The Blowtorch on wood method that Patel learned in Japan, and then pioneered in India, has for long prefixed his oeuvre. Here it is carefully siphoned into different sections, revealing a man amorously treating wood like a being. Of course, the value attached to the outcome is debatable. While reading about the method is like the catholicisation of language. Although it sounds starkly in contrast with street chatter and has earned its richness in some way, it still accounts for the same purpose – that of communication. Is one then in any way, better than the other? Therein lies an existential question in itself. To which Patel, as mentioned earlier, never sought the answer. His work, it seems, only portends what has always identified the way that batters the shore with a sea of questions – in this context it is about what is art?
This image is embedded in ...
- The man who played with fire: Jeram Patel retrospective reveals how he played with the language of art, Sunday, December 18, 2016 - 05:34