Subtlety is his wont

Nonika Singh

In his works he might leave a lot unsaid, eloquence could well be noted painter, poet and playwright Gieve Patel’s middle name. However, be it his distinct individualistic style of painting or the man in person, Patel certainly is understated to put it mildly. But then as he says, “I don’t like to shout.”

Of course, those taken in by his gentle persona do wonder at his choice of subjects, especially the series on death and decay. Though interpretation, he believes, is only an afterthought to creative process, he does elucidate why he paints deeply disturbing subjects such as death. In fact, he goes back to Mahabharata, to the poignant question that Yudhisthira was asked by a yaksh when he goes to fetch water. As the myth goes, Yudhishtir was asked—what is the most amazing thing in this world? And to this Yudhisthira had replied “Even though man is confronted by death all the time he remains oblivious to his mortality.”

And with works on deaths, violent too, Patel is just reminding himself as well as the world of transience of human life. As he puts it, “Though you can’t ever come to terms with a man’s finite end one can at least look it in the eye.” In yet another work he even meditates on old age which he calls a difficult period of one’s life.

Of course, Patel isn't always preoccupied by morbid subjects. In his series on wells, “my celebratory works”, he captures the joyous moods of life. Actually his fascination for wells goes back in time, to his childhood years. Growing up in a village in Gujarat, he couldn’t stop himself from gazing into the depths of wells. Never mind that these were not some grand step wells but ordinary local humble ones. Till today he can’t resist the temptation to look into a well if ever he spots one. Only in the year 1991, when he followed his urge, he thought; why not paint this experience. And what an extraordinary experience, which he shared during his slide lecture show organised by Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi! As he took select art lovers present at the Government Museum auditorium, sector 10, en route an exciting journey, wells transformed into alluring landscapes, a world within and without. In a way he avers that looking into wells is akin to looking at himself.

Since being a doctor (a practicing one) too is a part of his self…is that the reason why his works possess the same clinical precision. Well, he confesses that even if he weren’t a doctor he would still work in the same minimalistic fashion. As a student he recalls, he loved the exercise of précis writing that is summarising two pages of text in a few lines. Till today he thinks: why write two pages when the same can be said in a few lines. Brevity is the soul of wit, so said Shakespeare... Patel clearly believes less is more and his artistic practice, be it painting or writing poetry or plays thrives on this maxim.

[email protected]

Realistic or abstract 
Though Gieve Patel thrills to what his artist friends like Sudhir Patwardhan and Anju Dodiya have to say about his works... often their remarks truly stump him. For instance when he painted a man with a peacock at Nariman point and Anju told him “I love the peacock… it’s so abstract” he didn’t know whether to take it as a compliment or otherwise. Jokes apart, Patel’s visual language is a fascinating blend where realism meets abstraction in myriad ways.

Drama of life 
Men and women on the margins, the ones that you encounter everyday in the streets of Mumbai, its bazaar, lanes and bylanes as well as its crooks and novices leap onto Patel’s canvases quite often. A mad woman on the street, a man trying to save his bread and banana in Mumbai’s torrential and unpredictable rains, are some of the recurring leitmotifs. He also loves the drama of contrasts and plays the same in his images that are often inspired by what appears in the newspapers.