It is not possible to categorize him as a particular kind of artist. He is a painter, sculptor, and visual artist but art treasure in himself. He is Raj Bhandare
How does one recognize an artist among the crowd? A serene, observant, man of few words and always contemplative? Yes, these are some of the traits that we jot in character of an artist. But I was introduced to the most unique personality who is not only a visual artist but art treasure in himself. He is Raj Bhandare, a multi talented artist from Goa. Raj holds Masters Degree in Architecture, but is more inclined toward creativity in visual form, be it 2D or 3D.
Goa is the treasure house of art and acculration. It is one of the finest global state that shared Indian art, culture and tradition and even technology of Americans, Africans, other Asians and Europeans. and effortlessly blended Western and Portugal culture in it. In fact other than art and culture Goa had first type print press. In modern times, artist like Raj Bhandare, prove themselves global citizens and spread awareness of Indian art through their work.
There is lot of space and perfect aura to develop spirituality in Goa. One cannot ignore Raj’s spiritual excellence He has a pleasing personality and spread positive vibrations that inculcates and develops optimism, hope spirituality and love. His work is his reflection, blissful nature peeps through his work. He believes in the fact that every individual craves for joy and peace, but to attain divinity one needs to have self control over the mortal desires. His persona reflects the vibrancy of contentment and bliss.
It is not possible to categorize him as a particular kind of artist. He is a painter, sculptor, and cartoonist brimming with a lot of humor and satire, artist with taste for good music, penchant for ethnicity. Generally a painter is categorized as figurative, abstract, realistic or other. Although Raj started figurative painting at an early age, he moved on to abstraction. He works in mediums like oil, acrylic, charcoal, burnt wood, steel etc. He has had many successful solo and group shows in India and abroad.
He is greatly influenced by art and artist of India. He is truly Indian at heart. While speaking of paintings and Indian painter’s influence on the artist’s work, F,N,Souza seems to be a great influence. Souza had much command on female form and there is recurring theme of Christianity in his paintings. He disapproved the hypocrisy of church and religion. His paintings were modern, rebellious in nature and far from being acceptable. Raj too seems to propose true spirituality. His painting also reveal the fact that world is comprised of only two factors men and woman and even the religious aspect revolves and involved only sexes.
His video on work at the Dayanand Sagar Academy Bangalore on the Concept of Rubanization (Urbanization, altered spelling conveying right meaning), the reverse osmosis to Development makes us realize that there is only one land wherever you go. Development is possible only when every strata of the society go hand in hand. Trust and hope of improving society is not expressed vocally, silence speaks and common thought of melioration binds the society. These are some shades of his painterly spirit.
Installation is a tribute to late M.F.Hussain.‘Moments of Silence’ by Raj Bhandare- 2011
‘Moments of Silence’, one of the latest installation is a tribute to late M.F.Hussain. The artist call him a teacher who inspired and will continue inspiring the artist who learns from his dedication, passion and preservence. The installation is named Moments of Silence because a lot can be spoken about Hussain’s creativity, his introduction of Indian layman to art world, being a global artists Indianized style of painting, his golden contribution in Progressive artist group and so on but as it is a known fact that Hussain did not get justice in his own country, still he continued his art dedicatedly. Raj pays tribute to this spirit of never loser attitude and passion. Installation conveys emotional bonding of every artist who loves Hussain. The evening time on beach, the lighted installation with darkness around and silently burning candles add to the emotional high. One cannot stop from entering Hussain’s memory lane.
‘Moments of Silence’ by Raj Bhandare- 2011
Raj loves to travel. He learns from every nook and corner of the world. Every place inspires his creation. In one of the observations he found that institution of religion is universal in nature, however, not at all uniform. It is the reality of all the societies, past and present. Religious dogmas have influenced and conditioned economic activities, political movements, social behavior and educational system. To present this diversity, he has used Linga in various makeovers. This is a series of line drawing, where Linga is being sketched in variation and represents different social circumstances, according to the psyche of a particular community, race or country.
Portraitists by Raj Bhandare- 2010
The artist is also gifted with wit and humor. He has command over different languages and uses them wittily to convey his message. Completely moved by death of cartoonist R.K.Laxman, Raj dedicated cartoons involving paronomasia, to the late cartoonist using his intelligence and social awareness.
His effort in social awareness is recognized and he was awarded the National Karmaveer Citation for his role in creating awareness on social issues, as an emerging global Indian. He continues to address social issues through his art. Here it would be apt to apply anthropologist Ritu Gairola Khanduri’s analysis of R.K.Laxman’s Common Man to Raj’s nature: Common Man is no dupe: his sharp observations miss no detail of the political circus. He is a silent witness to all actions that have duality and various reactions to the same.It is obvious that Raj Bhandare will continue his probe and keep on expressing through his art.