Vikash Kalra, a well-known painter of India, living in New Delhi with his wife and two kids, striving to be one of the iconic Painters of the world. He is a self-taught artist. He is well known for fluid, abstract paintings, sculptures, etc. He moreover explores difficult themes in his works and tries to depict deep meanings through his paintings. He completely believes that art is an “Organic Entity”. Other than painting, his other hobbies include music, and as a music lover, he has a good collection of musical instruments as well procured from different parts of the country and also plays them occasionally.
Mr. Kalra enjoys painting and does it for living. His works have been widely put up on exhibitions across India and are held in few private and corporate collections.
Mr. Vikash Kalra emphasizes how every artist goes through many transitions during their life and their art or it is painting, sculpture, or any other form of art gets influenced by every experience. He says that it doesn’t matters which artist one chooses, one will find, that their art gets slowly influenced with time. Mr. Kalra, Pablo Picasso, and F. N. Souza are not the exception of these transitions.
One can realize that Picasso’s initial stage of works was influenced by realism (1890-1897), it was the time when we find that he painted ‘Portrait of Aunt Pepa’ and ‘The First Communion’. The portrait of Aunt Pepa is considered one of the greatest portraits in the history of Spanish painting. In 1897, his work started sowing symbolist influence in his realism paintings; in this phase, the use of green and non-violent color in landscapes shows this kind of transition in his works. And soon after 1897, he started to get influenced by the artist of that time mainly El Greco.
And as for F. N. Souza, his paintings are not only symbolizing his feelings but also show the different kinds of the situation of the society. His expressions are one of the most important parts of his paintings. His painting ‘birth’ shows the great understanding of the pain of a woman which she feels in her pregnancy. The eyes of his subjects convey really deep meaning to the viewers. If we talk about the experiences of Souza then we will find that most of his time runs in personal guilt and responsibility which he beautifully depicted in his works. Whenever an artist looks into the works of Souza, he will find that the works of Souza are a complete representation of society and his complex personality.
Mr. Kalra’s works are now more simple and complex in their nature. His landscapes are human-less where his works are depicting the beauty of nature without any human existence. The mountains represent his willpower and dedication towards his works. Where the clouds are the clean representation of his turbulent thoughts.
The calm trees are depicting the inner peace and pace of his life. The green the blue combination with the saffron sides make them more than just a work of art. It is full of the different conditions of a human unconscious mind.
If we talk about Mr. Kalra’s works in heads then we can call it his best works. These heads are full of bold colorings and budding thoughts. The expressions are amazingly designed with bold lines. They are not depicting the subtle meaning of the head but the thoughts of the artist. It is something that is giving us a chance to explore the fear and guilt of society. He has a vast collection of heads which are indeed very powerful and amazing when we take a closure look at them.
Sculptures are more of mystery and sophisticated realism. They are oversized with the depiction of work done by the artist. It is something that tells a tale about the mistake and imperfections in the path of excellence.
It is indeed a work of master only if we compare with the artists with the daring and fearless attitude. Mr.Kalra is an artist who crossed the path with the maestro like Picasso and Souza but as of now, he is something more than that. He is not only the pupil but the biggest revolution in that form of art.
Vikash Kalra is a self-taught artist and writer based in New Delhi whose work has been exhibited across India and is held in several private and corporate collections.