Nepali Artist, the Horse Whisperer

He is a very down to earth man. He appears to be humble as well. But really, can a man who yearns to be his own lord and master ever do justice to the true meaning of the word, ‘humility’? Really, can a man who aspires to live life on his own terms ever be as amiable as society expects him to be? The issue becomes further complicated when the man you are talking about is an artist. Still more complex when the artist in question is sixty six years old, has traveled the globe, received as many awards as his years, and confides, “Some years ago a doctor told me that if I ever started drinking again, he would be the first to send me a white cane.” The doctor was referring to the artist’s long standing problem of glaucoma, probably a by-product of his diabetes. The white goatee beard seems to mock and the eyes twinkle mischievously as the artist, Shashi Bikram Shah, adds, “I love drinking and I love my pipe. I like to paint with a drink beside me. Well, I’m fine till now. Just have to use that eye drop regularly.”

Humble? Yes of course he is by his own standards. Maybe that is why he is so well regarded by all and sundry. It’s just that Shashi Shah is actually such a buccaneer and cares so little about his own health that if pondered upon, the issue has to be of deep concern to his many admirers. After all, the good health of a Rastriya Pratibha Puraskar  recipient cannot be anything but a matter of national concern. Still, besides the glaucoma problem, the artist seems to be in fine fettle and in good spirits. He is also now venturing into unknown waters as far as his artistry is concerned. “Yes, after 15-20 years of painting horses, I am now painting other subjects,” he reveals. Well, this should come as a pleasant surprise to many because Shashi Shah’s name has always been synonymous with horses. And not just ordinary horses, mind you. His horses have always been of the untamed variety. Muscular, large sized and unbridled. Perhaps the artist has tried to portray his deepest wishes and his innermost nature through the depiction of such magnificent beasts. This could be his way of releasing his own freedom-loving spirit because no matter what, he knows that no one is allowed such uninhibited freedom. At least not if one is to live in society.

And live in society he must. Born to late Chuda Bikram and Iswori Shah in 1940, one of seven brothers and four sisters, Shashi Shah himself has a small family. He lives with his youthful looking wife, Kiran, in Kumaripatti, Lalitpur, while his two daughters, Kriti and Saguna, are married with families of their own. Kriti too is an artist who was recently awarded the 2^nd prize in contemporary painting during the National Art and Crafts Competition this year. The buccaneer artist is anything but unhappy with the life he has lived and declares, “Even in a country like Nepal with its innumerous difficulties I have managed to achieve a lot as an artist.” Name and fame have been well earned and as far as personal life is concerned, he appears to be happy with his lot.

Much of the artist’s life has been devoted to the depiction of horses and his horses have been much admired by many. He reveals an interesting tit-bit, “Recently, a businessman named Manoj Manandhar of Dillibazar offered to buy all of my paintings.  All of them! It seems he has been collecting my works for many years.” Well seeing that Shashi Shah is now venturing unto other subjects which will undoubtedly mean less production of paintings of his favourite subject, perhaps one must acknowledge that the businessman is indeed business savvy. Another person who the artist confides has a good collection is, Kedar Bhakta Mathema. “He is a good friend as well. We studied together.” Besides this fact, Shashi Shah admits, “When Mathema was in Japan as an Ambassador, he took pains to organize an exhibition of Nepalese artists there in which Krishna Manadhar, Bachhu Gopal Vaidya and myself participated. I wish more of our foreign emissaries would follow his example. After all, Nepal can claim to be rich in art and culture if nothing else.”

Obviously, the artist has been bestowed with many honours but the one which he holds in the specialt esteem is the Indra Rajya Laxmi Academy Award presented by the Royal Nepal academy in 1979. Of this, he says, “This was the time that the Academy also awarded the late Bal Krishna Sama the Rastriya Pratibha Puraskar. So I think it was a historic occasion.” Schools too have bestowed Shashi Shah with tokens of love like the attractive ‘dorje’ and bell set presented by Brihaspati School and a plaque paying special tribute by Little Angel’s School along with a beautiful statue on the occasion of its silver jubilee in which 25 prominent citizens were felicitated.

Shashi Shah received his Diploma in Arts from JJ School of Arts, Mumbai in 1967 and in 1968, did a special course on murals from the same college. In the same year he underwent a short term training on Rajasthani murals from Banasthali Bidyapith in Rajasthan and in 1970, completed a special course on Graphics from Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi. From 1968 to 1994 he was a lecturer at the Fine Arts Campus in Kathmandu, and its campus chief from 1979 to 1989. He   is currently the Principal of Sirjana Contemporary Art Gallery in Kamaladi, but he confesses, “ The overheads are high, specially the rent. And although we do get about thirty students at a time, we have to charge more because of our high expenses.” Obviously, the board must be having thoughts about moving to a more economical area.

