Balu Jivya Mashe

Balu Jivya Mashe is the son of the renowned Warli artist Jivya Soma Mashe. His pictorial style is rooted in the tradition of Warli, with rhythmic, simplified forms representing the complexities of the world around him. In 2007, the artist exhibited some of his recent paintings along with his father at Gallery Chemould. The paintings were noted for both Balu continues the tradition of Warli painting along with his brother, Sadashiv Mashe. He has shown in many international exhibitions all over the world.

Warli is one of the oldest forms of Indian folk art and has its origins in the Warli region of Maharashtra. This form of tribal art mainly makes use of geometric shapes such as circles, triangles and squares to form numerous shapes depicting life and beliefs of the Warli tribe. In olden days, Warli art was done on walls on special occasions. The painting would be done over a brown background which would basically be a mixture of mud and cow dung cakes. The white pigment used to draw shapes and figures would be a mixture of rice mixed with water and gum. One of the most popular themes in Warli art is a spiral chain of humans around one central motif. This is in accordance with their belief that life is an eternal journey, and it has no beginning and end.