Former architect Haren Vakil, now a 74-year-old artist, is back in Mumbai after a five-year gap with a collection of 31 surreal drawings.
Beginning on Thursday, the exhibition will go on till January 15, showcasing Vakil's intricate and whimsical art at Artisans Art Gallery.
Without employing a theme or a narrative structure, Vakil wishes viewers make their own interpretations of his art, which has organised itself into unexpected configurations. “I've taken inspiration from the architecture I have witnessed in the cities I lived in. I took inspiration from the gothic buildings of the colonial era in the city along with the pavements where people sell locks and keys and calendars of gods and goddesses besides politicians.
The work is the essence of chaos, the absurdity that exists in any busy city,” said Vakil who is also influenced by surrealist painters like Salvador Dali, Picasso and Rene Magritte, who make their presence felt in many
of Vakil's work.
Born and raised in Gamdevi to an urban Gujarati family, Vakil began drawing at the age of four and was given a push by his school teacher at the New Era high school in south Mumbai. He later went on to study
architecture in Vadodara and worked in Holland for six years where he married a Dutchwoman, Thea. He has two sons, one a physician and the other a hip-hop artist.
They shifted to Canada in 1967. Vakil took up painting full time in the 90s, and has been showcasing his work in Victoria, his residential city in Canada, and Mumbai.
His art is mostly monochromatic and in acrylic and ink. Talking about how Mumbai feels surreal to him from the Bombay he left back in the 60s, he said a lot has changed. “The city was one-third the size of what it is today.
There was no pollution or high-rises. The number of cars on the roads has gone up by 8-10 times and the population has definitely grown. Mumbai will always remain a surreal city in many ways,” said Vakil who is greatly influenced by the architecture of the Mumbai University tower and the high court building.
He said that most of his work is influenced by western and Indian classical music, besides jazz. “They are based on improvisation and my art too is improvised. Music is always playing in my studio where I draw,” said Vakil, who likes playing golf in his free time.
Vakil returns to Canada by the end of January with no future plans in place. His art is on sale and available, not just on canvas, but also on coffee mugs, notebooks, totes, coasters and handbags.
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