Jharna-Kala:

Fountain-Art

Sri Chinmoy called his art “Jharna-Kala”, meaning “Fountain-Art”. In his paintings, Sri Chinmoy allowed a stream of creative energy arising from his heart to flow freely. Feelings of peace, harmony, childlike joy and purity found expression in richly applied colours and dynamic strokes that speak directly to the senses.

nemocnice

nemocnice Jharna-Kala

ID 00002 Beauty

ID 10330 Maha Lakshmi

ID 10331 Beauty

ID 10379 Heart

ID 10384 Perfection

ID 10387 Happiness Bali

ID 10501 Goodness, Jharna Kala acrylic blue pink yellow

ID 10627 Jharna Kala acrylic red yellow

ID 10640 Jharna Kala acrylic blue red orange

ID 10648 Jharna Kala acrylic blue red yellow green

ID 10681 Purity

The Contemplative Art of Sri Chinmoy

About the Artist

Sri Chinmoy, born Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, was born in 1931 in what was then East Bengal. From 1964 until his passing in 2007, he lived in New York. His prolific and multifaceted life embraced visual art, music and poetry, as well as numerous international cultural, sporting and humanitarian projects.

Sri Chinmoy called his art “Jharna-Kala”, meaning “Fountain-Art”. In creating his meditative acrylic abstractions and Zen-like, playful drawings of birds—a key motif in his work—Sri Chinmoy employed a wide range of techniques, from inks on handmade paper, watercolours and gouache on watercolour paper to pastels and calligraphic markers. He also fashioned a variety of his own painting tools, whose unconventional use gives his works their distinctive style. His strokes are executed with both lightness and boldness, evident in their forms as well as in his handling and blending of colour.

Sri Chinmoy’s art demonstrates a masterful ability to communicate with the viewer—through colour, technique and, above all, the striking originality of his style. He felt no need to identify with a particular school of art or to define himself in opposition to any artistic movement; instead, his work captures a completely spontaneous form of artistic expression. In his paintings, Sri Chinmoy allowed a stream of creative energy arising from his heart to flow freely. Feelings of peace, harmony, childlike joy and purity found expression in richly applied colours and dynamic strokes that speak directly to the senses.

There can be little doubt that the foremost message of Sri Chinmoy’s art is a longing for peaceful coexistence and harmony—with the viewer and with the world around us.

Ranjana K. Ghose, curator
Jharna-Kala Art Foundation

The Source of Creativity

“When I draw, I have nothing in mind. I try to keep my mind as empty, vacant and tranquil as possible. The outer mind is like the surface of the sea. On the surface, the sea is full of waves and surges; it is all restlessness. But when we dive deep below the surface, the same sea is all peace, calmness and quiet, and there we find the source of creativity.”

– Sri Chinmoy

Inspiring messages…

“Sri Chinmoy’s project is an eloquent testimony to the enlightened belief that visual art can powerfully affect our sympathies and understanding.”
Ivan Gaskell, Curator of Paintings, Harvard University Art Museums

“In the swiftness of the stroke as in the song of the colour, it is the soul that speaks to us through Sri Chinmoy’s works.”
Frederico Mayor, Director General, UNESCO

“Sri Chinmoy’s art has a playfulness which should not be mistaken for the trivial. It comes from an area of being where we strive for the highest. Very few artists dare to play in this way.”
Amal Ghosh, Artist, lecturer, Central School of Art & Design, London

“These are among the most beautiful and stunning paintings I have ever seen. I see in Sri Chinmoy’s art the joy of creating beauty. His art is the classic example that creating not only is joy, but should be joy. Through his art he takes this joy and shares it with others.”
Hans Janitschek, President, United Nations Society of Writers

“Sri Chinmoy translates the joy and freedom experienced in the meditative state into colour and form.”
Brian Gormley, School of Visual Arts, New York

“I see in it (selecting a painting for her private collection) the colour of life, and the colour of hope. Green stands for life, blue for hope. And that is what I treasure in life. I am so happy to have spent these few precious moments with you.”
Raisa Maximovna Gorbachev

“You are a miraculous model of the abundance in the creative life. I can only hope that I may some day participate in that cosmic fountain of stillness and profound energy which you inhabit.”
Leonard Bernstein, Composer and conductor

“The paintings are physical manifestations of his inner meditations, a reflection within the optical spectrum of what he perceives inwardly as a real, living experience. They show a higher level of consciousness.”
T. J. Bergen, Secretary, American Contemporary Artists Galleries

A selection from Sri Chinmoy’s earlier exhibitions

1975: United Nations Secretariat Building, New York, U.S.A.
1976: Carnegie Hall, New York, U.S.A.
1978: Harvard University, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
1980: National Gallery, Ottawa, Canada
1982: Tour of Jharna-Kala exhibit chosen by Henry Geldzahler, Curator of 20th Century Art of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
1992: L’Espace Miro, UNESCO, Paris, France; Commonwealth Institute, Edinburgh, Scotland

1995: Parliament House, Canberra, Australia
1997: Cambridge Central Library, Cambridge, England
1998: Il Saggiattore, Rome, Italy
1999: Empire State Building, New York, U.S.A.
2001: United Nations Secretariat Building, New York, U.S.A.; City Hall, Oslo, Norway; John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, U.S.A.; Mall Gallery, London

2004: Agung Rai Museum, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; Diaghilev Art Centre, for the Museum of Modern Art at the Smolny Institute of Free Arts and Science, St. Petersburg
2005: Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France; Künstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria
2006: UNESCO, Paris, France; Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France; Galerie MIRO, Prague, Czech Republic
2007: United Nations Secretariat Building, New York, U.S.A.
2008: European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium

Permanent exhibitions

Among the many respected cultural institutions that have included Sri Chinmoy’s original works in their permanent collections are:

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, United Kingdom
UNESCO in Paris, France
Palais des Rois de Majorque in Perpignon, France
Agung Rai Museum of Art in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Contact

Art for Peace artforpeace@centrum.cz tel. 733 734 915

artforpeace.cz