Art for everyone
An air of anticipation hung over the sprawling NSIC exhibition grounds, New Delhi as the seventh edition of four-day Indian Art Fair got underway last week. As always, the art show of the year opened with a preview for the cognoscenti--artists, gallerists, curators, private museum groups, critics and serious collectors--and the not so cognoscenti, among them people in search of the perfect buy to liven up their living rooms, celebs and socialites.
Thankfully the hoi polloi were allowed to pour in the thousands over the next three days -- and what a treat for the senses it was! Drawings, paintings, sculptures, photographs juggled for space with newer art forms -- installations, video art, shadow play and performances. And while people negotiated 85 art galleries and 3,500 works of art by 1,100 artists in labyrinthine corridors, the reaction was equally one of amazement, bemusement and wonder.
And no wonder. Visitors eagerly took in the works of cutting-edge artists like Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, MF Hussain; they stopped in their tracks to view the works of veteran painters KG Subramanyan, Somnath Hore, FN Souza, Krishen Khanna and Jamini Roy. There were newer but iconic artists Nalini Malani, Paresh Maity, while photographers Dayanita Singh and Pablo Bartholomew attracted their shares of raves. International art from countries like Singapore, US, Israel, Iran, UK, Latvia, Russia, Pakistan registered a presence.
Some of the works had clear political overtones. Iranian photographer, Azadeh Akhlaghi had taken shots based on written official accounts that detailed the assassinations of known left-leaning revolutionaries in her chilling, graphic series “By an Eyewitness”. In these works, she showed herself as observer by inserting herself in the images.
Meanwhile, young Indian painters Chitra Ganesh and Dhruvi Acharya undertook collaborative painting on site. Starting with a blank canvas that transformed into a finished composition over four days, they raised questions about the inevitable cycle of aging, illness and mortality.
Installations caused many to pause. There was Paresh Maity's “Procession”, an installation of 50 giant ants -- a tribute to the “resolute character of the ants and their humble achievements.”
Italian contemporary artist Franceso Clemente's enduring relationship with India and its craftspersons was reflected in “Taking Refuge”, a tent with painted Buddhas on its wall. Using appliqué, block printing and painting, Clemente created a work that expressed questions about the “cycles of life and death, demise and return”.
And of course the highlight was the transformation of everyday objects into objects d'art. Surendra Pal Joshi fused safety pins into a helmet; Florida-based Clarita Brinkerhoff used Swarovksi crystals to make a Koi fish, while six Swarovski peacocks sold like hot cakes. Dhaka-based Tayeba Begum Lipi fashioned a sewing machine of razor blades in memory of the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse.
Comments