In 1971, Shashi Shah, along with Krishna Manandhar, Indra Pradhan and Bachhu Gopal Vaidya, had formed one of the first artists’ group in the country. It was called SKIB after their initials. Shashi Shah says, “Nowadays, artists have a much better deal as regards exhibitions, galleries and media coverage and I must admit that many of the young artists today are far ahead of what we used to be at their age.” That is not to say that Shashi Shah has been lacking in this regard. On the contrary. His works have been exhibited in India, USSR, Japan, Bangladesh, South Korea and Australia besides of course, his own country.

Concerning artists as a whole, Shashi Shah is of the opinion that an artist can consider himself to have achieved some success if the viewer can identify him/her with their paintings. “Everybody has a different style and a painting must immediately be recognized as a particular artist’s. This is success in itself.” He likes to paint at night and says that some nights he has not slept a wink but still has not felt the lack of it. Recently, he has been painting large canvases portraying the strife in the country. One such work, ‘Thinking Buddha’ shows a monk like fellow in monkish robes in the classical thinking pose as made famous by Rodin’s ‘Thinker’. One of his eyes is half open and the brow is furrowed as he contemplates the smaller figures around him in various poses of death and destruction.

Another work done during the time when twelve Nepalese were cruelly beheaded in Baghdad, shows similar figures in orange and red. He is now working on another version of the ‘Thinking Buddha’ and even in the half completed work one can see that the artist is deeply concerned with the present state of affairs. But of course, since he lives within his own world and by his own rules, Shashi Shah is not the type to be fazed by much. Very much his own man, the artist continues to paint through long nights with a drink beside him and with his mahogany pipe billowing small puffs at regular intervals. However, this time around he does not seem to be painting his horses, horses about which he says, “Horse and horses dominate my paintings…The white horse is the symbol of Vishnu… others are also symbolic – some are evil, horrifying, manic and devastating… Some are good, some are evil…May they all seduce the viewer’s imagination.” Seemingly, the white horse is the final avatar of Vishnu and known as the Kalki avatar which appears as the saviour during the Kali Yug, the age of chaos and destruction.

He has almost got a large collection of his newer works ready and is looking forward to exhibiting them within the next few months at the Siddartha Art Gallery.  Connoisseurs and art lovers have something to look forward to, undoubtedly. Imagine the ‘horse whisperer’ displaying canvases in which there is not a single one of those magnificent beasts! 

The Depths Below

He says that he was painfully shy while in school. The shyness remains even today, but one can safely say, is no cause for pain. However, as far as early impressions go, no one would describe Asha as a shy person. At first sight, the 34-year-old artist, and one of the founder members of the famous Kasthamandap Art Studio, oozes quiet confidence and cool composure. Nevertheless, scratch the surface and one begins to get a glimpse into the true persona of a man who is now increasingly being regarded as an artist blazing a brave new trail in the country’s art scene.

And a glimpse is all one gets, unfortunately. No matter how much one tries, it is well nigh impossible to fathom Asha R Dangol. One does get the feeling that the neatly bearded artist is not unduly ruffled by this. In fact, he appears to be quite happy to play possum and let his colourfully rendered canvases speak for him. At the same time, one cannot escape the gnawing thought that the shyness that was cause for so much pain when a child, seems to have been transformed now into more or less, a stiff and beneath-the-surface aggression. This aggression, which may not be obvious even to Asha himself, let alone to others, is to the more astute observer, quite apparent in the way he responds to external stimuli. A sort of veiled response. Apparent also in the way his artistic endeavours have progressed through the years. To say that it has been a rapid progression would be somewhat of an understatement.

Although he has had only four solo exhibitions, this shortcoming, if it can be called that,  is easily explained by the fact that he has exhibited much more often as part of the group. As an individual, he has a never ending admiration for Picasso and his own works can be said to be quite honestly so influenced. But the way he is going, and the changes he is not afraid of experimenting with, are reason enough to predict that someday soon Asha will come upon a style that will make him cry ‘Eureka!’. He says that he swore his dedication to art, while still an art student, after he first exhibited two figurative works in 1992 at the Srijana Art Gallery in the ‘Human Happiness Art Exhibition’.  However, for the first three years after passing out from Fine Arts Campus, he, along with other members of Kasthamandap Art Studio, painted and sold postcards. “We used to go shop to shop in the tourist areas to sell our postcards,” he recounts.

