Warli Art

Anil Vangad is a Contemporary painter from India. He has exhibited widely enjoying major solo shows in Singapore, Hong Kong, US, UK, France, India, Korea and many other Countries. Hailing from the Warli tribes in Maharashtra, whilst Anil lives and works in his traditional village, like many tribal artists he is also well-travelled and deftly combines modern life with traditional heritage. He is an experimental artist and embraces new possibilities. In his everyday practise Anil uses traditional techniques and a painting style that goes back as far as the histories of his tribes. Homes in the Warli villages have mud walls and as the traditions in his village are recalled, during special events and festivals the houses are decorated in patterns and images that bring luck and are used as an expression of celebration. In the second part of the 20th century the Waril artists realised there was an interest in their art so they started painting their images and symbols on cloth to sell as a source of income. Images in Anil’s paintings are of the daily Warli life, the tribes tales and narratives. During festivals the people love to dance. A famous Warli dance is performed in a circle and references can be seen to this in many of Anil’s paintings. Pattern is everywhere in the ears of corn in the fields to flocks of birds in the skies. The Warli villagers are always shown in action, as doing. They are cooking, fishing, hunting, tending to animals and so forth. The artist paints using traditional materials. He primes his canvas cloth with cow dung which is lucky. He sometimes uses earth and the colour changes depending on the season and the amount of rain. The white colour is rice paste mixed with neem and is applied with a bamboo stick. At the turn of the 20th century the artists embraced acrylic colours and synthetic materials but like many of us, they now understand the best way to preserve nature and their heritage is by using natural pigments and cloths. Acrylic colours are still used sometimes as they are an easier medium to do fine work with. Anil may have moved back to traditional materials but his paintings are constantly challenging the conventions of traditional Warli imagery. Whilst still retaining the essence of this practice, he offers us beautiful minimal compositions, flat-field perspective and incorporates modernity and technology, mostly as an indication of how life for his village is changing. Like many Indians he is worried how the technological advancements are damaging his way of life and threatening the land that he serves. He brings all of this into his art. He celebrates all that is good and questions that which challenges his Warli tribe. Anil’s work has been exhibited worldwide. He has worked on vast mural projects and also works on small scale paintings. He was taught by his Mother. His work is held in prestigious public and private collections.

Bring audacious experiments with color and textures to your living room, dining room or home office. Abstract paintings, large or small, will stand out in your space, encouraging conversation and introducing a museum-like atmosphere that’s welcoming and conducive to creating memorable gatherings.

Abstract art has origins in 19th-century Europe, but it came into its own as a significant movement during the 20th century. Early practitioners of abstraction included Wassily Kandinsky, although painters were exploring nonfigurative art prior to the influential Russian artist’s efforts, which were inspired by music and religion. Abstract painters endeavored to create works that didn’t focus on the outside world’s conventional subjects, and even when artists depicted realistic subjects, they worked in an abstract mode to do so.

In 1940s-era New York City, a group of painters working in the abstract mode created radical work that looked to European avant-garde artists as well as to the art of ancient cultures, prioritizing improvisation, immediacy and direct personal expression. While they were never formally affiliated with one another, we know them today as Abstract Expressionists.

The male contingent of the Abstract Expressionists, which includes Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Robert Motherwell, is frequently cited in discussing leading figures of this internationally influential postwar art movement. However, the women of Abstract Expressionism, such as Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell and others, were equally involved in the art world of the time. Sexism, family obligations and societal pressures contributed to a long history of their being overlooked, but the female Abstract Expressionists experimented vigorously, developed their own style and produced significant bodies of work.

Draw your guests into abstract oil paintings across different eras and countries of origin. On 1stDibs, you’ll find an expansive range of abstract paintings along with a guide on how to arrange your wonderful new wall art.

If you’re working with a small living space, a colorful, oversize work can create depth in a given room, but there isn’t any need to overwhelm your interior with a sprawling pièce de résistance. Colorful abstractions of any size can pop against a white wall in your living room, but if you’re working with a colored backdrop, you may wish to stick to colors that complement the decor that is already in the space. Alternatively, let your painting make a statement on its own, regardless of its surroundings, or group it, gallery-style, with other works.