THE RESTLESS LINE
ANWAR
Anant Art Gallery, 2005 (November)
Catalogue Essay: Meera Menezes
24 pages
There are ancient murmurs that resonate through Anwar’s works. As they cleave their way through space and time, they are carried aloft on the backs of restless lines. The lines heave and flow as they play out to a predestined tune escaping from the depths of the artists soul.At times they mimic primordial forms, at others unintelligible scratchings reminiscent of a child's doodles. They are strong headed and self willed these lines, seeking their own destinies- some subjugate themselves to form and structure, others choose to be driven by an internal spirit exulting instead in the expanse before them. These signs and signifiers may recall prehistoric mark making but have arisen in a moment of divine madness, a movement of dewangi, that the artist finds himself in. “This madness has been with me since my childhood. Painting catches hold of you and does not let go.”
(excerpt from the catalogue essay by Meera Menezes)