Hanif Kureshi’s unseen 42 | ‘Sabr, Ghar, Suroor’ exhibition at XXL in New Delhi

In Delhi’s Defence Colony, a neighbourhood present humming with much than a twelve galleries, XXL is the newest arrival. Dedicated to what it calls “urban modern art,” and to artists who deliberation and make connected an extra-extra-large scale, some successful mean and ambition, the gallery’s debut amusement feels astatine erstwhile monumental and intimate.

Sabr, Ghar, Suroor is a posthumous tribute to its founder, Hanif Kureshi — the thoroughfare creator known arsenic Daku, and the unit down some St+art India Foundation and Gallery XXL — who helped crook India’s walls into open-air museums. Kureshi died past twelvemonth of lung cancer, conscionable arsenic helium was opening to overgarment for himself again.

The amusement brings unneurotic 42 never-before-seen works inspired by Kureshi’s lifelong emotion for Indian motion painting, typography, and the ocular connection of the street: paintings and sculptures made successful his Goa studio, wherever helium moved during the pandemic with his partner, hoping to springiness their lad the small-town puerility helium erstwhile knew successful Palitana, Gujarat. These are quieter, much intimate pieces: abstracted studies of letters and light, the bones of a connection stripped bare.

“Hanif’s fascination with letters began astatine 14, coating metallic plates successful the store of Saleem, a section motion creator successful Palitana,” says Giulia Ambrogi, co-founder of St+art India and Gallery XXL, present based successful Brazil, who co-curated the accumulation with Sarah Malik successful Delhi. “Those aboriginal experiences laid the instauration for his heavy narration with typography.” When Kureshi realised the creation signifier was fading, helium started The Handpainted Type Project, inviting motion painters from crossed the state to constitute each missive and number, A to Z, 1 to 9, which helium aboriginal digitised and remixed.

Of lines and letterforms

Inside Gallery XXL’s 1,500 sq.ft. space, The Painter Kureshi series hangs similar meditations connected signifier itself: benignant without function, letters freed of meaning. Neons, lines, and shadows callback reflective stickers and fading shopfronts. Several paintings are titled aft cities helium wandered through, specified arsenic Mandawa, Banaras, Modhera, Udaipur — places that linger successful pigment much than successful picture.

Language, too, became material, specifically Urdu, a connection helium couldn’t talk but felt drawn to each his life, for its graceful shapes and flowing lettering. In a bid of aluminium partition sculptures, Kureshi reimagines the words sabr (patience), ghar (home), and suroor (joy) arsenic forms. “Hanif wore aggregate hats arsenic artist, designer, teacher, and mentor to truthful many. He was ever moving, creating, experimenting,” says Malik. “That was his sabr, his perseverance. He built a ghar, a location for artists wherever helium went, and that’s what brought him suroor. The words acceptable beautifully with who helium was, truthful we named the amusement aft them.”

Then there’s Tetris, a bid wherever letterforms look similar falling blocks, fractional play, fractional code, possibly a motion to the video crippled helium loved. “They were made during his clip successful Uppsala, Sweden, wherever it was shown,” Malik says. “We don’t cognize wherefore helium called it that. Some of his paintings are untitled; others verge connected architectural — concrete-like, astir Brutalist — similar letters pushing retired into three-dimensional shapes. He kept this portion of his signifier precise private.”

A caller node for thoroughfare art

“Since we came unneurotic successful 2014, we’ve been capable to physique a existent involvement successful thoroughfare art,” says Arjun Bahl, co-founder of St+art India and Gallery XXL. “Now, we privation to physique a marketplace astir it. That means exhibitions, but besides a collectibles store we co-create with artists, and bringing them successful for workshops and residencies, truthful they tin trial ideas and usage the abstraction however they want.”

After Kureshi’s passing, Bahl and his chap co-founders, Ambrogi and Thanish Thomas, decided to determination the assemblage from Mumbai to Delhi. “We’re a small, guerrilla-style team, and we beryllium connected each other,” helium says. “While having XXL successful Mumbai kept it person to Hanif’s aboriginal years successful Goa, Delhi has ever been location for us. With astir of america based here, it made consciousness to return.”

A abbreviated thrust from Delhi’s Lodhi Art District, the neighbourhood transformed into India’s archetypal open-air creation territory nether the St+art Foundation, Gallery XXL present extends that legacy. Part studio, portion gallery, portion gathering ground, the abstraction is simply a caller node for thoroughfare art, showing works by much than 40 artists from India and abroad, galore of them Kureshi’s longtime collaborators. It’s the commencement of a caller section successful making art, erstwhile again, for all.

The amusement is astatine XXL till November 30.

The civilization writer and exertion specialises successful reporting connected art, plan and architecture.