Compressed, Textured Spaces

Pastel shades and sober textures attend the compression of spaces in Satish Panchal’s paintings: lines that take angular curves, further divide these spaces. These spaces are not barren. They are full of Panchal’s strokes. Between the canvas and the colour, sometimes, rests a thin layer of paper. Is it for the desired texture? “Yes and No”, says Panchal, “I want the texture, but that’s not the only reason I use paper in my oils. It is the process of collage that helps me in contemplating my canvas. I’d never want my work to be monolithic”.
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Panchal, now all of 69, is a devout printmaker. Gallery Chemould, Mumbai exhibited his paintings and some of his prints in July. The painter, who lives and works in Paris, was here for the show. While his paintings were ‘Oil collages on canvas and paper’, his prints were on a Perspex plate! “I used Perspex for its amazing possibility of producing hair-thin lines”, exclaims Panchal.

From the beginnings of his art career in the early 1960s, Panchal has explored his leanings toward spiritually motivated abstractionism. He left for Paris in 1970 with these leanings, but his first monochromatic paintings were exhibited in 1982. By this time, Panchal had found ways to direct his passion, the passion with which he had seen Malevich and Rothko retrospectives. Panchal’s oeuvre pays homage to Malevich (with its understanding of space), and to Rothko (with its understanding of colours). The dialogue between the two is what makes Satish Panchal’s work so interesting.

– Abhijeet Tamhane