"Art has been our way of expression for the last 40 years," says Gogi Saroj Pal and Ved Nayar, artists who have broken all the rules, given their life individual meaning and have stood like twin rocks during a storm. Today their creative compulsions have brought them to create 'small paintings' aptly titled 'Caring & Sharing' during the summer of 2000 displayed at the Jamaat Art Gallery until January 6, 2001.

What strikes you at the exhibition is the meeting of minds. Somewhere, the two, Gogi and Ved, have struck a chord together. "Ved's forms of 'Celebrity' are thinner and mine, 'Naika' are more complete and deal with volume. Maybe the forms are like two sides of one coin," says Gogi drawing a similarity between the two. Both of them are of the firm conviction that 'Whosoever has raised the brush is an artist. Each person has a different necessity to produce art, ours is pure expression.'

Fierce independence and a devil-may-care attitude mark their art expression. Their art is a language that they convey from their innermost souls, whether accepted or not. Gogi's childhood romance with paintings began with her desire for the spirit of freedom. Giving way to her creative impluses, in 1968 she ran away from home to the city of Delhi to face the unknown world of freelance artists. She refused to become aware of the vulnerability of the profession and the cruelty of the big metropolis. "I believe the Indian woman lives close to the earth, takes life as it comes and keeps her concerns and convictions within herself in an unequal relationship and a prejudiced society . She survives somehow and in the end suceeds, so that the world continues," says Gogi. Mother and Child, Prisoners, Visit to the valley of flowers, Kinnari, Paper Boats, Dancing Horse and Naika are her better remembered works. Since 1965, Gogi has organised 24 solo exhibitions, participated in 23 international exhibitions abroad and 42 group exhibitions in India. Not restricting herself to one form of art, Gogi has experimented with graphic print making, ceramic sculptures, studio pottery, ceramics, jewellery, painting-in-weaving and even multimedia installations.

What does painting mean to artist Ved Nayar? "Art is my vahan (vehicle) with which I walk on the road to creativity. Not that the soul enters into every one of my paintings, but when that happens it is more like enlightenment," Ved answers. Talking about the s commercialisation of art in today's world , he feels, "Our mythology tells us to balance Saraswati and Laxmi, and place creativity at a higher plane. But from days of yore artists have been patronising Laxmi more than Saraswati, upsetting the balance. But these facts of life just have to accepted." Born in Lyallpur in 1933, Ved graduated from the National College of Fine Art, New Delhi. He has held many solo exhibitions in India and participated in many group and international exhibitions including 'Pictorial Space,' 'Wounds' by CIMA, 'To encounter others' in Germany, 'Contemporary Indian Art' in Japan, to name a few.

"To me the method and the medium are only tools. I do not give marks for skill or technique, you have to use the insight that is God given. A person with a compulsion to express will express, that is creativity. That is why most artists are self taught," Ved explains, saying that every artist has to find his own language, build his own road and walk on it. Gogi takes on a more realistic expression, "Today people have more spending power and art, which was once a luxury, has become available to the common man. Artists often change their work according to the requirements of their clients." There were days when Gogi's work was not acdepted at galleries, art critics even refused to see them and he was written off. Today, this celebrated artist has set a new standard in the art world.

She has only one message to give to upcoming artists, "Do not listen to anyone, only listen to yourself." While Gogi and Ved together traverse many a creative road, 'Art for Sale' seems the least of their concerns, setting them apart.

Exhibition: Caring & Sharing

Venue: Jamaat Art Gallery

Date: Until 6 January 2001

Address: Jamaat Art Gallery, National House, Tulloch Road, Apollo Bunder, Mumbai - 400 005

Phone: 218 0189 / 215 2662

By : Anupama Vinayak