There is a degree of romanticism in the authenticity of Kanji's artistic expression. He wants to offer an antidote to a world afflicted by the less than pleasant elements of conflict and commerce. Though he is not the obscure artist of popular myth who labours away and rejects renown to pursue his own vision, he loathes the intrigues of the art market and is unconcerned about its whims and demands. His art is the ultimate vindication of his tremendous skill and he creates art for its own sake and to satisfy certain burning internal compulsions.

Kanji's oeuvre is a continuum and every image a spot on that continuum. It cries out that it is impossible to overcome or forget certain basic existential questions. Yet, he performs no exorcisms or offers no renaissance. Artistic clichés are there to be retrieved from the mawkish, the banal and the morbid, which he reinvests with the force of conviction and truth. He searches for answers through com plexity and reflection. His points of reference are never ostentatious or misleading. Most importantly, they are intrinsic to the work rather than artificially imposed upon them. The continuous search is for techniques to relate ideas and concepts without in any way presuming moral certainty. This rejection of easy solutions and historical amnesia is what makes Kanji's work so appealing.

This is talent which vigorously grabs one's attention, ridding itself of the decades of pretentious sententiousness which is so much a part of contemporary Indian art. The conceptual message and its material realization are, naturally, of equal importance to the artist and is a fitting riposte to those who feel, quite incorrectly, that the importance of material and form can be compromised in order to stress the meaning or context of the work. The fundamental question he asks is a compelling one: what are we in danger of losing? The answer, in his opinion, is our reason as well as our humanity.
Kanji makes a forceful point that his art transcends the merely visual. It is an intriguing exploration of place and time, of choices to be made, an unveiling of concealed realities. It is a profound cultural statement that engages with matters that simply cannot be ignored: the future of the planet; the imminence of disaster and calamity; the anxious prospect of revival among the ruins. All this, fortunately, free of the tedium of artistic rhetoric and posturing. A virtuoso bursting with ideas and energy, Kanji succeeds, time and again, in converting ordinary visual facts into something extraordinary.

Chari was educated at Cambridge University where he read history. He writes and lectures widely on art, history and culture including at the Victoria Memorial in Calcutta. He is the art critic for the Calcutta Statesman and contributes to Art India Magazine. He also writes on diplomacy and historical matters and is currently working on a book on the viceroys of India.