A group exhibition is currently on view at the Shridharani Art Gallery of Triveni Kala Sangam in New Delhi. This exhibition, featuring four painters, is organized by Lalit Suri and curated by Johny ML. The participating artists are Dipa Patowary, Rajesh Sharma, Sanghapal Mhaske, and Sougaijam Surjit.
While the credit for bringing together these four artists—each distinct in style and expression—goes to the sponsor Lalit Suri, there is another common thread that binds them: all four are associated with the Garhi Studios of Lalit Kala Akademi. Those familiar with Delhi’s art world are well aware that Garhi Studios was established with the vision of creating a shared space where artists working in diverse styles and mediums could coexist and continue their creative pursuits.
In its early years, Garhi quickly emerged as a significant focal point in the capital’s art landscape. Until the 1990s, if an artist from another part of the country visited Delhi, a stop at Garhi to engage in dialogue with fellow artists was almost a priority. For various reasons, its prominence appears to have diminished over time—perhaps due to the rapid expansion of the metropolis—making such interactions less frequent. Whether changes in the internal environment also contributed to this shift remains a separate debate.
However, our focus here is the exhibition itself. In this context, Lalit Suri articulates the vision and intent behind the show in these words:
With “Solitary Reapers,” we have presented the works of four artists in whom we deeply believe and whom we wish to see attain their true potential. “The Solitary Reaper” has been a poem that has stayed with me for over four decades, almost like a work of art hanging in my home. The solitary figure singing in a language I may not fully understand has resonated within me in much the same way as these artists—completely absorbed, often detached from the commotion around them, and making their surroundings fragrant, melodious, and breathable through their art. To bring these four artists together, we found yet another solitary spirit among curators—Johny ML.
It is well known that the title “Solitary Reapers” echoes the celebrated poem The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth. In the poem, the ordinary labor of a lone young woman reaping a field, and the song she sings, become for the poet an extraordinary experience. The song transforms into a symbol of human sorrow, memory, and untold life stories. The poem demonstrates that the simplest of scenes can leave the most enduring impressions within us.
As curator, Johny ML elaborates that these “Solitary Reapers” walk amidst the crowd yet remain inwardly solitary. They are flâneurs wandering silently through city streets—not merely observing but absorbing their surroundings into their inner worlds. Their steps show no haste, yet within them persists an unspoken quest. They resemble travelers moving toward an unseen shore—like migrants standing before the White Cliffs of Dover—where the horizon holds both hope and uncertainty. They understand that every arrival conceals a displacement, and every departure carries the promise of a new beginning.
There is also in their bearing the aesthetic flair of a dandy on an evening promenade—a self-aware elegance, a restrained theatricality. They know that art is not only about feeling but also about form; not merely pain but its articulation. Yet beneath this composed aesthetic lies a deep ache—like the distant echo of Jimmy Cliff’s “Many Rivers to Cross.” There are many rivers to cross, many nights to endure without shore. Their journey is not simple; it is marked by fatigue, restlessness, and persistent questioning.
They return to their studios as travelers return to themselves. There, they revive their experiences not in words but in colors and lines. They attempt to hold air within cupped hands, to grant permanence to fleeting moments. They know they cannot transform the world in a single stroke, but they can reshape its meaning.
In these artists there is wandering, displacement, elegance, and struggle. It is this amalgam that gives shape to the deeper human longing embodied in their art—a longing born in solitude, yet destined to become part of collective memory. The exhibition remains open to art lovers until February 21 and promises a truly distinctive visual experience.
My Best wishes.
-Suman Kumar Singh