At Dr. Pradeep Chowbey’s four-storey house, there is art in every nook and corner. A laparoscopic surgeon by profession and Chairman of Max Institute of Minimal Access, Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery, Dr. Chowbey says he has a heightened visual awareness. With some of the most significant works of Indian modern masters like M. F. Husain, S. H. Raza and Ram Kumar adorning their walls, I met Dr. Chowbey and his wife Susmita over a cup of coffee at their beautiful South Delhi home
It has been a long professional journey spanning five decades I was born in Bilaspur (now in Chattisgarh) and studied in Burhanpur where we lived after my father, a civil surgeon, got transferred. My primary education was in a municipality Hindi medium school. The city is historically known for the presence of the first tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, where she was buried for months till the Taj Mahal was completed. In 1968, I moved to Jabalpur for my MBBS and MS and then moved to Delhi for my practice. I attended an international surgery conference in the United States where minimally invasive surgical technique was being shown, live. That was probably the turning point in my career and I was determined to bring this technique to India. There has been no looking back ever since.
My bonding with art I used to paint casually with water colours when I was young, but during my MBBS I noticed my inclination towards art was inbuilt and natural because I thoroughly enjoyed drawing the human body anatomy diagrams. And now my surgical team sometimes sends me images on phone during surgery for guidance and I am easily able to tell where to probe by just seeing the image!
A work of N.S. Bendre was the first ever art acquisition I bought my first art work from a gallery in Delhi’s Connaught Place in 1978, a Bendre work framed by the famous Chemould Framers. I had absolutely no knowledge of art then, but I liked the work so much that I bought it for Rs. 500, which was half my monthly salary. Much later we realised that it was the work of a celebrated artist. This work still occupies prime position in our home.
Esta historia es de la edición June - July 2018 de Arts Illustrated.
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Esta historia es de la edición June - July 2018 de Arts Illustrated.
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A Sky Full Of Thoughts
Artist James Turrell’s ‘Twilight Epiphany Skyspace’ brings together the many nuances of architecture, time, space, light and music in a profound experience that blurs boundaries and lets one roam free within their own minds
We Are Looking into It
Swiss-based artists Jojakim Cortis and Adrian Sonderegger talk to us about the evolving meaning and purpose of photography and the many perspectives it lends to history
Cracked Wide Open
Building one of the world’s largest domes was no mean task for anyone, let alone an amateur goldsmith, so how did Filippo Brunelleschi accomplish building not one, but two of them?
In Search of a Witness
In conversation with legendary artist Arpana Caur on all things epiphanic, on all things pandemic, and on all things artistic
Where the Shadows Speak
The founder of Sarmaya Arts Foundation takes us through the bylanes of his journey with Sindhe Chidambara Rao, the custodian of the ancient art form of shadow puppetry – Tholu Bommalata
Bodies in Motion
What happens to the memory of a revelatory experience when it is re-watched through the frames of a screen? It somehow makes the edges sharper and the focal point clearer, as we discover through Chandralekha’s iconic Sharira
Faces in the Water
As physical ‘masks’ become part of our life, we take a look at artists working with different aspects of ‘faces’ and the things that lurk beneath the surface.
A Meeting at the Threshold
The immortal actor exemplified all that is admirable about his profession, from his creative choices to his work philosophy, and his passing was a low blow. This is our tribute to the prince among stars – Irrfan
The Imperfect Layout To The Imperfect Mystery
Jane De Suza’s ‘The Spy Who Lost Her Head’ doesn’t feature a protagonist with superhuman skills of deduction, nor a plot that fits together like a jigsaw puzzle. Here, quirks and imperfections are pushed into the spotlight
Free and Flawed
Greta Gerwig revitalises the literary classic, Little Women, highlighting the literary journey of its temperamental and wonderfully flawed female protagonist, Jo March
