To liberate meditation from its fad like idioms and internalize it within his own spirit-this was the abstract master Sohan Qadri. But calling Qadri a Tantric artist is to reduce him into limited terrain. And Qadri was more than that. Qadri was the answer to the marriage of mendicant ways and truly abstractionist sensibilities.
Opening at the Visual Arts Gallery is a historic show of nearly 60 works by Qadri this evening. Culled together over 5 decades, this show will be a treat for the tired eyes of those who have only seen an obsession with figurative blends in the past. Qadri was a poet, painter and Tantric yogi, and had a deep and reflective engagement with spirituality. For this show, the artist’s works as a posthumous show has a series of luminous, dye-infused works on paper exploring the notion of emptiness or voids. Qadri rhythmically serrated and punctured the surface of paper as part of his meditation practice. Relying on the language of orifices and elongated paths or lines, he abandoned representation in search of transcendence. Serenity marked his compositions, his works were intended to arrest the viewer’s thinking process and invite him or her to enter a metaphysical realm-and that is what happens in this show that bleeds colour in a turgid density. The artist started exploring spiritual themes in the 1950s, and a selection of his iconic oil paintings from early in his career will also be on view. The best is a tangerine shaded seed bearing work that halts you in your tracks.
”Qadri begins his process by bathing paper in acid-free water and once it is swollen with liquid
, he rhythmically scores the surface and applies inks and dyes. He uses a thick intaglio paper, which he carves in stages to achieve a sculptural effect. The repetition of these careful incisions is an integral part of his meditation. Imbued with vibrant hues, the serrated surfaces possess a strong sense of energy and rhythm. In Qadri’s hands,
the very nature of paper is transformed. It is no longer a flat, two-dimensional surface, but a three-dimensional medium.’
Growing up in northern India, Qadri was exposed to Sufism, Hinduism, and Sikhism. He was initiated into yogic practice at the age of seven. As a teenager, he ran away to a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in search of higher truths. He spent days on end in remote temples in the Himalayas where he practiced Buddhist philosophy. He was particularly inspired by Vajryana or Tantric Buddhism which emphasized the notion of sunyata or emptiness. Qadri’s minimalist compositions on paper are symbolic of this empty space or void from which seeds—the punctures—arise. The seeds are primordial symbols representing the self in the universe, the notion of creation, and a sexual union. Yet, Qadri says, “A symbol is a step only, not a place to stay.” His vibrant works therefore act as corridors of contextual calm, coaxing viewers to abandon logic and engage in a completely visual experience.