This painting by Vikash Kalra speaks volumes about the artist. The lines are unpredictable, you can’t see the pattern of lines neither they are horizontal nor vertical. These random lines don’t show any kind of techniques used by modern and contemporary artists. Investigating this painting leads us to the Dadaism method of painting which is indeed in the mainstream media. Even calling it purely Dadaism will not be absolutely true. The predictable figure and fractured lines don’t make it a painting of Dadaism.
When we investigate the colors and backgrounds of this particular painting, we find the pale color is dominating the whole scene whether it is the Christ body or the background and his hand seems to be misplaced and connected with his hair. The hand is distorted that symbolizes the disability and lack of will to resist. It is indeed sending us an emotional message to the modern world about liberty and kindness.
The creamy color of the background mix the subject identified with the environment which is helping it to remain comfortable with both background and viewers’ eyes. The hammer is perfectly placed above the chest and it seems to hit the nail in Christ’s hand. The foreshadowing of hammer and nail shows the hardship and middle-class struggle against their world. They keep pushing themselves against their chest (heart) to live a life.
If we see with the narrow mind of our experience and surrounding, we find nothing special but at the same time if we can broaden our vision and see above our thinking and look upon it with the different perspective we find a wonderful art. An art with childlike purity without any special complex techniques. It looks good but most importantly it is conveying the meaning of randomness in our life.
When I see those black eyes and black hair combined with red, I feel weird. That dead eyes are not speaking, they are not telling a story that an art piece should tell. Those hairs are looking dyed but at the same time, it is something beyond our thinking which may have ticked into Kalra’s mind that lead him to draw this painting of Christ’s crucified.
While observing this painting it comes to my mind that maybe there is some kind of anxiety in the painter’s mind while painting it which is why it has some random style and no particular way of painting it. Maybe it was a freestyle painting in which the artist put the whole energy and effort to create it and very little effort to portray any meaning or style of modern art. When I study these kinds of paintings, it gives me a sense of existential uneasiness. It is completely out of mind, lazy work, or maybe something needs to be more elaborated. As it is symbolic of the pain of Christ for humanity, I find no blood from the hand or the head. It seems to be a painting of completely random style and thought which needs to be understood to understand this painting and then again it will all come at the feeling more than thinking. The process of critically examining this painting will be time and energy-consuming and at the last moment, you will find that you should have gone with the heart than the head.
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.