Madan Lal
Madan Lal, an alumnus of Government College of Art in Chandigarh and now a Vice Chairman of Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, is a gifted artist who has over the years matured and coined a unique idiom, a distinctive signature style that speaks of irrepressible life force. His imagery is figurative, mysterious and communicable simultaneously. Raag, Ras and Naad come together in his vibrant compositions. As forms and colours create perfect symphony the artist pays a celebratory ode to life, and to his art. His art forms, often part animal part human, communicate most resonantly, resoundingly and joyously. Both celebration and beauty are central to his works, and so is knowledge-seeking inspiration from Buddha, the Enlightened One. Only his Buddha epitomizes beauty, peace and tranquillity. As Madan puts it, ‘in this hard-pressed, highly stressed, befuddled world, if I can sensitize few towards inner beauty that we are fast losing, my purpose would be served.” His works seize beauty both inner and outer evolving a dynamics of engaging aesthetics. His colour palette is vibrant and effervescent. Yellows, greens, orange are kissed by richness of gold. Then it dramatically turns blue turquoise et al. Employing medium of acrylics in multi-layered, painstaking skill he creates accomplished, larger than life works, as well as smaller compositions. Rich colours carefully chose pigments; all he reveals go a long way in creating enduring art. By sharing space with metaphysical elements in this materialistic world he asserts that we recognize through words and thoughts. More recently he has started using calligraphic symbols. Madan brings to us questioning visages of pursed lipped women and quizzing, staring eyed, regal parrots. He effuses his canvases with a selection of iridescent colours of India from forest greens to Rajasthani pinks and the ever blues of sky and mood. Amidst Madan’ carefully crafted imagery, we see the paraphernalia of modernity. We notice symbolic arrows and alphabetic texts. We espy the manufactured fusing with nature, and perkily prominent elements of haunting home domesticity.