DRAWING ON EXPERIENCE
Trained initially in drawing, 74-year-old Himmat Shah studied painting at the M.S. University of Baroda under Prof. N.S. Bendre in the late 50s. A rebel with a cause, in his youth he joined the art collective initiated by J. Swaminathan, then received a French Government scholarship and went to Paris to study etching at Atelier 17. There, he imbibed Western modernism through the influences of modern masters like Klee, Picasso and Giacometti. Working consistently for over five decades, Shah has explored materiality and texture…. Though better known as a sculptor, his exceptional drawings depicting complex contemporary visuals hint at the shape of things to come. Forty-four years after his first show was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Farah Siddiqui of Studio Confluence will be presenting a selection of his sculptures and drawings in Mumbai.
At the Jehangir Nicholson Gallery, NCPA, Mumbai, from December 21 to 30

SAYING IT WITH GLASS
Charan Sharma has scaled unimaginable heights step by step with each of his 26 solo shows celebrating themes like pebbles, the dilapidated havelis of yore that housed Rajput nobility, puppets, toys and monks. Recently, his magnificent paintings on the Buddha, titled Enlightenment, virtually transformed the auditorium of the Jehangir Art Gallery into a monastery with the calm ambience they portrayed. In a collection titled Upasthiti, he eloquently creates a feeling of Being There by shifting the focus from the Master to his present-day followers. Complementing the paintings are the Buddha glass sculptures that the artist worked on with maestro Silvano Signoretto in Murano, Italy, recently.
At the Museum Art Gallery, Mumbai, from December 10 to 16.

OF FORM AND FIGURE
Painter, poet, sculptor, teacher, collector… the multi-faceted Jatin Das is difficult to pigeonhole. A dedicated teacher, the 66-year-old artist has been associated with Delhi’s College of Art and the National School of Drama for years. In Das’ own words, “Human predicament is my primary concern. I draw, paint and etch the human body without any narrative, devoid of placement of time. The figures in my work are doing their own thing.” Das’ collection of drawings, water colours, graphic prints and canvases, presented by Tarana Khubchandani in Mumbai, simply cannot be missed – especially as he will be showing in the city after 11 years.
At Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, from December 10 to 17, followed by shows in Baroda, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.