Suhas Shilker And The Art of Mark Making.

Around the world many graffiti and street artists aspire to enter the mainstream gallery space in the hope of capitalizing on their fame and popularity. But there are some others who after having made a name and identity in the mainstream gallery space try to do graffiti and street art.
Suhas Shilker is one of them.

Suhas Shilker’s oil painting from 2002.

Born in 1960, a year before Goa was liberated from the Portuguese, Suhas Shilker has been painting and exhibiting since 1980. His work is mostly abstract. Works of Suhas Shilker exude sheer rawness and virility that we notice in the primitive cave paintings.
Suhas Shilker was one of the first Goan artists to foray into graffiti. He usually teams up with another Goan artist Norman Tagore when he goes bombing.

Graffiti by Suhas and Norman near Santa Monica Jetty in Panjim, Goa.

When this writer inquired with him: “Why graffiti?” prompt came the reply: “Doing graffiti helps studio painters overcome their fear of large spaces and frees them from the pedantic thought process.”

Acrylics and charcoal on raw canvas.

There is a definitely a positive change in the works of Suhas, after he started doing graffiti. The strong influence of graffiti just cannot be ignored. Most of the paintings have many layers of paint which makes them very heavy. The works are populated with forms and elements from the subconscious, reminiscent of the works of Catalan painter Antoni Tapies. Some of his recent works are posted below.

Acrylics on canvas, 5’ x 4’.

Acrylics on canvas, 5’ x 5’.

Acrylics on canvas, 6’ x 5’.

Graffiti Goa was started with the intention of showcasing and collaborating with graffiti artists from India and abroad.

If you are a graffiti artist and if you do some graffiti in Goa, don’t forget to mail a few pictures of your work, so that they can be uploaded on this blog and documented for posterity. Please send medium sized images with resolution of 72 dpi to graffitigoa@gmail.com.