A pigment on canvas painting from 1974, called “K-ETU,” is among the paintings from Natvar Bhavsar on display at the Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. NEW BRUNSWICK – The Zimmerli Art Museum has opened an exhibition of more than 50 paintings from one of the most prominent and respected artists of Indian heritage in the U.S.
“Natvar Bhavsar: The Dimensions of Color,” which highlights 35 years in the career of the abstract painter, will be shown in the Voorhees Special Exhibition Galleries of the museum through July 22.
Bhavsar is known for incorporating aspects of his traditional artistic culture and methods within modern western styles, modifying and adapting the earlier modes to create hybrid artistic forms. For Bhavsar, the cultural link is his use of brightly colored powdered pigments, similar to those used in the celebrations of the Holi festivals in India.
By sprinkling, sifting and scattering the dry pigments onto prepared canvas and paper surfaces, Bhavsar builds up expanses of intense, lush color resulting in imagery related to the style known as color field painting. This style emphasizes the visual and emotional potential of pure chromatic effects.
“Through his intensive and imaginative exploration of color, Bhavsar has created a highly individualistic and distinctive body of work that reveals the richness of vision possible within abstract painting,” said museum director Gregory Perry.
Bhavsar works on canvases that lie on the floor, allowing him to walk around the paintings and work from all four sides. Like many of the abstract expressionist painters, Bhavsar creates his imagery in a generally improvisational manner. The canvas surface is soaked with acrylic-based binders that absorb and hold the pigments, which come in the form of fine powders. The pigments are applied to the surface by dispersion through screens, using brushes or other devices. Repeated applications produce a grainy surface effect, and variations in color and tone are achieved by choices of pigment and density of application.
The exhibition is the first in a series that the Zimmerli will present featuring Indian and Indian-American art over the next several years. The exhibitions will be part of a larger project, the South Asian Regional Initiative (SARI), in which the Zimmerli Art Museum, State Theatre of New Jersey and the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission will present cultural programming of relevance to the Asian Indian community.
SARI will also include music and dance performances, family programs, folk art presentations, scholarly symposia, a business summit, and health care programs. The three cultural organizations work with the support of an advisory board of leaders from the New Jersey South Asian community.
The Zimmerli Art Museum is located at 71 Hamilton St. on the College Avenue campus of Rutgers University. Hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $3 for adults, and free for museum members and children under age 18. For more information, call (732) 932-7237, ext. 610.