Ambadas Khobragade

As we trace the trajectory of post-colonial modernism in India, Amabadas emerges as one of the defining voices. Though he hasn’t (even now!) achieved the exalted status of the Progressives, such as Raza, Husain, Souza and others, he in many respects, broke the mould of these artists in his quest to develop his own unique language, pushing the boundaries of abstract, brining his spiritual values at the forefront of his works.

Interestingly, however, Ambadas didn’t see himself as a modernist per se, much more as an avant garde looking to change all that came before him. For him, art was not about fitting a trend, but as becoming a mediator of that which exists beyond. Everything from identity, tradition, working with established ideologies…the apparent, needed to be shifted away from, and it was only in this unshackled, unfettered space that he could connect to the larger whole. This was also a defining ideology of the Group 1890, a group he became associated with in the 1960s.

Born in Akola, Maharashtra in 1922, he received his diploma from the Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai in 1952. Soon after he worked in the Government run Weaver’s Service Centre (WSC) in the Chennai branch, which interestingly employed many art school graduates and some of the stars included Prabhakar Barwe in Mumbai, Arpita Singh in Kolkata and K G Subramanyam.

It was in 1962 that Khobragade became part of Group 1890, a collective of twelve artists. The group included artists like Jagdish Swaminathan, Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, Himmat Shah, Jyoti Bhatt, Redeppa Naidu among others. The collective did not last for a long time but had an influence over its members and other contemporaries. Their first exhibition in Delhi was held in 1963 and inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Ambadas also co-founded Bombay based ‘Group Nonrepresentational’, the thread of commonality between both the groups was that they were against the existing art practice that were popular and celebrated in the 1960’s be it of the progressive artists groups or the academic realism.

Ambadas Khobragade later shifted to Delhi and pursued his art which unfolded and developed in a more authentic form. He was influenced by the Gandhian values of high ideals, simple living and self-awareness. This constant flux and balance between the material and the spiritual worlds is reflected in his works, alongside the yearning for a higher purpose in life.

His works have been exhibited at Biennales in Brazil and France, national and international exhibitions including Contemporary Art in India and Iran at the Ben and Abbey Grey Frey Foundation, USA. The Lalit Kala Akademi had felicitated him with the prestigious National Award in 1963. the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan; the Ben & Abbey Grey Foundation, USA; and the State Gallery, Norway. A retrospective of his work was held in 2008. A book on the artist and his work was published in 2008.