Raghav Babbar

Singapore, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, LASELLE, July 2021

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新加坡，新加坡當代藝術博物館，LASELLE，2021年7月

Raghav Babbar is a young artist of Indian heritage, educated in Singapore, who studied at the royal college of Art in London. His work combines the unique savour of his heritage with many of the artistic techniques and mannerisms of mid 20th century British art. Where many of his contemporaries prefer the obvious convenience of acrylic paints, Babbar’s work is distinctive for his use of oil paints, applied thickly, delighting in the rich surface textures that only that medium offers.

Babbar is essentially a figurative artist, in the sense that he paints the human form as he sees it, yet he is far from literal-minded. For a young artist, his works show a surprisingly mature approach to his sitters. He engages with them closely, and his paintings are imbued with a sense of privacy, of intimacy, being largely of family or friends. As an artist, Raghav Babbar paints his emotions towards things he sees around him. An autobiographical work from which he discovers himself as an artist and develops a deeper connection with his subjects around him and those in his life. Humans are what he finds to best express his feelings on the canvas, allowing him to observe moods and personalities better. The subjects’ actions within moments usually give him the purest display of emotion possible, especially when they are alone. Capturing them in these moments and relaying them to the canvas establishes a connection between the individual and the artist. To him, painting is a discipline where it is easy for him to show how well he knows his subjects.

"Memory is a permanent luxury - A photograph that was taken by my father in 1999 of my mother, brother and me sleeping together. A work that is not only an example of an autobiographical journey but a connection to my early life. Where we all had one room in the family. This work not only brought memories back but told me where we came from and how my parents sacrificed everything for me and my brother. If only I could have painted this when I was three years old I would have for sure. But painting a memory is a luxury." - Raghav Babbar

拉格夫·巴巴爾是一位印度裔年輕藝術家，於新加坡接受教育，曾就讀倫敦的皇家藝術學院。他的作品不僅繼承印度傳統文化的獨特氣息，還結合許多20世紀中期英國藝術的創作技巧和藝術作風。當不少同世代的藝術家都愛使用更方便作畫的壓克力彩顏料時，反觀巴巴爾的作品，卻因為採用油畫顏料而別具特色，厚塗厚抹，雀躍沉醉於只有油彩才能呈現的豐富畫面肌理。

巴巴爾誠然是一位具象藝術家，原因在於他會將眼前所見的人體形態如是繪畫，然而又遠勝於淺顯的直接呈現。以年輕藝術家來說，他的作品在處理繪畫對象上展現出超乎尋常的成熟手法。他親近接觸繪畫對象，畫作往往透露著私密、親暱的感覺，也大多數以親人朋友為主題。作為藝術家，巴巴爾會將內心情感投射在身邊所見的事物中。自傳式的創作讓他從中體察到自己的藝術靈魂，並與身邊的繪畫對象和生命中的人形成更深厚的連結。人類是他認為最能在畫布上表達內心感受的題材，讓他能夠更細緻觀察不同情感和人格。通常，畫中人在不同瞬間的行為都會向他展現最澄澈純粹的情感，尤其是他們單獨一人的時候。捕捉這些時刻下的他們，轉而在畫布上表現，這個過程使這些個體和巴巴爾彼此連繫。對巴巴爾來說，繪畫是他可以輕易駕馭的領域，以展現對畫中主題的深刻了解。

「《記憶是永久的奢侈》——是父親於1999年拍攝的一幅照片，紀錄母親和我們兩兄弟睡在一起。它不但是一趟回溯人生片段的旅程，更是接連著我與我的童年的時光隧道。那時我們全家人都睡在同一個房間。這幅畫作不僅喚起昔日的回憶，還提醒著我的本源、我的父母如何犧牲一切撫養我們兩兄弟成長。多希望我在三歲時有能力畫出這樣的畫，可以的話我肯定會畫。不過，能夠畫一段回憶，也是幸福的奢侈。」- 拉加夫·巴巴爾