Jivya Soma Mashe

Jivya Soma Mashe (b.1934) is a noted artist of Maharashtra state in India, who popularised the Warli tribal art form. He was born in Dhamangaon village in Talasari taluka of Thane district of Maharashtra. At the age of 11, he came to Kalambipada village in Dahanu taluka of Thane district, where he presently lives. In the 1970s the Warli Painting, which was a predominantly ritual art tiil that time, took a radical turn, when Jivya Mashe started to paint not for any special ritual, but on an everyday basis. His talent was soon noticed, first nationally (it was rewarded straight from the hand of India's senior political figures, such as Nehru and Indira Gandhi) then internationally (Magiciens de la terre, Centre Pompidou), bringing unprecedented recognition, which prompted many other young men to follow suit. They started to paint regularly for commercial purposes and so developed skills that won the women's admiration. These days, few women paint, and they seem happy to leave the task to the men.

Life

Jivya Soma Mashe has an unusual background. He lost his mother at an early age of 7 and out of shock he stopped speaking for several years, communicated only by drawing pictures in the dust. This strange attitude soon won him a special status within his community.

The first government agents sent to preserve and protect Warli Painting were amazed by his artistic abilities. Jivya Soma Mashe showed a heightened sensitivity and unusually powerful imagination, which seem to be the legacy of his early introspective period. Paper and canvas freed him from the constraints of working on rough, sheer walls and he transformed the brusque look of the ephemeral paintings into a free, deeply sensitive style. His sensitivity emerges in every detail of his paintings. Strokes, lines and a mass of dots swarm and vibrate on the canvas, coming together to form clever compositions which reinforce the general impression of vibration. Details and the overall composition both contribute to a sense of life and movement. Recurring themes, from tribal life and Warli legends, are also a pretext for celebrating life and movement.

Jivya Soma Mashe sums up the deep feeling which animates the Warli people, saying « There are human beings, birds, animals, insects, and so on.. Everything moves, day and night. Life is movement ».

The Warli, adivasi, or the first people, speak to us of ancient times and evoke an ancestral culture. An in-depth study of this culture may give further insight into the cultural and religious foundations of modern India.

Jivya has two sons Sadashiv and Balu and a daughter. His elder son, Sadashiv was born in 1958. Both of his sons are well known exponents of this art form.

The exhibitions

The first exhibition of Jivya was held at the Gallery Chemould, Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai in 1975 by the initiative of Bhaskar Kulkarni, who first introduced this master to the outside world. His first exhibition outside India was at the Palais de Menton, France in 1976. His next exhibition was at the Pompidou Centre, Paris in 1989. Recently, he had a joint exhibition with Richard Long at Museum Kunst Palast in Düsseldorf, Germany in 2003 and at Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milano, Italy in 2004. These were followed by the exhibitions at Shippensburg University, United States in 2006 and at Halle Saint Pierre, Paris (jointly with Nek Chand) in 2007. In July, 2007 another exhibition of his paintings was held at the Gallery Chemould, Mumbai.

Awards and honours

In 1976, he received the National Award for the Tribal Art. In 2002, he received the "Shilpa Guru" award.

ee also

*Warli Painting
*Adivasi
*Indian art
*List of Scheduled Tribes in India
*Adivasi Art India

External links

* [http://jivya-soma-mashe.blogspot.com/ Jivya Soma Mashe]
* [http://www.saffronart.com/articles.asp?mainid=4&sectionid=17&articleid=250 Jivya Soma Mashe a legendary Warli artist]
* [http://chand-mashe.blogspot.com/ Nek Chand - Jivya Soma Mashe, Halle Saint Pierre, Paris]