On the Zodiac Trail

WHAT do Linda Goodman, Gandhi’s philosophical musings on monkeys and the colourful world of oil on canvas have in common? Delhi-based p...

WHAT do Linda Goodman, Gandhi’s philosophical musings on monkeys and the colourful world of oil on canvas have in common? Delhi-based painter Veer Munshi has dipped into all these and more in his travelling show Signs, serving up an assorted palette.

Pungent—to the extent of being loud—Munshi’s latest show takes over from where Yusuf Arakkal left off. However, while the Bangalore-based artist paid tribute to great masters like Paul Gauguin and Picasso, Munshi’s list goes beyond artistic greats to include politicians, actors, directors and scientists. It doesn’t end there. This Baroda-trained painter has also combined his ‘research’ on Zodiac signs with his artistic prowess and done a zodiac power list of the who’s who—both dead and alive.

While some paintings draw parallels, others are a homage. In one of the works, Munshi has placed the temperamental Arien Charlie Chaplin next to an inverted image of Van Gogh’s (another testy Arien) Sunflowers. ‘‘I turned the image of Van Gogh’s painting upside down to give it a Chaplinesque feel… you know how things are always topsy turvy in Charlie’s world,’’ says the artist, a big fan of both.

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A portrait of one-time teacher and then friend Bhupen Khakhar—rendered in the Piscean’s signature style—and placed next to posters of Michelangelo (the Renaissance painter shares not only Khakhar’s sun sign but also his sexual orientation) and Albert Einstein can only be described as a tribute.

‘‘Bhupen was a great human being besides being a great painter,’’ says Munshi who picked up his narrative style of painting from the likes of Khakhar and Gulam Sheikh while studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University, in 1981.

The painting of a gun-toting terrorist is probably the only reminder of his earlier subject matter that dealt with darker issues and drew upon his experience of living in Srinagar—a city under siege. ‘‘I have moved on from that kind of work. When I left Kashmir 14 years ago, images of terror were the only subjects I could paint. It was cathartic, to say the least. But one cannot continue to live in the past,’’ says Munshi gravely, recalling memories of having to watch friends die in front of his eyes. The power and raw vigour of those works has given way to this lighter, tongue-in-cheek appraisal of the powers that be.

Today, Munshi lives a settled life in New Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park with wife Neeraj Chibber—who he prefers to call his partner. When he’s not painting, he’s cooking the occasional Yakhani (A Kashmiri mutton dish, prepared in curd—a Munshi speciality). ‘‘When I left Kashmir I didn’t think I would never return. But, progressively, as things got worse I realised Delhi was a better option,’’ says the artist who paints from 8 am to 5 pm like a true office goer.

(Exhibition of Paintings by Veer Munshi, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, March 23 to 31)