Ganesh Haloi’s watercolours come alive in Chennai

Step into Artworld Sarala’s Art Centre, and you are greeted with a quiet swirl of colours— lines of varying shapes and sizes that seem to breathe, pause and shift like memories. Look closer, and you see delicate fish emerge in some, peeking through the abstract forms. The artworks in watercolour and gouache are part of an ongoing exhibition titled Fragments of a Horizon by visual artist Ganesh Haloi — a work that feels like a poetic echo of landscapes. 

Haloi was born in Jamalpur, Mymensingh, now in Bangladesh, in 1936. Following the Partition of India, he moved to Calcutta in 1950. Nature is a recurring theme with dots, dashes, and lines that shows trees, water and green fields, perhaps a reminder of a lost homeland.  

His early tenure with the Archaeological Survey of India moulded his understanding of history, memory, and multifaceted landscapes, following his studies at the Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta.

Gouache on paper
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

In Fragments of Horizon, Haloi’s watercolours manifest as reflections on remembrance, silence, and varying dimensions of human experiences. Landscapes dissolve into fields of colour and rhythm— inviting viewers into a world of abstraction. 

“With Haloi, subtlety is everything — his works don’t shout, they whisper. So the real curation was in the placement, spacing, and rhythm of the exhibition. I focussed on showing the range within these 25 works — different moods, structures, and energies in his abstraction and creating a natural visual flow so the viewer slows down and actually absorbs the works,” says Anahita Daruwala Banerjee, curator of the show. 

“There wasn’t a dramatic story in the selection — but there is a quiet narrative in how the works unfold in the space. That’s where the true curation happened. My role as a gallerist is to honour the artist’s language and make sure the audience truly encounters it, not just passes by,” she further added. 

“Although his work is often perceived as abstract, he does not consider himself an abstract artist. His art is primarily inspired by landscapes, particularly the lush landscapes of Shantiniketan, where he spent significant time”, says Sarala Daruwala Banerjee, director, Artworld/Saralas Art International. 

Haloi’s works have been exhibited in major cities across India and internationally — including in New York, London, Hong Kong, and Dhaka — and are housed in eminent public and private collections worldwide. Towards the end of the 1950s, when the Archaeological Survey of India assigned him to recreate the Ajanta frescoes, Haloi was captivated by the splendid Visvantara Jataka murals. The encounter at Ajanta left a deep impression on his works. Through his watercolours and profound visual philosophy, Haloi continues to shape the discourse of Indian abstraction. 

The show is on till October 31, at Artworld Sarala’s Art Centre, Cenotaph Road, Teynampet. Entry is free.