Abstract Expressionism meets Mumbai poverty, a rich collaboration

Poverty, hunger, and moral confusion debilitated the United States and many world metros during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The difficult years shaped the art of several young US painters who found creative integrity in Abstract Expressionism. The economic downturn had spurred two other art movements: Regionalism and Social Realism.
Regionalism refuted the promise of technology and urban culture by eulogising the wholesomeness of rural life. Social Realism wanted to “fight the beautiful art” and expose delusions of idealism by recording the struggles of the poor. But Abstract Expressionists were dissatisfied with both movements. Their experience required means of fulfilling a social purpose that rose above sloganeering. Personal consciousness was central to these artists’ works. And improvisation, which precluded adherence to dogma, was critical to their aspiration to paint what they really wanted to. So they would never have been susceptible to uncomplicated reactions, either pity or indulgent wonder, when faced with poverty, hunger, or moral confusion.
In Mumbai, desperation and the will to survive square up against each other every day. And in the paintings of Jiri Kobos, a German Abstract Expressionist of Czech origin, the conflict is recounted without the smug hysterical tone that foreigners usually affect while describing India. Kobos, who has lived in Mumbai for several years, has observed how a big city can degrade its citizens. More than 30 of his 40 works featured in his second exhibition in the city — Made in India, which opens on November 19 at Grand Hyatt in Santa Cruz — are based on life in Mumbai.
Abstract Expressionism allows Kobos to resist the temptation of issuing simplistic social messages. And his understanding of Zen Buddhism helps him appreciate the harmony that Mumbai brokers among its people divided by status, religion, and ideology.
In Vibrant Times, a large canvas (120X100 cm) that could be an aerial view of the Mumbai, Kobos represents a meditative sweep across a terrain that seems enchanting as well as forbidding. Alluring swathes of red and yellow are encroached upon by nagging patches of black, especially at the corners. Those who know Mumbai will recognise the allusion, but Kobos issues a challenge to go beyond connecting the painting with familiar facts and evaluating the work as a relationship between colour, form, and movement. The elements in Vibrant Times seem to be organised around a light-coloured nucleus. The arrangement suggests a continuous swirl in which no form can take its place for granted. In the Abstract Expressionistic tradition, every part of the painting invites equal attention, engaging the eye in a swift loop of gazing that recalls the never-ending bustle of Mumbai.
In Gate to Paradise (120X120cm) Kobos effects an assured pictorial balance of powers again. Black is no longer a mere encroacher. In a neighbourhood of red and yellow, it rises as a formidable presence from the bottom of the left corner. Other dark sections line the top and lower halves of the right side of the canvas. But thin streaks of yellow, running through black, install a glimmer of encouragement on the way to paradise.
After the Rain (180x150cm) establishes a reconciliation between Nature’s inconsistent forces: its power to resuscitate and destroy life. The furious spin of green, white and yellow creates a vortex of intensity at the centre of the painting. Like heavy rain, it thrills and frightens.
Kobos has lived through two Mumbai monsoons, as a painter and as the general manager of Hyatt Regency.