Artist explores power struggles in society through paintings

His work includes concerns ranging from the personal to the political and evokes a picture of entangled existence; a life where we are part of a large consumerist financial network, yet remaining emotionally isolated.

“An artist gets inspired by anything that surrounds him/her. Through my art, I love to explore the way power operates in our society. In this series of paintings, I have introduced images of politicians against a background of teeming masses who are in varying relationships with each other and the socio-political environment,” says the artist whose works are on display at Apparao Galleries inNungambakkam.

Sanjeeva tries to explore the layered intersections between the individual and group psyche, the compromises that an individual has to make to fit into a collective identity and for a sense of empowerment. “In my paintings, I have used a juxtaposition of political leaders, animals and people. The appeal of these paintings is in their autobiographical slant wherein the artist is both an observer as well as a participant in the power play. If you look around, everyone is struggling to find his/her place in a consumerist society with a lot of aspirations and dreams. This shared background talks about the complex dilemmas that confront every human being,” explains the artist.

The chaos and energy of Sanjeeva’s works weave a picture of today’s anarchic environment. At the sametime, they refer to a sense of collective energy that is the redeeming power of man and holds out a glimmer of hope for the future.

“Most of my works are a visual commentary on leaders in history using a language that is grounded in a bygone era, tinged with an element of satire. We are living in a country where netas are hailed as netaji and the real leaders are erased from public memory,” he remarks.