SURAJ

SADAN, the Artist

des Beaux-Arts in Paris, as well as McGill and Concordia Universities in Montreal, where he settled with his wife, also an accomplished painter. It was an uneasy adaptation for the peripatetic artist, who to this day continues to travel between India, Paris and Montreal, unable, and unwilling, to commit his talent to one particular place. Suraj Sadan has held exhibitions around the world and his works are in high demand among both collectors and ordinary art lovers, and can be found in the collections of the Canadians parliament, U.N.E.S.C.O., World Health Organization, the National Academy of Art, the National Film Board, and embassies around the world, just to name a few. Faithful to classical composition and rules of portraiture, Sadan, nevertheless adds a unique touch to his paintings, best described as a barely tangible aura of human vulnerability. Whether in the expression or the pose of the person, the artist manages to capture something of the inner being, a hesitation on the fine line between the public and the private persona. The pantheon of portraits he has painted includes the faces of Indira Gandhi and other national and international leaders, each modeling session documented by photographs of the beaming artist and an equally content sitter.

SURAJ

So long as sentient beings remain, so long as space remains, I will remain in order to serve, in order to make some small contribution for the benefit of others. (A Buddhist prayer)

How does one unravel the tapestry that is a human life? With which tread to begin, when they all weave their separate, unique paths, only to converge into a portrait of a man? The task is so much harder when speaking of a complex human being, one still ardently involved in the great mystery of life. If there existed one word to describe Suraj Sadan, it would be dedication. Dedication to being the best he can be in whatever he does, and he has already reached that goal in several domains. First and foremost, the Indianborn Sadan is an artist. His carrer began early on, with portraits he sketched from photographs found in local newspapers. He gained instant recognation with a highly accomplished drawing of the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, which launched the 14-year-old's artistic career. In time, Sadan's magnificent portrait of another great politician and spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi, graced the cover of the U.N.E.S.C.O. magazine of October 1969, appeared on stamps and endless reproductions, and thus the artist's name became a household word around the world. With a portfolio of drawings, oils and watrercolors, Suraj Sadan continued his artistic exploration in Europe and finally in Canada, which was to become his second home. His studied art at the Ecole Nationale Suprieure

SADAN, the Artist

The Artist working on the portrait of Dr. V.V. Giri, the fourth President of India, at his official residence in 1972.

The most exquisite aspect of his paintings - perhaps the main player in Sadan's visual drama - is the dance of light. It appears to come from an invisible, otherwordly source and imubes the canvas with a shimmering energy. It lives in the specious labyrinths, and paints transparent patches on walls and marble floors. It bounces off the polished wood of a violin and hovers briefly in an archway. This delicate illumination is present in all of Sadan's works, as much in the oils as in the waterclors, and is not so much painted as brought to life during the creative process. But beyond the magical environment and the tale they spin, Sadan's works are an invitation to pause, to contemplate, to reflect. The viewer can choose to observe, or to become a participant in the characters' enigmatic goings on. An eye honed on art will appreciate the artist's mastery of the oil technique and the bottomless creative imagination behind each composition.

SURAJ

Sadan's oil paintings space reflect an entirely different universe. Mythical spaces, inhabited has much by an invisible energy as by solitary human figures, lend themselves perfectly to his delicate technique. The artist applies his paint with gentle, smooth brushstrokes, covering the canvas in translucent, glistening layers. A magical light permeats Sadan's paintings, its source as mysterious as the models and spaces it illuminates. His visual landscape hovers on the edge of the surreal, a dimension at once familiar and alien, marked by symbols from a variety of cultures and epochs, with medieval looking structures and interiors. Musical instruments occupy empty chambers and one strains the ear for sound of footsteps of the departing musician. And invisible breeze blows through endless corridors tiled in geometric black and white lozenges, and female figures fleet through quiet hallways. Sadan's paintings are highly narrative, there theatrical settings resembling an abandoned stage from which the actors have just left, only to reappear in another play.

SADAN, the Artist

Indian ministers Meira Kumar and Ambika Soni admiring the work of Suraj Sadan at the National Gandhi Museum in Delhi.

Sadan's works are tribute to the spirit of dedication that is his driving force. It is that same energy that propelles him into teaching, a vocation as demanding as that of an artist. From the solitude of his studio, to the commotion of a classroom, Sadan reaches out in both body and spirit, teaching and promoting art. He has dozens and dozens of letters of recognition and homage, written on lettreheads of numerous educational institutions in Canada and abroad, attesting to his talent in inspiring young people. With relentless commitment, he has managed to exhibit his students' art in Montreal, Toronto, Paris and New York. It was an unprecedented event, and an exemple of Sadan's enviable communiacation and organizational skills. When not painting, Sadan is almost inevitably engaged in curating some kind of an arts exhibition. He is in constant poursuit of new

artists, scouting galleries and shows, searching out unknown, or rather still unknowned painters, graphic artists and sculptures. He has been involved with several Montreal galleries, where he not only showed his own works, but also organized and curated exhibitions of dozens of local and international talent. And thus the tapestry begins to take shape in all its splender, tracing the many faces and roles of Suraj Sadan artist, teacher, curator . Oblivious to the weight of so many mantles, he is an ageless, tireless warrior at the service of art and society. He has already left his imprint on many soils and in many hearts, but perseveres in his creative and humanistic endeavors forerver guided by the gentle spirit of Mahatma Gandhi whom he had the great privilege of meeting in 1947, in a post-partition refugee centre at Kingsway camp in Delhi. Dorotha Kozinska Art critic

SURAJ SADAN, the Artist