Important Notice

Much of Gulam Rasool Santosh's art is grounded in the principle of Kashmir Shaivism. Following "a period of 'artistic silence', he began to paint in a style that came to be known later as the neo-tantric form or school." (Shantiveer Kaul, "The Journey: The Artist and his World", Awakening: A Retrospective of G. R. Santosh, New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery, 2011, p15).Tantra is indicative of expansion, and Santosh's art draws from the yantras, its... Much of Gulam Rasool Santosh's art is grounded in the principle of Kashmir Shaivism. Following "a period of 'artistic silence', he began to paint in a style that came to be known later as the neo-tantric form or school." (Shantiveer Kaul, "The Journey: The Artist and his World", Awakening: A Retrospective of G. R. Santosh, New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery, 2011, p15).Tantra is indicative of expansion, and Santosh's art draws from the yantras, its visual formations. Tantra then becomes a part of Shaiva philosophy, part of the cosmos involving "number-related geometry...besides the assigning of different values to the colour spectrum to various states of being and experience." (Ibid, p19)

Santosh's poetic inclinations find an outlet in his art through rhythm and form. Sufism guided him to an extent, and though his art bordered on abstractionism, it would have been incorrect to categorise it as such. The geometric composition of his works assumes the form of a woman very often, assuming the padmasana position, suggesting a meditative power. "This stylisation hovers between the iconic and the aniconic, and is symptomatic of Santosh's devotion for Shakti, the Divine Mother." (Ibid, p22) This lot is yet another depiction of Shakti. The concentricity of the bindu is hypnotic: suggestive of the power of the Divine to draw one in to focus on Her and be consumed by Her power.

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