Patel’s palette

A show of selected works of the multi-faceted and creative Gieve Patel, a man who wears many hats with insouciance, was on display at the gallery Chemould Prescott Road in Bombay till June 9, 2010. The works, from the 1970 till 2006 "are taken from various collections and they are representative of specific trends of my work and my art career,” the artist informed the After Hours section of Daily News and Analysis (DNA) of May 11, 2010.

When the newspaper asked Patel to pick a few of his most prominent works and relate the story behind each, he zeroed in on a painting called Peacock and also referred to his series on mourning faces. The first mentioned work was inspired by "a photograph that appeared in a leading newspaper in 1999... (showing) a peacock peeping from one of the skyscrapers at Nariman Point... Apparently a peacock from Malabar Hill had walked all the way to Nariman Point and entered a corporate office. The office owner reported the incident to a newspaper and that picture was captured,” Patel recounted. He painted it because he wanted to memorialize the incident, the artist acknowledged.

Gieve Patel: inspired by Press photos

Another Press photograph that appeared in 1971 served as the inspiration for the series on mourning faces. In the artist’s own words: "The photograph showed women in extreme mourning in the context of either the problem in Khalistan or Kashmir. I was deeply moved by it and realized that whenever there is a national tragedy it’s the mother and the wives who face the brunt of it all. The image hounded me for years.”

The poet in Patel is at work as well. Another project that is occupying him is the translation of 17th century Gujarati mystic poet Akho’s verses, as per the DNA report. "I have been working on this project for years. I have completed work on 12 verses and (am) hoping to publish a book. Akho was once a household name but not many seem to know him (now); people have such short memories,” Patel lamented.