The English language, distinguishes between the naked and the nude. To be naked is to be deprived of our clothes, and the word implies some of the embarrassment most of us feel in that condition. The word "nude," on the other hand, carries, in educated usage, no uncomfortable overtone. The vague image it projects into the mind is not of a huddled and defenceless body, but of a balanced, prosperous and confident body: the body re-formed. In fact, the word was forced into our vocabulary by critics of the early eighteenth century to persuade in countries where painting and sculpture were practiced and valued as they should be, the naked human body was the central subject of art….. The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form, by Kenneth Clark.

 

Study of the Nude, specially the female body has always been the cornerstone for most artists who tried to exhibit skill in their art work and at the same time study of nude inspired most of them even when it ceased to be a compulsive subject matter. It held its position as an academic exercise to demonstrate mastery and skill of the artist in all times. It has always been a conceptual and artistic subject matter involving the belief of an ideal abstracted from the reality that confronts in our everyday lives.

 

Mukesh Singh follows the canons in art which imposes idealised forms, preferring to render the sensual body of female nude with accuracy. Relying mostly on maquettes and life studies done by him in the past, the artist here uses them in depicting the sensuous female body. He takes their personal angles and through numerous exercises develops his mastery of rendering the nude body's volume and poise. The sculptor in him compliments his ability to render these nudes in various forms- the body in peril, exploited or exhibited. He seems to personify words like Profusion, Intonation, Trounced, Solitude…by means of nude. At the same time he wants his spectators to look at them as a sensual form. Mehendi and its varied designs are synonymous to women and femininity. Here he uses the design as a drape on the unclothed body. It gives the female nude a feeling of covered rather than exposed. The intension here is purely to hide the nudity. As such in his paintings the female nude is not a subject but a form in his art. The focus is more on the form than in any particular content. His art work has grown out of his fascination for depicting the female form for its flowing lines, sensual curve and the beauty lying in the exposed skin. The purpose here is not purely for gaze rather to express the different state of the mind through varied postures. His admiration for the sculptures and the public art of Indonesian artist Nyoman Nuarta and many other Indian artists -the human studies of Jatin Das or the portraits of Ram Sutar have always been sources of inspiration. The monochromatic paintings of Mukesh Singh with their alluring design all together create a visual appeal to the eyes of his spectators.

 

SANHITA BHOWAL

(Art Historian & Art Critic)