THE MEDITATIVE LYRICAL LIGHT LEAVES US
Remembering Yogesh Rawal who passed away. He was known for his contemplative abstract collages, paintings and etchings. The sad news that artist Yogesh Rawal (1954-2021) passed away on the 16 April, 2021, has not really hit most of the art world. It was reported that he was detected with the CORONA virus at the airport after returning from an art workshop in Rajasthan. He was admitted to Gurugram’s Medanta Hospital, and unfortunately things took a turn for the worse and he passed away. He is survived by his wife Jaya Rawal. It is said that Rawal was already a heart patient and at 67, his comorbidity issue could be the reason why he so suddenly passed away.
The last time one met artist Yogesh Rawal, was in Mumbai when one went to interview him regarding the works he was creating, for the Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) project curated by Rajeev Sethi and funded by GVK. It was an ambitious project that many artists were working on at the time, (It began in 2013 and ended in 2015-16), and one was documenting the process through a series of interviews.
The artist first insisted on a cup of tea and we both sat down with a steaming cup when he said, “I have been really imagining this project as if I were building a home,” and he smiled then we both laughed since we knew what a tiring and demanding project that can be. Later he showed me sliding panels bordered by wood that framed his painting and collages. Known to create abstract collages with kite-paper, Rawal explained that the final mounting would allow the viewer to interact with the work. It was assembled at the arrival gate as part of the Jaya Ho project featuring works of other artists like Jagannath Panda, Mithu Sen, Bose Krishnamachari and Alex Kersely.
Rawal’s installation of windows and doors assembled formally, look cheerful with breaks of treated wood between his signature colourful collages. However, these windows and doors once opened into the rooms of mill workers, the erstwhile immigrants who came to the city to work in the once booming cotton mills. The chawls, or low-cost housing blocks that they lived in, had rooms “Measuring a mere 10 x 10 feet shared by twenty people. There would be a single window and a single door,” said Rawal.
“When I got the news that Rawal had passed away I felt a great sadness to know we had lost yet another member from our art community,” says Sethi.
Yogesh Rawal’s oeuvre comprises a collection of fascinating works, and encompasses the genres of collage, sculpture, printmaking and painting. His untitled abstractions are brought to life by his clever use of paper collage, cellulose and synthetic resin. Even though Rawal seems to possess an innate sense of colour, his use of pigments is minimal. Viewers will often find his palette monochromatic, or simply reduced to black and white.
“I know Rawal from his days at J J School of Art. I was a J J fellow and I taught him! But we all were friends who would hang around at the campus canteen and discuss art,” recalls Suhas Bahulkar, an artist, writer and professor who lectured at J J School till 1995.
“Rawal was always quiet when compared to the rest of us but he had a lot of plans and dreams regarding his artworks— in fact he even started a group called the Group 77 and we had a few shows together but it disbanded as we all got caught up with our lives in the 1980s and 1990s.”
“Rawal had a different way of thinking and working and what he has managed to do with kite paper is really fabulous,” adds Bahulkar.
“I was his friend during college days in the 1970s and we reconnected in 1997 we met to work together on a project for Charles Correa. He always helped me with his knowledge of both collage work and etching,” says artist Madhav Imartey.
In 1979 Rawal received a scholarship from the French Government to study lithography at the renowned L’ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-arts, Paris. While applying for the scholarship he was assisted by his junior Sunil Gawde who recalls, “I learnt everything about presentation and application for scholarship from Rawal. He was so particular even about the kind of paper that is used for the application letter, the colour and size of the file,” says Gawde. It goes without saying that after all the trouble he put in, Rawal got the scholarship. In 1980 Rawal also studied etching at Atelier 17, in Paris.
“I used to go to his home and his mother, Ba, used to feed us lovely Gujarati food. Just when Yogesh had fallen into depression, I was in the process of making a portrait of his mother for him. Unfortunately, I did not get to complete it in time, he left us too soon,” says a crestfallen Gawde. He however shared the image of the portrait with Rawal’s sister Rita and she agreed that it had captured not just his mother’s likeness but her warmth and love that she gave all her children—including Gawde.
Anupa Mehta, curator and critic, remembers Rawal as “Such a fine artist and a fine man!
His work exemplified pure abstraction. His was an evolved oeuvre. It’s a shame that his work wasn’t celebrated the way it should have been. His collages have a meditative lyrical light infused quality. His artistic trajectory is impressive even though he was so low key. I was privileged to have shown his work a few times. But sadly, lost contact in spite of living in the same city,” she says.
Rawal has always considered light to be a fundamental element of art, and the study of this element is of utmost importance in his works. His deep understanding and ability to manipulate light and shade amazed his viewers; etchings have also evolved from his study of light and its effects.
“Rawal and his wife Jaya used to visit me and my family every year for Ganapathi Pooja and On 30, December 2020 we met up to bring in the New Year. This new year, I am so sad that he won’t be there,” says Imartey with a crack in his voice. Many in the artworld, especially in Mumbai, are deeply saddened by his demise.
Text by Georgina Maddox
Image Courtesy: Sunil Gawde, Saffron Art, and Aicon Contemporary
Find more about the Artist and the artworks:
https://www.aiconcontemporary.com/exhibitions/yogesh-rawal
https://www.saffronart.com/artists/yogesh-rawal
https://dagworld.com/artists/yogesh-rawal/
