006 ‘Making of Divinity’, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2006 ‘Back to the Future’, Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2005 ‘Palette 2005’, Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi
2005 ‘Divine Inspiration’, India Fine Art, Mumbai
2005 ‘Papyrus Works on Paper’, Sarjan Art Gallery, Baroda
2005 ‘Group Show 2005’, Lanxess ABS Gallery, Baroda
2005 ‘In Short’, Hacienda Gallery, Mumbai
2005 ‘Bhupen Among Friends’, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
2005 ‘Angkor-The Silent Centuries’, Bodhi Art, Singapore, New Delhi
2005 ‘Ritu – A Gathering of Seasons’, Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi
2004 ‘Art for Shaily’, The Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
2004 ‘Jiva / Life’, Bodhi Art, Singapore
2004 ‘A Tribute to Bhupen Khakhar’, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2004 ‘Indian Artists for France’, Alliance Francaise, New Delhi
2004 ‘The Margi and the Desi’, Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2004 ‘Interlude in Srilanka’, The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai
2003 ‘Of Memories, Dreams, Reveries’ ,Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi
2003 ‘Shantipath’, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2002 ‘Leela’, Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2002 ‘Navarasa’, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
2002 ‘Cinema Still’, Apparao Galleries, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
2001 ‘The Aesthetic Experience’, Sakshi Gallery and Art Underground, Mumbai.
2001 ‘In Conversation’, Galery Espace, New Delhi
2001 ‘Similarities and Dissimilarities – West’, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2000 ‘Once Upon a Time’, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
2000 ‘Memoirs of the Past, Images of the Present and Picturing the Future…’, The Fine Art Company, Mumbai
2000 ‘Faces’, Design Art, New Delhi
2000 ‘Beyond the Surface’, Gallery Espace, Delhi and Fine Art Company, Mumbai
2000 ‘Early Works’, The Fine Art Company, Mumbai
1999 ‘The World Is Round and Time is Cyclical’, Art Today, New Delhi
1999 ‘Humour on Line’, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
1999 ‘Icons of the Millenium’, Lakeeren , Mumbai
1999 ‘Ganesha’, Chauraha International, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Mumbai
1999 ‘Multiple Images’, organized by Sir Jamsetjee Parsee benevolent – Institute of Sir J.J. School of Applied Art, Mumbai
1998 Wilberding Collection of Contemporary Indian Art, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai
1997 ‘Major Trends in Indian Art since 1947’, Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi
1997 ‘Gift for India', Sahmat, New Delhi
1997 James Harvey Gallery, Sydney
1995 ‘A Tree In My life’, Village Gallery, New Delhi
1995 Gouache on paper, Gallery Espace, New Delhi
1995 ‘Post Cards for Gandhi’, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi
1995 ‘Indian Beast’, The Gallery, Chennai
1995’Watercolours – A Broad Spectrum’, Gallery Chemould
1995 Art for CRY, Mumbai
1994 Drawing 94, Delhi
1993 Schoo's Gallery, Amsterdam
1993 Art for CRY, Delhi
1993 Shraddha Samarpan, Mumbai
1991 ‘Artists Against Communalism Images and Words’, touring exhibition
1990 A gallery of Indians, Harvard
1990 Gadyaparva Exhibition, Mumbai
1990 Chitragurjari, Mumbai
1989 Indian Contemporary Art, Amsterdam
1989 Artist Alert, Delhi
1988 Art for CRY, Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, Bangalore
Participations
2011 ‘Manifestations V', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011 'The Intuitive: Logic Revisted', from the Osians Collection at The World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland
2010 'Master’s Corner', organized by Indian Contemporary Art Journal at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; India International Art Fair, New Delhi
2010 'National Printmaking Portfolio', Marvel Art Gallery, Ahmedabad
2010 ‘Manifestations IV, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2010 'Roots', 25th Anniversary Exhibition of Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai at The Park, Chennai
2009 'Lo Real Maravilloso: Marvelous Reality', 20 Years Celebration of Gallery Espace at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1996 'Harmony Show', Nehru Centre, Mumbai
1996 Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal
1995 ‘Utsava’, Festival of Perth, Amsterdam
1990 Painting Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal
1986 Sixth Triennale, New Delhi
Honours and Awards
2003 Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship, Italy
1974 Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Ahmedabad
1968 Gujarat State Lalit Kala Academy, Gujarat
2003 Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship, Italy
1974 Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Ahmedabad
1968 Gujarat State Lalit Kala Academy, Gujarat
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From a business background, you took to painting. How easy or difficult was the decision?
