Shailendra Tiwari's Page

Jagadeesh swaminathan alias swamiji as we use to call him with love was one of the unique personalities of the world and contemporary Indian art. I had an opportunity to be friend him as a young painter and later adopt him as my Guru. In April 1984 an exhibition of J. Swami Nathan’s most significant works was held at Madhya Pradesh kalaparishad a state academy of fine arts at Bhopal under the able guidance of poet and art critic Ashok Vajpayee. The exhibition was reviewed by me for local news.

This was second exhibition of swamiji series of birds and mountains and it was his first exhibition at Bhopal where he created Bharat Bhawan a home for Tribal and contemporary Art.

The Swami Nathan’s series of painting encompassing Birds and Mountain has special significance in contemporary Art of our TIME.
In its graceful presence, these painting bear an aura of Red, Yellow, Blue, Magenta, and Green figures mysteriously changing their rigid meanings which takes the spectators in buoyant journey into the experience of consciousness.

For spectators who are familiar with Swami’s imagery these figures look friendly their presence reminds us of our prehistoric existence.
In the cosmic consciousness when we enter through the works of swami Nathan there are Birds, and Space, there are wide open Skies and images floating some times penetrating and transforming into each other.
There is something happening on the canvass and within simultaneously. Simultaneously there are images dissolving, transforming and transporting you to a field where figures are struggling to liberate sometimes from the boundaries of Space and sometime crossing the barrier of Time.
Sometimes they merge into each other. The mystery of these images is rooted in age old unpolluted simplicity of human consciousness.
The meaning and its evolution in our thought process is result of two contrasting processes, which have contrasting aims. One is the process of perception and other is process of comprehension. Process of perception attempts to abstract the particular from the universal and this process enables one to individuate itself. Individuation of a figure in a particular space depends largely on this abstracting process which derives particular from universal. The human mind has acquired, a power which enables it to abstract from universality of ideas and it aspires to consider a meaning for him self individually. This process of perception in our modern society is followed by an inverse process which is in a way its mirror image. In this the particular abstracted from the universal is returned to the universal.
These two modes of perception and comprehensions and their mental genesis remains physically a mysterious process and has been a source for meditation in arts. They are reflected in two antinomian modes of perception of universe as Space and Time.
In this discourse a perception which culminates within time is Space and which culminates outside time, that is in space is Time i.e. space here being all that is not time. This transmutation of time in the Space and space into time takes place on the canvass of Swami Nathan and within the individual space of the spectator while watching the canvass of Swami Nathan.
Continue page-2
The beauty of swami Nathan canvass lies in the figures and their juxtaposing with respect to each other through which they attain validity. They are just not seeking meaning due to their interrelations but they present themselves in our experience through a construction in specific Space Time compositions and through their own unique existence.
The powerful exposition of colour by swaminathan makes our experience, intense, dense and permanent. Through the outer paraphernalia created by him in we are able to construct and inner universe within. The simplicity of Swami Nathan’s universe is also reflected in his nature. His paintings transport his universe into s to run away tearing apart a solid boundary or some times both the Bird and the Rock
break open a Space to liberate into an infinite.
Like a mysterious dream the Bird of Swami Nathan who has just taken Birth on the canvass almost half born dissolves into the shadow of death. It seems that Bird at once embraces half life and half death before disappearing in the dense cloud of nothingness. The Mountains and pieces of scattered Rock, lonely Trees stand apart some times awake and sometime half a sleep dissolving in our memory. The continuity of life and cyclic appearance of life and death which are inseparable and coexists, cohabitate the swami’s canvases. They represent the universal cosmic process which is symbolically transferred from memory of Swami Nathan to our consciousness.
The mental spaces which are filled with birds, Sky and Mountains participate in our consciousness; they become part of our inner experience. It looks that Birds are not birds and instead of mountains there are only forms floating in Space, dissolving and transforming lyrically leaving fenced rigid boundaries of space and Time and continuously trying to merge into each other. In these works technically there are figures like Bird, shadow of Birds, Trees, Hillocks, and pieces of scattered Rocks which appear grow and
Proportionally get into a sequential transformation before vanishing into a Dark Space. These works contribute a new spiritual dimension to the Swami Nathan’s Art and have simplicity like Upanishads.
In one of the painting a bird undergoes a series of transformations and ultimately turns into a blue spherical figure which is standing alone in space in simultaneity of his own coexisistance as a shadow. The sphere is seamless and likely to burst into nothingness. The cosmology behind such imagery significances that in the continuity of creative transformations in this cosmos. The ultimate destruction is also a creative possibility. In watching these paintings we can dissolve our petty egoistic existence into the cosmos universal consciousness and can experience. The omnipotent strength in our self which is omnipresence.
This Drama of transformation of our petty self into a cosmic self makes these works outstanding.









