The Art of Tantra

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The art of Tantra

Namita Kohli

Hindustan Times

 

September 30, 2007

 

Some call it 'abstract expressionism'; others insist it's

just a visual interplay of cosmic symbols. 'Neo-Tantra'

[e.g. Neo-Tantric-art] or what started as an artists'

movement (of sorts) in the '60s, might have lost many

of its masters, but still struggles to survive in its myriad

interpretations.

 

For instance, at artist Om Prakash Sharma's exhibition

of recent works based on Tantra. " Tantra originated

from the union of Shiva and Shakti, an intense practice

of rituals and customs. While I don't practise that, as an

artist it still remains a socially relevant form of self

expression. It delves into the source and the core of

existence, " says the artist who works with the mandalas

(geometric patterns), pure colours and cosmic geometry.

 

[....] Tantra found its artistic impressions with various

symbols like the lingam and yoni in sculptures and

scrolls of ancient India. After Ajit Mookerjee's giant

tome Tantra Art in 1966 - he was the then director and

curator of the Crafts Museum - artists like GR Santosh,

Biren De, KCS Paniker and J Swaminathan were

'influenced' immensely by this philosophy. Thus was

born Neo-Tantra, a form that art critic Suneet Chopra

cautiously refers to as a broadly 'aesthetic and visual

exercise' or 'non-figurative abstract,' but not based on

scriptures. 'Neo-Tantra' or what started as an artists'

movement (of sorts) in the '60s, might have lost many

of its masters, but still struggles to survive in its myriad

interpretations.

 

As artists like Sharma started using Tantra symbols in

their works, here was a form that merged both the

abstract and the figurative. " I started using geometric

symbols and instruments, combining architectural

concepts for my artistic idiom.

 

Some critics even called it 'architectonics', " he says.

With a metaphysical and mystic quality in their works,

even artists like Sohan Qadri, SH Raza (with his bindu

concept), V Vishwanadhan, Shobha Broota and

Prabhakar Kolte are believed to have been 'influenced'

by Tantra. The movement, however, seemingly fizzled

out after a decade or so.

 

Explains Professor Madhu Khanna, president of the

Delhi-based Tantra Foundation, " There's a divide

between art and religion now. Though artists have

always been inspired Tantra, what we see now is not the

esoteric Tantra, but each artist's individual journey.

Much of it has also become hi-fashion and is least

understood. "

 

Khanna, who co-wrote The Tantric Way with

Mookerjee in the '70s, among other books on Tantra,

calls it a highly meditative and healing practice, not

meant for individual expression. Agrees Chopra,

" Tantra in its original form was meant to create an

impact. As opposed to contemporary art, medieval art

was heavily dependant on religion. "

 

In this " changing " context, abstract artists like Neeraj

Goswami whose works delve into 'formlessness', also

fall broadly in the realm of Tantra. " My work with

mysticism is a means to self-realisation. Tantra is a strict

discipline with powerful visual symbols and is

meditative, which inspires me, " he says. Perhaps when

German philosopher Fredrich Nietzsche remarked:

There are no facts, only interpretations,' he could have

well been talking about Neo-Tantra.

 

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