12th July, 2002

Ram Kumar show stopping at New York till end of July By JYOTIRMOY DATTA Recent works of 'intellectual' artist at IndoCenter

At last the show of recent works by Ram Kumar, presented by Saffronart and The Pundole Art Gallery, was to have reached its Manhattan destination - The IndoCenter in Chelsea - on July 11, after almost two months on the road.

Clearly, here is a show that needs to be visited, thought over and visited again.

Opening its journey with a weeklong show at The Pundole Art Gallery in Mumbai (May 19-24), it made just a one-day stop at Ram Kumar's home city of New Delhi, allowing barely a quick glimpse at the work of this changing, questing, rather intellectual artist.

In a press release, it was said of the Delhi event, that it was at the Taj Mahal Hotel, where all the works were displayed "at this preview cocktail evening, which is next in the series of events planned by Saffronart and Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, India."

New Yorkers can consider themselves luckier than the residents of India's capital: These works are scheduled for showing at The IndoCenter from July 11 through July 30. Even San Franciscans had a better look this summer than fellow Delhiwalas at Ram Kumar's art; the show ran at Vorpal Gallery in San Francisco from June 21, continued over the weekend, closing on June 25.

Additionally, during the West Coast stop, there was a panel discussion, 'Contemporary Indian Art's Reflection of Socio-Economic and Political Change,' with special reference to Ram Kumar, with Mary-Ann Milford-Lutzker, professor at Mills College, and Dadiba Pundole among the panelists. Apparently, Ram Kumar is not a painter like Renoir or Matisse, to be marveled at and enjoyed for the joyous colors and the sensuous beauty without the crutch of explanations by experts.

The Mumbai art critic Ranjit Hoskote has written that Ram Kumar's development as a painter carries
"the freight of intellectual and spiritual crisis." Clearly, here is a show that needs to be visited, thought over and visited again.