‘Line As Witness’ presents works by Yusuf at Black Cube Gallery, New Delhi

An exhibition titled “Line As Witness”, presenting works by artist Yusuf, will be held from 29 March to 11 April 2026 in Sunder Nagar, New Delhi. Organised by Black Cube Gallery in collaboration with Shantanu Sharma, the show brings together a body of work spanning acrylic paintings, mixed media explorations, and sculptural forms. The exhibition will be open daily from 11 am to 6 pm, with entry free and open to all on prior appointment.

Exploring the Line as a Visual Language

For Yusuf, the line is not simply a formal element of drawing but a fundamental structure through which the world becomes visible. Over decades of artistic practice, he has returned repeatedly to this elemental mark, exploring its potential to record movement, construct form, and register gesture. In his work, the line functions as both subject and method, allowing abstraction to intersect with perception and lived experience.

Movement, Stillness, and Spatial Fields

In many of the paintings presented in “Line As Witness,” layers of lines form atmospheric fields across the surface. These visual structures oscillate between states of motion and stillness. At times, they resemble waves of energy moving through space; at others, they appear as quiet grids stabilising the composition. This interplay invites viewers to shift between dynamic and contemplative modes of seeing.

Organic Forms within Abstract Structures

Within these structured fields, Yusuf introduces organic forms that appear to hover or dissolve in the pictorial space. The shapes often suggest fragments drawn from nature evoking dunes shaped by wind, cellular structures, or fleeting memories of landscapes. Rather than depicting nature directly, the artist references processes such as growth, erosion, and the passage of time, creating a visual language that might be described as abstract realism.

Highlights of the Exhibition

The exhibition brings together several aspects of Yusuf’s long engagement with abstraction.

Key elements in the exhibition include:

• Acrylic paintings built around layered linear structures
• Mixed media works exploring texture and gesture
• Sculptural forms extending the idea of line into three-dimensional space
• Works reflecting decades of experimentation with abstraction and perception

Artist Background

Born in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh in 1952, Yusuf studied painting and sculpture in the 1970s. His practice has long centred on minimal forms and the expressive potential of line, often working with ink on rice paper alongside other media.

Over the course of his career, he has held 25 solo exhibitions and participated in significant international events including the VII Triennale in New Delhi (1992) and the Bangladesh Biennale in Dhaka (1995). His work has also been exhibited in Japan and Korea.

Yusuf has received several major recognitions, including the Raza Award and the National Award from the Lalit Kala Akademi. He also received the National Fellowship from the Ministry of Culture, New Delhi. The artist played an important role in establishing the Graphic Workshop at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, where he continues to work and contribute to the institution’s graphic arts programme.

Philosophical Reflections on the Line

The conceptual foundation of the exhibition reflects Yusuf’s long-standing engagement with the philosophical possibilities of the line. As he notes, “When a point moves, a line is drawn.” Through this simple gesture, the artist examines the relationship between control and spontaneity, presence and absence, and the spaces that exist between marks.

Artist J. Swaminathan once observed that “There is none better than Yusuf who understands the meaning and magic of the line.” In Yusuf’s work, this seemingly modest element becomes a site of inquiry where perception, abstraction, and memory converge.

Event Details

Takeaway

“Line As Witness” presents a focused exploration of Yusuf’s long engagement with the expressive and philosophical dimensions of the line. Through paintings, mixed media works, and sculptural forms, the exhibition reflects a practice that moves between discipline and intuition. By foregrounding the simplest visual element—the line—the show invites viewers to consider how minimal gestures can hold complex experiences of perception, time, and memory.