Pain and Suffering in Gieve Patel's Art

Based out of Mumbai, this multifaceted artist is a poet, playwright and painter. Having been interested in the body, which is reflected in all his art, Gieve Patel focuses especially on physical pain and suffering, as well as transcendental images on the subject of "looking into a well". He reveals the source of this painting is a newspaper photograph of two sportsmen, speculating that it was clicked most likely during a moment of failure in a match. He used it as an inspiration to "transform the context and the quality of the emotions, to create a work of complex intensity".

Not just news but also reminding one of Flemish and Italian Renaissance works that show mourners gathered around the dying or dead Christ, the artist agrees about the historical references and states that "these images contribute to the 
emotional aura of the painting".

Regarding the homoerotic overtone, this is what he has to say: "I wish neither to underline them heavily, nor to obliterate them. I wanted them to be present in a natural kind of way along with the other possible resonances."