La Source encapsulates the point of transition in Raza`s art. In this work, we are witness to Raza`s gradual shift towards an abstract aesthetic as a means of exploring the fundamental nature of reality. Unlike his landscapes from the 1940s and 1950s, this painting is no longer anchored to the representation of a particular terrain. While, the painting`s swirling, thick brushstrokes of paint invests the rendition with a...
La Source encapsulates the point of transition in Raza`s art. In this work, we are witness to Raza`s gradual shift towards an abstract aesthetic as a means of exploring the fundamental nature of reality. Unlike his landscapes from the 1940s and 1950s, this painting is no longer anchored to the representation of a particular terrain. While, the painting`s swirling, thick brushstrokes of paint invests the rendition with a structural coherence that seems to suggest the contours of a natural scene or a cityscape, the title of the piece already gestures towards the metaphysical quest that was to become central to Raza`s art.
"With the intersection of black and white; and with energy, colors come up. The most important color is black. The encounter is with light; and tremendous activity can develop out of this encounter." (p. 126, S.H. Raza, "Bindu: The Point", Bindu: Space and Time in Raza`s Vision, Media Transasia Ltd, 1997) In La Source the enmeshing of contrasting colors simulate the tense flow of energy, setting the stage for Raza`s use of the Bindu from the 1970s as an abstract symbol of the primordial source of life.