Hot Nights and Cool Art: a tale of two exhibits
By Robert Zuniga
Lance Writer
August 3, 2010
 The Art Gallery of Windsor is currently hosting a transcendental exhibit from Indian-born, Canadian artist Jeet Aulakh.
In Anahada Naada, Aulakh presents the audience with several works reflecting his own spiritual existence through meditation and the use of symbols.
Symbolism in Aulakh’s paintings draws the observer into a world of circles as recurring universal forms, creating the rippling effect of symmetry and perspective away from the focal point.
One example of this is “Adi Shakti” (2008), in which a number of concentric circles are enclosed within a pattern of crossing triangles.
I caught up with Aulakh at the Opening Reception of Hot Nights, Cool Art on the third floor of the Gallery.
Two local performers were playing traditional Indian tunes through a sitar and a set of hourglass-shaped drums. The music provided the necessary cultural-backdrop with which the artist enticed his audience to appreciate his art as a means for discovering one’s spiritual transcendence.
“I use circles as universal forms,” the artist stated, “and as means to represent my own Chakra.”
Chakra refers to the concept of energy centres residing in every person, according to Eastern philosophy. But, for Aulakh, Chakras not only represent centres of energy that through meditation allow one to be spiritually enlightened, but as circles that contrive and expand both the mind and the soul.
When asked if the source for his inspiration was reflected in the natural world, as his work has an indelible resemblance to astrological phenomena such as eclipses, the artist argued that he believes it is the inner universe that moves us toward an external plane of existence and then to the physical world of the canvas.
Although Anahada Naada is a relatively recent series of paintings by this artist, his exhibit is sharply contrasted against the collection of miniature paintings and bronze sculptures by Timpy Aulakh, the artist’s wife.
Timpy’s collection depicts a series of several intricate paintings from manuscripts dating as far back as the 18th Century, such as the Union of Radha Krishna, of the Kangra School. Written in Persian, Sanskrit, and Arabic, the collection features the Pre-Mughal, Mughal, and Panjab Schools of painters from that period.
However, both Mr. and Mrs. Aulakh captivated audiences through a showcase of Indian art, transcending cultural, spiritual, and human expression.
Both Anahada Naada and Blow O Wind to Where my Loved One is: Indian Miniatures from the Timpy Aulakh Collection run from July 24 to Sept. 19, and these are two exhibits you don’t want to miss.
For more information about these exhibits as well as other exhibits featured at the Art Gallery, please visit www.agw.ca/exhibitions/current/.
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