Important Notice

Lot 58

 

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F.N. Souza's long time friend and patron, Ebrahim Alkazi, described Souza's relationship with drawing being "as natural and essential to him as breathing...his only link with life in times of distress" ("An Introduction to Drawings by F.N. Souza", Retrospective, Jehangir Art Gallery, 1987).

In the early hours of the morning of January 31, 1969, Souza recorded his triumph of creating the world's first chemical, writing in his diary:... F.N. Souza's long time friend and patron, Ebrahim Alkazi, described Souza's relationship with drawing being "as natural and essential to him as breathing...his only link with life in times of distress" ("An Introduction to Drawings by F.N. Souza", Retrospective, Jehangir Art Gallery, 1987).

In the early hours of the morning of January 31, 1969, Souza recorded his triumph of creating the world's first chemical, writing in his diary: "Artist with no paint, no money to buy paint, paints without paint. That's how strong the creative process is, making something out of nothing." So it is, the chemicals are not a link with life in times of distress but a link with the supreme power of creation.

Souza's creation of chemicals is rooted in conceptual, innovative thinking. He seeks to transgress the mass printed image and instead to develop strategies to broaden modes for his picture plane. The artist is awakening alternative states of image creating technologies and gives different dimensions from the ones he was creating earlier in paintings, works on paper, drawings and prints.

Souza clearly gave chemicals a very important part in his career; as he stated it in his first one: "WORLD'S FIRST CHEMICAL PAINTING." In 1969, he manifests his invention of a chemical medium while using just his finger to inscribe his victory over the machine printed image and colour. To feed his sadistic appetite for creativity he chooses to destroy first and then create, raising more tasks to control and solve than in paintings, drawings, works on paper; as he is working with the ready-made image and the unpredictable reaction of the chemical to the colours and surface together with the elements of line, colour, texture and form.

Using his art-trained mind he moderates the conflict between the machine printed mass media and his iconic images: heads, nudes, landscapes, still-lifes, leaving both organically intertwined, and creating three-dimensional space which is absent in his other art.

Brigita Krasauskaite is a Lithuanian artist and curator. She has worked with the collection in the artist's estate since in 2002. She curated the first American exhibition of chemicals at R.L. Fine Arts in 2007, Painting Without Paint: The Chemical Paintings of F.N. Souza.

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