Man of steel

When a 34-year-old Vadodara-based artist Dhruva Mistry was first elected Royal Academician in 1991, the prodigious sculptor had already made a name for himself among the leading artists of the time. A decade later, his impeccable contributions to sculpture was recognised when Mistry was awarded the honorary CBE by the British government. His legacy stands tall in the form of public art sculptures in places such as Victoria Square in Birmingham, Goodwood in Sussex, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and Hakone Museum in Japan among others. And now, a quaint art gallery in Colaba has captured the legacy of the artist in its ongoing exhibition.

In the exhibition titled New Work: 1999-2019, Akara Art has displayed over 20 original works of the veteran artist that captures his progression over the last two decades. As one beholds these brightly coloured steel sculptures sprawled in the gallery space, the artist’s genius of inspiring emotions by using vivid hues and complex structures comes to fore. Even though Mistry has used a variety of materials in his career, steel hits close to home, and the artist’s prowess over the metal as his medium becomes evident in this exhibition. “Using a brand new sheet of steel is pretty much like using a brand new sheet of paper,” smiles Mistry as he draws an analogy. “The use of steel is absolutely practical and affordable. It’s a good material and it does not rust,” elaborates Mistry.

Moreover, his use of colours itself denotes the artist’s progression in his art. After contemplating a lot, Mistry, quite later in his career, started painting his sculptures. Elaborating on this, he shares: “My interest was very formalistic. But then, I started thinking what would happen if I add a layer of dimension. What would the object look like to the spectator? What kind of message will that communicate?” Elaborating, the artist reveals the importance of his use of complimentary colours: “Colours change the nature of the object and also create an aura of its being; they also emphasise newness.”

Further, the exhibition showcases Mistry’s trademark skeletal structures that are made out of individual pieces of ‘limbs’ — whether of animal and human anatomy —put together. In his hybrid structures that combine animal and human bodies, the artist calls for a revaluation of the self. “I think so much of human instinct is nothing but our own animal instinct,” he says. Hence in a raging-red sculpture called Doodledom, in which human limbs are used alongside octopus’ tentacles, one is reminded of the poignancy of violence. However, the artist’s inspiration behind another such hybrid structure called Little B, in which a human head rests on a body of a bird, was one of the most loved surrealists of all time —Frida Kahlo.

“In 1983, there was a Frida Kahlo exhibition held for the first time in London at the Whitechapel. I saw her painting The Wounded Deer in which she painted her face with the body of a deer that was fatally wounded by a bunch of arrows. It interested me that the artist had made the painting while going through a bad time. It was very moving,” reminisces the artist who suffered a severe paralytic stroke in 2008 that affected the left side of his body.

Even though the artist had to work his way through the stroke, he still remains meticulous in his work. Describing his process, Mistry reveals that he first draws each structure on paper and envisions how he can break it down in different pieces. “Then, I actually cut these pieces using a laser cutter, and then I work with a welder friend. Even with one hand functional, I still use grinder and cutter. And I keep using the trial and error method till I am satisfied with the structural form,” concludes the artist.

The exhibition is ongoing at Akara Art till December 31.