In 1995, Asha participated for the first time in the 26^th National Art Exhibition, and states that he has done so in every one after that. In 2006, his painting, ‘Tantrik Prem’, won the first prize in the contemporary art section. Asha Dangol is persevering, one has to hand him that. Today, Kasthamandap Art Studio has its studios in Sanepa, Lalitpur, although Asha reveals that his group was the first to rent studio space in the National Association of Fine Arts (NAFA) premises back in 1996. Below his studio in Sanepa, a room holds a row of computers on which at any given moment, one will see some of the Kasthamandap associates at work. “From noon to five we do work involving graphic design,” says Asha. “Previously this work was quite rewarding, and we had a steady flow of assignments to design things like brochures and booklets, but not so now.” A room to the side is for conducting art classes, another regular activity of the group. Well, yes, art by itself is still not an all consuming affair it seems. Asha agrees, “Art alone is not sustaining, therefore we do other work.” Even as he says this, the bearded artist appears to have another thought and says, “What I really want to do now is to totally devote myself to art.” The way he puts it, it can be taken as a moment of realization. Realization that to reach the lofty heights he aims to reach as an artist, he cannot be any less than wholly involved.

This is perhaps one more such instance, among quite a few in the artist’s life, when he has had a new awareness thrust upon him. One instance had been, as mentioned before, in 1992, when he swore undying allegiance to art; the other instance was during the art workshop at the Osho Tapoban in Nagarjuna in 2004. Of this, he reveals, “Maybe it was the environment of the place but I do believe that this workshop was influential in bringing about later significant changes in my style.”

Asha loves to sing folk songs, and therefore it was only natural that his first solo exhibition held at the Siddhartha Art Gallery in January 2002 should have been called, ‘Folk Images of Nepal’. It was immediately after this that the simmering love affair between Asha and another Kasthamandap member, Erina Tamrakar, came to fruition. They married. Here, one is tempted to presume that perhaps the love affair must have been quite the silent one, in keeping with Asha’s nature. For the record, the arty couple have a baby boy today who is attending kindergarten. Keeping in tune with events, Asha says that, after marrying, he began to focus more on the female form and along with this, he says his lines began to change too. According to him, “The freedom of my lines reflected my own excitement and feelings.” Again, one cannot but suppose that this was perfectly understandable keeping in mind Asha’s innate shyness.

His second solo exhibition was at the Gallery Moksh in March 2004. Titled, ‘Inside the Words’, the collection consisted of canvases in which Asha had incorporated Poet Manjul’s stanzas from his ‘Death Poem’ series. In 2005, his third solo, ‘Folk Fusion’, was held at the Siddhartha Art Gallery again, and of this, he says, “It was a very satisfying event because it was really well organized.” This year, ‘The Scream’ was exhibited at The Art Shop in June. This, then, completes the total of four solo exhibitions he has had upto now. Not many, it must be said. But hold your horses, if one were to go by quality alone, these four solos are indicative enough that Asha is not treading new paths, but rather, rampaging down the same.

‘Inside the Words’ was a complete turn around from his earlier ‘Folk Images of Nepal’, and ‘Folk Fusion’ was again very different from ‘Inside the Words’. So one would have obviously been expectant of ‘The Scream’ as likely to put on view a new side of the artist. But, not so. Asha Dangol actually seems to have found a certain niche with ‘Folk Fusion’ and, yes, this collection could almost have been cause for a ‘Eureka!’. Therefore, it is no surprise that ‘The Scream’ too is along the same lines as ‘Folk Fusion’. Whatever the case may be, these later works by Asha Dangol are clearly demonstrative of an artist of élan. Not that such élan had not been evident before in the many group shows of Kasthamandap Art Studio held within and outside the country, the latest of which was ‘Reflections of Reality’ in San Francisco this April. About this recent tour, Asha remarks, “There must be about 8000 artists in that city alone, and over a hundred galleries. Needless to say, it’s not easy to make one’s mark there.”

Most definitely, Asha’s trips abroad during the group shows, including to places like Belgium, Sri Lanka, Holland, India and the USA, must have had good educative value. Inspirational value too, it seems, because in San Francisco Asha says that he was thrilled to visit the Picasso Gallery and says, “I must say that it was moving to see some of Picasso’s original works. And I must confess that it has had some influence on ‘The Scream’.” About another recent interest of Asha, that of ceramic art, one cannot say where the inspiration has come from, and how good he is at this, viewers can only judge in the near future because he is planning an exhibition soon.

