Goodbye with words (only) Painting

watercolour and acrylic paint on black rubber There’s something very complete yet complex about this picture. Good-byes are rarely straightforward, as the Amy Winehouse song (Back to Black), that this work is inspired by, attests. The black marks of paint within the sphere are barely distinguishable from the background and the whirling ball of white fire competes with the black of the paint and of the ‘empty’ background. Is it empty? For once, one of Darukhanawala’s backgrounds isn’t white, and the effect is stark. Is the fiery ball returning back to black – or is it the white that predominates. A closer look reveals that even if the painting is returning the viewer back to the black of the background, it’s a new black since the black within the sphere (acrylic) is not the same as the background (rubber). Apart from being a rich and beautiful work to look at, Goodbye with words (only) is redolent of man’s primal struggle with valediction, with saying good-bye when holding on feels safer, better, imperative: holding on to a lover, to one’s old self, to life itself, the very death that ultimately looms for everyone. Brave critical engagement with these subjects in no way reduces Darukhanawala’s art’s joie de vivre (just look at the paint, it dances and is almost edible!); on the contrary, the readiness to ask difficult questions harnesses optimism via artistic communication between people. These are paintings for those who aren’t afraid to think, who are ready to look at themselves and perhaps, most of all, for those who believe in the redeeming powers of art. Dimensions above include frame (unframed: 210 x 218 mm.)