Veteran modern and contemporary abstract artist Prabhakar Kolte celebrates his 80th birthday on 21 July 2026. To mark the occasion, Treasure Art Gallery (TAG), led by directors Tina Chandroji and Paresh Makwana, presents Imprints of (E)motions, a solo semi-retrospective of the artist at the Auditorium Gallery, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai. Curated by renowned art historian and curator JohnyML, the exhibition opens on Tuesday, 21 July 2026, at 5.30 pm.
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| Artist: Prabhakar Kolte |
"This is a very special exhibition
featuring 80 works, including paintings in his hallmark style, early portraits,
drawings and sculptural assemblages. These 80 works symbolically celebrate the
80 years of Kolte Sir's life and artistic journey," says Tina Chandroji.
"TAG has worked closely with Kolte Sir for the past ten years, presenting
his work nationally and internationally through major solo and retrospective
exhibitions," adds Paresh Makwana.
Makwana recalls that during the COVID-19
lockdown, Kolte entered a remarkably distinctive creative phase, producing
sculptural assemblages and large-scale, action-oriented works. "TAG worked
closely with him during those challenging times, giving us rare glimpses into
his creative imagination. The lockdown stripped people of their social masks,
allowing me to understand him not only as an artist but also as a human being.
What began as a professional engagement gradually became a deeply personal
pursuit to understand the aesthetics of Kolte Sir," he says.
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Prabhakar Kolte emerged on the Indian
modern art scene during the 1960s, entering an art world dominated by masters
such as Raza, Souza, Husain, Gaitonde and Krishen Khanna. Although he excelled
in figurative and representational painting with remarkable technical
dexterity, he soon realised that art was not about producing photographic
copies of the visible world. His understanding of abstraction evolved through a
deep engagement with Hindustani music, Marathi literature, and the works of
Gaitonde, Barwe and Paul Klee. Once he discovered the creative rhythm that
connected language, music and colour, his artistic vocabulary found its
distinctive direction. As Kolte himself has often remarked, he stopped
"seeing" things before painting them and began to "see"
them only after they had been painted.
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Today, Kolte is acknowledged as one of the
most influential figures for generations of Indian abstract artists who emerged
during the 1980s and 1990s. During his long tenure at Sir J. J. School of Art,
he mentored numerous young artists, many of whom went on to make significant contributions
to contemporary Indian art.
Curator JohnyML writes in the exhibition
catalogue
"There is one Kolte who is a die-hard
formalist with no interest in stories and anecdotes. In this case, the artist
comes across as a warrior of modernism, sitting on his high horse, ready for a
combat that would end in the complete decimation of anybody who sees a 'story'
in his paintings. The other Kolte is a spiritual monk, living in his hermitage,
far away from the madding and maddening crowds, exuding ancient wisdom through
his paintings. The third Kolte is a storyteller, or a wandering bard, whose
words construct his story—as an artist, an anarchist, a rebel and a wildly
creative genius. Then comes the question: Who is the real Prabhakar Kolte?
Which of these should be considered the real Kolte? This exhibition may offer
answers to all such questions."
Imprints of (E)motions will remain on view until 27 July 2026.
Jehangir Art Gallery
Address: 161B, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Kala Ghoda, Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001