Incidentally, NAFA first prize winner ‘Tantrik Prem’ was from what Asha describes as, the ‘Black Series’. Some other similar paintings still hang around in his studio but surprisingly, the ‘Black Series’ has never been exhibited. One reason for this could be, as the artists says, “Because many of my works have been bought by collectors before they could be collected for an exhibition.” Well, it does seem that Asha Dangol is developing, or already has, a loyal following including regular collectors. Which, one must say, is what would be of immense importance to Asha to enable him to live upto his latest resolve – that is - to devote himself completely to art and art only. 

The Experimental Expressionist

Jed Perle, well known writer on arts and artists, when assigned to write an article on Cezanne, had this to say, “I found it incredibly daunting to write about such a monumental figure- a painter whom several of his great successors saw as both the father and mother of modern art.” And although Kiran Manadhar may be no Cezanne, he is no less a monumental figure in the contemporary Nepalese art scene and it is equally daunting to write about ‘peintre nepalais de renom’ as they call him in France, where the little  master has  earned more than a little fame and fortune.

Going through Kiran Manandhar’s thick collection of memorabilia, there is one clipping published in 1989, wherein he laments at the lack of ‘art critics worth the name’ in the country. Today his refrain remains the same but simultaneously, he does point out, “It is rather sad that artists cannot absorb criticism and maybe that is why critics are shy of reviewing works in a more professional manner. If the review is negative then the concerned artist may well criticize the reviewer as one who has no knowledge of art!”

After well nigh 33 years in the profession Kiran is at that stage where he has earned the right to make such judgments. He himself has always received rave reviews throughout the world. Well, maybe not always. One review by Ranjit Hoskote in The Times of India during Kiran’s exhibition at the Taj Art Gallery in Bombay, was perhaps an exception, but cruelly scathing nonetheless. In it the critic has panned the artist’s works as ‘trite’ and concludes with, ‘It is not clear how the mere vigor or verve of the brushwork can salvage Manandhar’s quite chaotic work. It comes across as so much energy dissipated in the achievement of the superficial.’ Well, one such blistering criticism could well undo an artist, but nice to know, doesn’t seem to have dampened Kiran’s enthusiasm in the least. One of the reasons could well be the trials and tribulations the artist has had to go through to reach where he has today and which has made him a toughened man. He says so himself, “I had to struggle hard for almost twenty years before I could taste success.” He adds, “I have slept for weeks on railway platforms and in fact had even become used to the noise of trains passing by.” Those were during painful times in his ten year stay in Varanasi.

Leaving aside the rare bad review, Kiran’s works have generally been complimented profusely by critics and the artist especially remembers a review in the September 9 1988 edition of the Times of India where the eminent art critic, Dnyaneshwar Nadkarni, was all praise for Kiran’s works at another display at the Taj Gallery in Bombay. The critic wrote then, “Young Nepali painter Kiran Manadhar makes a highly impressive debut’ and ‘A show such as Kiran’s comes like a whiff of fresh breeze (or is it tornado?) in the midst of so much rotten art exposed around us’.

Kiran’s artistic voyage started in 1972. He expresses indebtedness to wife Sarita mostly for her sacrifice, to Dr. A. S. David, an Israeli American who once worked in the National Planning Council, for his supportive encouragement, and to sister, Tara, who lives in France, for her continual assistance. Kiran also doesn’t forget to mention that it was Norma Khobrak who presented him with a book on Picasso, which he says, ‘inspired him to be a modern painter.’ The key word here is ‘modern’. Kiran’s works are doubtless, modern, and he admits to being influenced by William de Kooning, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollack, Emil Nolde and K. S. Kulkarni. Another word frequently used to describe him is, ‘vigorous’. No doubt, no doubt. Just listen to him. “I go mad when I am working. I paint with brushes, hands and feet. When I am working, nothing else exists for me. It is only the canvas, the colors and me.” It is a delight to watch the stockily built master at work. He virtually flings himself body and soul onto the canvas. No brush is big enough it seems and speed is of the essence as if he fears the momentum and the inspiration might be lost if he hesitates even slightly. He uses his thick hands and stubby fingers with great passion and digging out great globs of colour, his hands become his instruments of creation. The artist also says, “I stop only when I become exhausted.”

