Between Soil and Silence | Curator’s Note on Zainul Abdeen

There are some artists who arrive with noise, and there are others who arrive with clarity. Zainul belongs to the latter. Even at a young age, it was evident that he possessed a rare command over his craft. Medium, material, form, composition, colour, every element spoke of someone who understood not just how to make, but how to mean. Technically sharp, aesthetically assured, at 30 he is already an artist to be taken seriously. And more importantly, to be nurtured.

Zainul is part of our ongoing series The Future of Indian Art, and rightfully so. His work does not shout. It listens. It observes. It holds. It speaks, yes, but through stillness. That silence, that quiet poise within his paper and canvases, is not easy to create. And even harder to communicate. But Zainul does it effortlessly.

This solo exhibition revolves around a subject that is at once ancient and urgent, farming. India is, and has always been, a krishi-pradhan country. Agriculture is not just an occupation here, it is the pulse of our people. And yet, in the last two decades, very few contemporary artists have stayed committed to this theme with depth and consistency. Some have alluded to it through abstraction or metaphor, but rare are those who have lived with it and let it breathe through their work. Zainul is one of them.

As India steps into the global conversation, Indian art must carry with it more than technique. It must carry its memory, its mud, its music, its labour. Zainul’s paintings do exactly this. For artists, for collectors, for those who care to observe, his work is a living example of what it means to know your land, stand by it, and translate that knowing into a visual language that can travel. Not as spectacle, but as sincerity.

These works are not just visual compositions. They are emotional compositions. They reconnect us to nature, to pause, to peace. In a time when the world is drowning in speed, Zainul gives us space to breathe. In a world of noise, his works offer focus, a new kind of currency.

And then there is something even rarer, character. Whether painted in black, in the dignity of monochrome, or in the weight of soil-toned browns and whites, each work carries a distinct personality. From raw observation to refined decision-making, where to cut, what to keep, how to translate, his process is meditative. The textures, the carvings, the materials, they are not just surface. They are soul. What you see is not just art. It is evidence of attention and conviction.

And yet, this is only the beginning.

As we move into a future shaped by climate change, ecological loss, and global food crises, farming will no longer be just a subject. It will become an awakening. Artists like Zainul, who have already placed this subject at the centre of their work, are not only ahead of their time. They are the ones who will anchor it.

For collectors, these works hold long-term value. Not only for their creative merit, but for their emotional relevance. These are the kinds of works that, when placed on a wall, do not just decorate. They ground. They remind us of where we come from, and quietly, where we must return.

Zainul’s signature style, his clear thought, and his unshaken voice at this age is rare. And this is exactly why platforms must exist. Not just to showcase, but to protect, to support, and to honour.  At DRS Arts Company, this has always been our intention. To stand by such artists. To nurture them. To let them speak, not louder, but truer. Because artists like Zainul are not just shaping Indian art. They are shaping India’s cultural presence in the world. And that deserves not just applause, but attention.

Click here to view the collection