Beyond confinement

Maestro Satish Gujral loans his art sculpture, Trinity, to Bikaner House as a step towards bringing art work in the public domain along with celebrating the Public Art programme

Maestro Satish Gujral has spent a lifetime creating monumental art. During the past seven decades he has garnered inspirations, created diverse art forms and evolved his spectrum of expression. A master sculpture, painter, architect, muralist and writer, Gujral today loans the majestic Trinity to Bikaner House.

Gujral unveiled this sculpture at a private gathering on September 22, 2017. The inception of Trinity was to celebrate his daughter Raseel’s 3 decades of journey as a spatial designer. Raseel had been aware of her father’s long held desire for exhibiting his artwork and sculptures for public spaces. She felt that art appreciators needed to see this piece of art and supported her father’s endeavour whole heartedly, therefore she initiated a dialogue with Malvika Singh of Bikaner house to curate an evening to celebrate the beginning of this journey of Satish Gujral art work in the public domain, as well as celebrate the beginning of the Public Art program of Bikaner house.

Trinity, a 9 ft tall bronze sculpture celebrates the three worlds, also subliminally suggesting the eternal bond between life-death-rebirth. It was named Trinity in the context of Hindu mythology — a triumvirate of Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh. It’s a figure in triptych, poised in eternal harmony and balance, subliminally communicating the cyclic passage of time as creation, preservation and rebirth. Suggesting the proverbial circle of life, Gujral’s sculpture encases men rejoicing every realm with spiritual gusto. “It is to me one of the most sublime of his works. An encapsulation of his beliefs. And large enough to grace a public space,” feels Raseel.

“Art is a revolt against man’s fate. If all art ever made was confined within four walls would we ever have had a Mahabalipuram? Or a Khajuraho? Or even a Florence for that matter. It’s sad that as consumerism consumed us Indians, we, in contemporary times forgot the sheer virtue of placing a piece of art in a public space for all to admire and imbibe from,” informs the maestro himself, who during his stay in Mexico in the 1950’s cultivated this passion for muralist medium under the influence of stalwarts like Frida Kahlo, Orozco and Siqueiros. He undertook to bring the ethos and influences to the Indian diaspora and honed his art to further vitalise the Indian art scenario.

Gujral’s series of public art installations will now travel across prominent landmarks across India slated for 2018.The Belgian Embassy in New Delhi, the UNESCO building and more recently the Ambedkar Park in Lucknow stand testimony to his journey so far. Many of his murals are part of historic buildings, universities and institutions across India.

Art lovers can view Trinity for the next few months at Bikaner House, which is slowly emerging as the most powerful cultural hub of India. Gujral will also unveil his recent canvases during the art fair later in January at the same venue.