Subhakar Tadi’s Ongoing Solo Exhibition Titled 'Writings On The Wall' Captures The Pulse Of The City

There are stories that museums preserve, and then there are stories that cities write for themselves.

Every day, we walk past walls layered with torn posters, fading advertisements, political slogans, graffiti and hurried announcements. We rarely stop to read them. Yet these public surfaces quietly record the pulse of a city—its aspirations, anxieties, celebrations, conflicts and changing realities. Unlike monuments that commemorate a fixed moment in history, walls are living archives.

Visit playerbros.org for more information.

It is this overlooked visual language that forms the foundation of Subhakar Tadi’s latest solo exhibition, Writings on the Wall, at Akara Contemporary, Mumbai.

For me, this exhibition is also a reunion. Nineteen years ago, I had the privilege of curating Tadi’s first Mumbai solo exhibition at the Museum Gallery through The Osmosis. Returning to his work after nearly two decades, I realised that while the imagery has evolved, the questions that have driven his practice remain remarkably constant. In a time that celebrates instant visibility and quick gratification, there is something deeply reassuring about an artist allowing nearly two decades to shape the next chapter of his journey.

I remember that earlier exhibition vividly. Dominated by blacks, greys and muted tonalities, the paintings possessed an extraordinary physicality.

Trained as a printmaker, Tadi used spray paint with uncommon control, building surfaces that echoed weathered walls, rusted metal and industrial textures. Equally memorable were his monumental ships—towering like mountains—their scale leaving the viewer feeling dwarfed, adrift in the larger voyage of life.

Yet artists evolve in unexpected ways. That weight remains, but another dimension has entered the work—light. Not light as optimism, but light as revelation.

One of the exhibition’s most compelling paintings, What Is Your Next Step? is anchored by a luminous yellow façade. At first glance, it appears calm, almost reassuring. But the longer one stands before it, the more the painting begins to unfold. Tiny marching figures occupy the rooftop. A solitary pedestrian walks by, absorbed in a mobile phone. Another carries a placard that reads Welcome to Reality. At the centre, a monumental arch frames an opening that appears to promise passage while offering no certainty. Is it an invitation, an escape, or simply another threshold? The title quietly extends the question beyond the canvas and asks it of us. After the restrained palette of his earlier work, this yellow feels less like a new colour than a new state of mind.

In contrast, a work built around deep cobalt-blue tones evokes an altogether different mood. Here the wall becomes less a site of activity than one of quiet contemplation. Its cool palette creates an emotional distance that lingers long after one steps away from the canvas, reminding us that cities are not only crowded but can also be profoundly isolating. A tiny window punctures the vast surface, inviting us to look within while denying us entry. Below, silhouetted figures stand in disciplined formation as a lone individual quietly walks away. The wall is no longer merely architectural; it becomes psychological—silent, impenetrable and immense.

Gallery FPH: Yuvraj Patil's Paintings Invite Viewers To Pause And Reflect

It is precisely because Tadi refuses to prescribe meaning that these paintings continue to resonate. They are neither slogans nor illustrations. They leave space for the viewer to complete the narrative. His walls become repositories of memory, layered with graffiti, posters, erasures and fragments of public life, asking us to look beyond the obvious and consider what lies beneath the surface.

In an age that rewards speed and instant consumption, Writings on the Wall quietly argues for the value of sustained looking. It reminds us that the stories of our cities are not found only in museums or archives, but on the ordinary walls we pass every day without noticing.

Perhaps the real achievement of this exhibition is that it sends us back into the city as more attentive readers. The walls have always been speaking. We simply needed an artist to remind us to listen.

Read full story at source