Important Notice

After his seminal series 'Man' of the 1980s, Broota turned away from exclusive figuration to work on a series of large semiabstract landscapes with highly textured architectural forms floating on their surfaces. Although there is usually no figuration in these works, the artist lays emphasis on the fact that they are not abstract, especially in their conception. Rather, they feature Broota's 'man' in his absence, and in the unavoidable presence... After his seminal series 'Man' of the 1980s, Broota turned away from exclusive figuration to work on a series of large semiabstract landscapes with highly textured architectural forms floating on their surfaces. Although there is usually no figuration in these works, the artist lays emphasis on the fact that they are not abstract, especially in their conception. Rather, they feature Broota's 'man' in his absence, and in the unavoidable presence of the relics of his fabrications. It is no wonder then, that this series of works is titled Traces of Man.

A new step in Broota's ongoing search for the nature of truth, this series of existential canvases accelerated the process of paring his paintings of all that he deemed superfluous, including narrative and colour. In place of these elements, the artist concentrates on conveying the exact textural attributes of objects, giving his works an almost sculpted presence. Broota's method is testament to this finish. Using a technique he discovered whilst correcting a damaged piece, Broota builds up translucent layers of grey, blue, brown, or metallic pigments on his surface. Then, using a razor blade, the artist painstakingly scratches away at these layers to unearth his image. "The chromatic nuances resulting from the scratching, in spite of their austerity, can be mesmerizing. Broota's magical handling of myriad textures creates a brilliant impact. Broota achieve this through the variety of ways he wields the razor, sometimes to gouge out paint, at other times to employ linear strokes or fine cross-hatchings. The minute detail is a fascinating visual experience" (Ella Datta, The Archaeology of Experience, Rameshwar Broota, Vadehra Art Gallery exhibition catalogue, 2004-05, p. 21).

In the present lot, a stark yet epic canvas, it is the divergent visual and tactile qualities of the materials on the canvas, and the discourse they share, that Broota is interested in representing. Together, the sharply defined staircase that diagonally bisects the surface and the more liquid areas with their free-floating forms, create a whole that transcends their individual qualities and differences. Perhaps alluding to the nature of society, Broota uses this painting to highlight the value and contribution of dissimilar elements to the entity they come together to constitute.

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