What is particularly striking about the first painting you encounter upon entering the gallery is that it may contain the key to all the other artworks on display here—and perhaps to Sheikh's long and multi-hyphenated career as an artist, poet, writer, teacher and mentor. Kaarawaan stands as the show's centrepiece. Much like the Pahari, Rajput and Mughal style of paintings that the octogenarian has long admired, Kaarawaan draws you in with its many-splendored symbolism and a fusion of personal journeys with literary and artistic affinities. In this audacious and enigmatic acrylic work, painted between 2019 and 2023, the artist has captured many of his lifelong obsessions at the same time. For starters, the painting combines two of Sheikh's enduring motifs — the ark and trees. Seeing Kaarawaan feels like you are being given access to the artist's mind and soul. The focal point of the canvas is an ark carrying within it the personal memories of its creator through the voyage of time. The desperation of humans, animals, birds and angels is framed by the guiding light of two of his favourite role models in the form of the 15th-century mystic Kabir, and Mahatma Gandhi. The far-right corner is dominated by references to art history, with the Italian masters sharing space with Rabindranath Tagore and Vincent van Gogh flanked by MF Husain and FN Souza. Modern art is represented by Frida Kahlo and Pablo Picasso among others while the branches of a 'tree of life' nearby serve as a paean to literary giants from Premchand to Saadat Hasan Manto. The artist even duly acknowledges his team of assistants, as he puts their names on the canvas along with his signature in Gujarati. The image of the ark in Kaarawaan is an homage to a similar rendering of a boat by Nainsukh, a prominent 18th-century exponent of Pahari painting.

Gulammohammed Sheikh

Behold the World

From Here to Eternity

A Voyager Across Time