Inspiration initiated by Jagadeesh Swami Nathan in Indian contemporary Art is



permanent. Through the outer paraphernalia created by him on canvass we are able to construct and inner universe within. The simplicity of Swami Nathan’s universe is also reflected in his nature. His paintings transport his universe into our inner spaces in which and age old forgotten, dark, anthromorphic rock shelter suddenly lights up reminding us the soft ultra sensitive LIFE murmuring in the annals of our heart although solidified like a seasoned rock at the surface.
Swami Nathan’s spaces are replicating personal inner images for us of this vast unending universe. These Mountains can be concurred they hold an intimacy, like Temple or Mosque or Church. They encompass a lyrical curvature and they discern our inner self to an upward elevation into our spiritual journey. The swaminathan’s series of painting encompassing Birds and Mountain has special significance in contemporary Art of our Time.
In its graceful presence, these painting bear an aura of Red, Yellow, Blue, Magenta, and Green figures mysteriously changing their meanings which takes the spectators in buoyant journey into the experience of consciousness.
For spectators who are familiar with Swami’s imagery these figures look friendly their presence reminds us of our prehistoric existence.
In the cosmic consciousness when we enter through the works of swami Nathan there are Birds, and Space, there are wide open Sky and images floating some times penetrating and transforming into each other.
There is something happening on the Canvas and within simultaneously.
Simultaneously. there are struggling to liberate sometimes from the boundaries of Space and sometime crossing the barrier of Time.
Sometime they merge into each other. The mystery of these images is rooted in age old unpolluted simplicity of human consciousness.
The meaning and its evolution in our thought process is result of two contrasting processes, which have contrasting aims. One is the process of perception and other is process of comprehension. Process of perception attempts to abstract the particular from the universal and this process enables one to individuate itself. Individuation of a figure in a particular space depends largely on this abstracting process which derives particular from universal. The human mind has acquired, a power which enables it to abstract from universality of ideas and it aspires to consider a meaning for himself individually. This process of perception in our modern society is followed by an inverse process which is in a way its mirror image. In this the particular abstracted from the universal is returned to the universal.
These two modes of perception and comprehensions and their mental genesis remains physically a mysterious process and has been a source for meditation in arts. They are reflected in two antinomian modes of perception of universe as space and Time.
In this discourse a perception which culminates within time is Space and which culminates outside time, that is in space is Time i.e. Space here being all that is not Time. This transmutation of time in the Space and space into time takes place on the canvass of Swami Nathan and within the individual space of the spectator while watching the canvass of Swami Nathan.
The beauty of Swami Nathan canvass lies in the figures and their juxtaposition with respect to each other through which they attain validity. They are just not seeking meaning due to their interrelations but they present themselves in our experience through a construction in specific Space Time compositions and through their own unique existence.
The powerful exposition of colour by swaminathan makes our experience. Intense, dense and
These figures uproot themselves from mundane and levitate themselves in a cosmic space. They reach out, suddenly a portion of rock shatters and/ or a Bird wants to run away tearing apart a solid boundary or some times both the Bird and the Rock break open a Space to liberate into infinite.
Like a mysterious dream the Bird of Swami Nathan who has just taken Birth on the canvass almost half born dissolves into the shadow of death. It seems that Bird at once embraces half life and half death before disappearing in the dense cloud of nothingness. The Mountains and pieces of scattered Rock, lonely Trees stand apart some times awake and sometime half a sleep dissolving into our memory. The continuity of life and cyclic appearance of life and death which are inseparable and coexists, cohabitate the swami’s canvasses. They represent the universal cosmic process which is symbolically transferred from memory of Swami Nathan to our consciousness.
The mental spaces which are filled with birds, Sky and Mountains participate in our consciousness; they become part of our inner experience. It looks that Birds are not birds and instead of mountains there are only forms floating in Space, dissolving and transforming lyrically leaving fenced rigid boundaries of space and Time and continuously trying to merge into each other. In these works technically there are figures like Bird, shadow of Birds, Trees, Hillocks, and pieces of scattered Rocks which appear grow and proportionally get into a sequential transformation before vanishing into a Dark Space. These works contribute a new spiritual dimension to the Swami Nathan’s Art and have simplicity like Upanishads.







The Artist :
Born 1952 at Barwani, a small town surrounded by Satpura Mountains in tribal district, Khargone, M.P. brought up in the disintegrating family of farmers which was in transition to service class. The primary quest to knowthe nature of THINGS continued along with his introspection. He travelled the interiors of tribal Baster, villages of west Nimar, along the banks of Narbada the virgin river flowing through the ranges of Satpura. He visited Kashi, Preyag, & Himalya. He was introduced to hindu philosophy during his adolescence by his father which has given him a deep understanding of the cosmos. It was the age of metamorphosis, he became the seeker, always seeking the cosmic communication. The experience of ultimate reality was vibrating which was absorbed and creative transformation came as paintings. It was a great experience searching the self in its inner most depths. It was journey surface experience of THINGS to original fragnance. This journey started in 1960 and is still continued taking different paths and experiencing this Dynamic Reality through the different levels of concoiusness. He came in contact with great Indian master J. Swaminathan who created Bharat Bhawan at Bhopal and his association enriched his art. He was active in the circle of Bhopal and during his year of development as an artist he had close interaction with eminent personalities of Indian art, such as poet and critic Shri Ashok Bajpai, poet Dilip Chitre, film maker Basu Bhattachaiya, & painter Syed Haider Raza. He has participated in seminars on cinema and art at Bharat Bhawan and Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad Bhopal. He was founder of group of artist and theater group with the name of Prekshak & Sarnantar at Bhopal and was actively engaged in cultural scene of Bhopal in year 1973 to 1980. He has contributed on arts cinema including a critical essay on the Syed Haider Raza's paintings in critical journel Kala Varta published by Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad Bhopal The State academy of fine arts. He has formal degree in Electrical Engineering, 1973 he is married and his wife vandana teaches in Bhopal. He is blessed with daughter Noopur who is film and visual communication designer from N.I.D and now works for media.
Studio-44 Ansal Pradhan Enclave E-8 Arera Colony Bhopal. Pin Code 462039
PH-91-0755-2427278, Mobile-91-9425009577
Email- stiwari1952@yahoo.com
web page www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/s/shailendra