adminThakor Patel’s story starts a world away with the protagonist having strong druthers to travel and a fascination for African tales. This soon became a mixture which was conveyed in his artwork, a quality that could be ascribed to music and a special sight that crosses over into other dimensions.
This November the National Gallery of Zimbabwe presents “Thakor Patel: A Retrospective” with the artist’s work spanning over five decades taking centre stage.
With artworks collected by museums
in Germany, Senegal and Russia Patel has a method and style that is unique to him
alone.
The intensely graphic compositions he creates are often texturised and hint a lapidarian feel to them.
The illustrations are absorbing mergers of African and Asian elements with simplicity being expressed through line, the resulting figures are a paired presentation of power and peace.
Patel’s works are present in the public sphere as the most prominent is his mural work at Causeway Building, commissioned by the P.T.C.
Several of his works are at the Rainbow Towers and the Cold Storage Commission while one painting is at the State House in Harare.
The specialty of Thakor Patel’s paintings is that they cannot be framed to any particular movement, becoming unique in that instance as his style is based on what he sees in his mind.
This imaginative scope empowers him to draw to life rather than from it. He then creates motifs, colours and textures that resonate well with the eye.
His yearning to visit Africa was finally compensated when his cousin invited him to Zimbabwe. From then on he has become one of Zimbabwe’s most imperative artists.
“Thakor Patel: A Retrospective” will commence on November 14, 2013 at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe and is curated by Raphael Chikukwa.
Abel Ndooka
Online Reporter