‘Manish – An artist to reckon’
by
Abhijit Vyas
Manish Chavda’s name stands first in the list of successful artists who has participated in various exhibitions at a very young age. He can be listed as one of the most successful artists of Gujarat. He has come forward from a small city of Jamnagar, a remote end of Gujarat and not from any metro city. So his achievements are worth to be taken into consideration.
Manish was recognized as a prospective artist at quite a young age, which means that he has come out of his struggling period very soon. He was able to arrange his “One Man’s Show” exhibitions in metro city of Mumbai twice in a year’s time successfully. In both these exhibitions not a single painting was repeated. Moreover, all his paintings in the exhibitions were purchased by connoisseurs of arts. Let us have a glimpse of his personality.
Manish started drawing paintings right from his school days and persuaded with great concentration. He carved a path to fulfil his goal by getting admission in C. N. Fine Arts College of Ahmedabad for further studies and training and got a Diploma in Paintings. During this period he started search for motifs for his paintings from day-to-day life. He selected traffic signals as locations, where he observed speedy movements which he selected as motif for his sketches. His initial inclination for the subject of his paintings was thus the urban life. But during his student-life, a well known artist Atul Dodia induced him to change the subject of his motif and upon this advice Manish diverted himself towards painting of ‘natural’ themes.
Manish then started drawing paintings of ‘natural beauty’, which includes trees, green pastures, bird of all kinds, cattles, animals, etc. These motifs are not depicted in their original colour but a unique imaginative touch of varying colour combination is given by the drawer, which adds beauty to the paintings and they become spectacular and attractive. Leaves drawn by Manish do not bear their original green colour but are exposed in a variety of colours depicting transparency, cute balancing of colour combination, light and shade, giving attractive appearance to his paintings. It is felt that the creator and the creation are absorbed in each other. Mostly all his paintings are large in size, which makes the subject of the paintings look more attractive and multi dimensional. Had these paintings been drawn in smaller size, it very likely that they would not have been as charming and spectacular as expected. It can be observed that the size of the painting is an important factor in bringing scenic beauty, depth, dimension, etc. Motif of his paintings is not only nature, trees and greenery but also live creatures like birds, cattles, animals, insects, etc. Beside these, there are traditional religious objects like kalash, Shivling and rice grains.
A graduate of fine arts faculty in year 2002, Manish (b. 1978) might have passed through a trying period in the beginning. But he came out of this struggling period on the strength of his capabilities within a very short period and he took a leap forward by organizing a ‘One Man’s Show’ of his paintings in the famous Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai in the year 2005. As also he arranges two more exhibitions in a very short period. His second exhibition in ’Gallery Beyond’ brought him name and fame and he could create an aesthetic class of viewer-admirers of his creations. He has adapted a nick name ‘Murar’.
Prior to organizing his first one man’s show, he had participated in group shows: In 2000 – Contemporary Art Gallery, Ravishankar Raval Art Gallery, Ahmedabad; 2002 Herwitz Art Gallery, 16th All India Art contest exhibition (Nagpur), Art Horizon Gujarat, Nehru Center Art Gallery Mumbai, 6th Western Region Art Exhibition (Camlin Art foundation), Gallery Space Hyderabad; 2003 111th All India Annual Art Exhibition (The Bombay Art Society). In 2005 a group show for Tsunami relief at NGMA, Mumbai. He has nabbed the prizes from ‘Gujarat State Lalit Kala Academy and Bombay Art society in the year 2002.
Well known Pali Hill Art Gallery ‘DUSK’ Mumbai was the venue of his one man’s show arranged in the year 2006. In all three exhibitions of his paintings have been held in Mumbai, the last one in Jan-Feb. 2007.
All the accomplishments earned by a young prospective artist will serve the purpose of inspiration to make him a top ranking artist of India.
Paintings drawn by Manish are unique due to his deep sense of colour combination and variety of subjects. His paintings carve an imprint in the minds of aesthetic viewers.