"Till I took up painting full-time in 1979, I was the Managing Director of a textile mill founded by my grandfather. But even while I was in business, I was doing paintings. Soon, I realized that the latter was my calling, and sold the mill to become a full-time painter. The mill was doing reasonably...
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Read More
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From a business background, you took to painting. How easy or difficult was the decision?
"Till I took up painting full-time in 1979, I was the Managing Director of a textile mill founded by my grandfather. But even while I was in business, I was doing paintings. Soon, I realized that the latter was my calling, and sold the mill to become a full-time painter. The mill was doing reasonably well at that point and those who knew me did not like the idea (of selling the mill) at all. But I did not want to keep on doing something I was not comfortable with. And I do not rue my decision even today."
You have had no formal training in art. Did it prove to be a hindrance?
"In no way did the lack of formal education hamper my growth as an artist. Though I had no formal training in an art school, I was lucky enough to get my early lessons in painting from veteran artist and teacher Chhaganlal Jadav. My mother used to learn art from him, which also cultivated my interest in art. I remember spending my time working on paintings even in my school. In fact my aptitude for art was so appreciated that even when I drew during my math class, my math teacher appreciated the good work and told my parents of the work of art I had created. Then I spent a few months at Leena Sarabhai's Shreyas Foundation situated in inviting, open and green surroundings. It has an art center called "Kala Teerth. It was a stimulating experience as well."
Your work is the manifestation of the irrational in the seemingly mundane, a rather tongue-m-cheek representation of the everyday and the divine. How do you go about it?
"Life around me serves as a starting point for my work. As you mull over the human drama happening around you, and as you go deeper into it, you feel the urge to understand and portray it. I don't decide what to paint before hand; the initial idea may be from a newspaper photograph I have seen in the morning or an antique sculpture. Then as I am painting something starts to grow inside that canvas, and that takes on the final form on the canvas."
The human drama you spoke of can be witnessed in paintings like 'Man drinks milk' (showing a human inside a cow's stomach and drinking from the udder while a calf has nothing to drink) subtly bring out the ironies of life...
Cow is a sacred animal but we have exploited her very much. The painting depicts that. Painting for me is a process of discovering oneself...it becomes a metaphor of a larger thing. It is the way that I look at it and analyze it forms the core of my art. To begin with, my work reflected a sense of anguish over the fact that I could not change the ways of this world. Gradually, I learnt to live with the ironies of life and to paint them with a sense of detachment and even with a subtle sense of humor.
Your painting of past, present and future also forms an interesting trio..
"The past has resemblance of my thoughts when I was a child. The present deals with the world of information technology and how we all are losing our inner selves. The future depicts the hugeness factor. We humans feel that we're supreme but actually we are part of the entire cosmic leela."
Form in your work is indivisible from meaning, and at time, the two often appear the same.
"I enjoy the process of painting more than the end result in itself. In that sense, I give greater importance to the form than the content. The canvas is like a magnetic field - alive and vibrant. As a painting takes shape, it acquires its own meaning. And an artist should leave it to the viewer to interpret the work."
Tell us about your rich collection titled 'Krishna As Shrinathji: Rajasthani Paintings from Nathdwara'.
Shrinathji is an incarnation of Krishna. He is one of the deities worshiped not only by the people of Gujarat but also by most devotees from Western India. Nathdwara is a place that has become famous because of the Shreenathji temple. I happen to see these paintings, and loved their simplicity, directness as well as their bold, bright colors. Krishna's leelas (playful pranks) and their innocence captivated me.
Since then I became especially interested in the Nathdwara School of painting. My book on the subject, 'Krishna as Shrinathji - Rajasthani Paintings from Nathdwara' was published by Mapin in 1987, followed in 1989 by an exhibition of Nathdwara paintings from my collection organized by the CMC Gallery, New Delhi.
A large part of your work is in watercolors. Why this particular fondness for the medium?
"Watercolors have a knack of telling you when the painting is complete, apart from its luminosity and transparency which is not seen in other mediums."
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