User:Nirmal S. Dhunsi

 ''Nirmal Singh Dhunsi == ''' (Painter) born.1960 village of Jandiala Manjki district Jalandhar (Panjab) India. Now lives and works in Trondheim, Norway.

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Nirmal Singh Dhunsi’s spicy paintings call forth both sweet tastes and an intensely burning sensation on the tongue. He makes them rapidly, mixing ingredients from East and West and from the entire art history. Spangles, glitter glue and painted strings of pearls decorate and cover the canvas surface.

Below this surface one finds content of private and religious character as well as content related to current affairs. Figurative and non-figurative layers overlap and make up an aesthetics that is deep and extravagant at the same time.

Lately Nirmal has worked with painting, sometimes exploring various detours from the road he has decided to travel: the one he defines as his masala way. His present images are even more luxuriant and exuberant than his previous works. At the same time they represent a true challenge to the spectator who finds himself in the double role of merrymaker and archaeologist: beneath the glitter and the strings of pearls there are yet more layers to discover. Excavations reveal findings related to the artist’s past as a professional painter of miniatures and posters, his present situation as a respected visual artist in Norway – as well as anything that may happen to exist between these co-ordinates. Which is certainly not negligible. The masala paintings are characterized by art historical and trans-cultural references and yet they have a unique, recognizable quality. This quality is a result of Nirmal’s numerous voyages between two very different parts of the world and a well-developed ability to soak up visual impressions. He is more than commonly concerned with what goes on at the international art scene at large. If you blend history and topicality, external influences and a personal sense of style, what you get is Nirmal’s art.

Nirmal’s family belongs to Sikhism, a religion that emerged in the Indian province Punjab about 500 years ago. The art of the Sikhs has traditionally been a combination of many different styles, with an open-minded, welcoming attitude to foreign influences. Even though Sikhs and Hindus are significantly different when it comes to culture and religious beliefs, the two groups live peacefully side by side. The two cultures borrow elements from each other’s religion, and Nirmal Singh Dhunsi’s masala paintings is best understood in the light of this generous and humble mentality. And yet the artist himself is critical and inquisitive in relationship to the phenomena that he allows to stimulate his work. The aesthetics of sumptuousness that characterizes the masala series, is inspired by (and comments on) the Hindus’ interminable adorning of their gods. The idols of the Hindus are not representations of the gods; apparently they are the gods: they need food, care and thoughtful consideration, and they are flattered by gifts of tinsel and pearls. In the Hindu society, to cover up is a deeply rooted attitude. When the idols are eventually worn out, they are placed in glass cases, and the decorating continues on the glass surfaces. The phenomenon is both historical and psychological; one does not know why one performs these rites, but they must be upheld. As an artist, however, Nirmal Singh Dhunsi still asks why, as is the case with the Indian-British artist Anish Kapoor. The question is the same, but Kapoor, with his heaps of finely grounded colour pigments, has chosen a different approach. While most Norwegians find nature at its most compelling when it bears no traces of human intervention, Indians adorn trees by painting them in vibrant colours. Such cultural traditions and habits are presented in an uncommon perspective and may thus be interpreted in new ways. Both Dhunsi and Kapoor take materials used for covering up and adornment out of their customary contexts, shifting the focus from what is covered up to the materials employed.

In every single painting the acrylic colour is used directly from the tube; on the canvas fluorescent colours are combined with unbroken primary colours. The effect is striking and sumptuous, in keeping with a Bollywood universe where ‘less is a bore’. Bollywood films, a part of Indian film industry which lately is also produced in England, are typically musicals with an exaggeratedly melodramatic plot. Apparently, there are no limits when it comes to use of colours, flashy effects and ornamentation; and when you think they are singing the chorus for the last time, you will discover that there are still five more verses to go and another dozen of dancing actors suddenly make their entrance. The starring actress is the one with most diamonds and the longest hair, carrying layer upon layer of feather light silken fabrics. The films flirtingly balance between the innocent and the vulgar and they aim at staying superficial. In this sense, Nirmal Singh Dhunsi’s universe is something radically different, but it shares the playful and humorous aesthetics of the Bollywood films. Another common trait is the blending of styles and genres: Bollywood will often be a mixture of comedy, action film and the romantic kind and is appropriately named masala film.

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