Maybe that is the reason the artist feels that all of his paintings are incomplete. Just as he does not plan on painting certain subjects in certain ways, there is no plan to stop at a certain point. Kiran deserves to be called a ‘natural’. And in fact, since he has been labeled an ‘abstract expressionist’, one can assume that he has to let his emotions be displayed as naturally as is possible, otherwise the vibrancy associated with his work would probably be missing. At the SAARC Painters Camp in Kufri, India, in 1989, Kiran’s modus operandi had been thus described, ‘Kiran paints very fast. He starts with the abstract forms but later discovers in them, the faces, figures, animals and birds through the swift strokes of the brush. He scatters or flings colours on to the canvas in order to explore the physical qualities of colour’. Kiran prefers not to mix colours on the palette, instead allowing them to mix on the canvas itself. He also prefers passionate reds, strong blues and bold blacks besides other similar robust and contrasting colours. Presently, Kiran is unto experimentation and this is another significant indication of his mastery of the medium, for less than that, and no artist would be so confident as to dive into such deep waters.

One remembers the realistic painter, Max Ferguson’s, words, “It’s crazy when you find eighteen year old students who can’t do a decent model drawing and they are onto abstract expressionism. It’s like flying before you can crawl.” Experimentation is certainly not for the novice. Not even for the well established unless blessed with courage such as demonstrated by Kiran. Just the fact that he has set the minimum price of his paintings at Rs.10000 here, speaks volumes about his stature built on confidence. “The highest price I have received for any of my works is 10000 Euros,” he discloses. “Of course I price my works according to the market. In Nepal too there is a growing market of discerning buyers, but here I take care to price my works within reasonable bounds.” About realism vis a vis abstract, he has a significant point to make, “Look at your hand-is it the real one or are the nerves, tendons and blood vessels beneath, the real hand?” One thus immediately can realize that the abstract painter sees more, feels more, and this is reflected in his paintings. As he says, “The painter is like a surgeon, dissecting the outer superficial aspects to show what is beneath.” Kiran has exhibited solo more than 150 times all over the world, including Pakistan, India, France, Germany, Japan and Finland. The weathered artist has also won numerous accolades including the Rastriya Pratibha Puraskar in 1996, the Prabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu in 1999, two times Best Prize in National Art Competition in 1983 and 1986 as well as best prizes in competitions in France in 1991 and 2000.

In 1980, Kiran Manadhar had been awarded the first prize in the Annual Art Exhibition in Banaras Hindu University from where, in 1981, he completed his Masters in Fine Arts. A life member of the Bombay Art Society, Kiran is also a Fellow of Cite’ International des Arts, Paris, France, besides being a member of the Association des Arts Plastiques, Draveil, France, and the founder member of Junkiree Artists Group and Gallery Palpasa in Kathmandu. Till recently he was a member of the Royal Nepal Academy, from which post he tendered his resignation some time ago citing dissatisfaction at the way members were appointed.  Kiran is today the president of the Artists’ Society of Nepal.

Born on 15^th June 1957, Kiran was the only son whose father, Purna Man, a mechanic with the ropeways, wished to make into an engineer. For a very brief period Kiran was inducted as a freeze mechanic at Ravi Bhawan, but as the artist says, “Even in the wirings I saw only art.” Today, his own son, 19 year old Sagar has already had two exhibitions of his paintings and is in his 2^nd year at Banaras Hindu University studying, what else, fine arts. A daughter, Karuna, is 22 years old and is doing her MBA from Shanker Dev Campus in Kathmandu, but Kiran says with pride, “She’s a fine singer and has already cut an album called, ‘Karuna’”. The artist spends a lot of time in France, on an average, six months in a year. He has doubtless tasted the sweet taste of success abroad but at the same time makes it a point to keep his feet on the ground, and manages to keep an even keel on his life by being very much involved in family, societal and national matters.

Thus, he has conducted numerous workshops and informs that he is planning to organize and promote Nepalese sculpture. While in Nepal, the artist devotes himself as much to family and social matters as to his paintings and having his atelier at his home in Chauni must therefore be a blessing. Kiran now seems to have taken on the responsibility of mentor to younger Nepalese artists and in fact quite a few of them have been tutored by him. The long haired experimentalist, whose atelier contains quite a large number of his works done on lokta paper, canvas and jute, believes that besides the lack of authoritative critics, the art market is also not as strong in the marketing department. As he says, “Abroad, before a new artist’s works are exhibited, the art dealer arranges for a critic from a reputable journal to actually see the artist at work so that the critic can understand the artist better. This kind of attention to detail is one of the reasons why art critics’ words carry so much weight with buyers.”

Kiran Manadhar loves classical and jazz music, bright and contrasting colours, Nepal and France. Kiran values his independence and likes to work in natural light. He declares that he is ‘fearless in use of colours and styles’. He admits that he has faced a lot of depressing times in his life. He lives six months with family and six months without. So how does one classify Kiran as a person? How does one define his lifestyle? Well, maybe, just as one would define him as an artist-an experimental expressionist.