London based Grosvenor Vadehra presents‘The Indian (Sub)Way’

London based Grosvenor Vadehra presents a group exhibition, entitled ‘The Indian (Sub)Way’. The show curated by art critic and curator Yashodhara Dalmia highlights the ‘Indian Way’.

The participating artists are Atul Bhalla, Anita Dube, Anandjit Ray, GR Iranna, Gargi Raina, Gigi Scaria, Jagannath Panda, Manjunath Kamath, Mithu Sen, Nataraj Sharma, Probir Gupta, Ravinder Reddy, Riyas Komu, Shibu Natesan, Sudhanshu Sutar, Sujit SN, Sunoj D, and TV Santhosh. It comprises paintings, photographs, digital works and installations by these contemporary artists that articulate their experiences of living in present times in a forthright manner.

Ravinder Reddy's sensuous head - both iconic in its gaze and yet punctuated by hubris - characterizes the undercurrents of this event. The large digital work by artist Gigi Scaria refers the metropolis with its ever-growing business districts and pleasure zones in a humorous yet poignant vein. The high-rise buildings, however, rest on either side of a damaged flyover with traffic smoothly flowing below, building a dramatic interface.

The participating artists invent devices that hone in on the glaring contradictions of a country that despite its problematics is surging ahead on a curvilinear highway. An accompanying note asks: “The traditional way of being, formal yet feisty, altered with the modernization process which gained pace after India's independence. In recent decades the high-tech onslaught brought about by globalisation has introduced sweeping changes within cities and has not left villages untouched. The uneven form of development creates bizarre, somewhat comic situations where an eclectic internationalism jostles with the local, even archaic modes. The artists seem to ask 'Where indeed is the 'Indian Way' heading?'

“While the relatively stable economic situation has brought the country into international focus, its weak infrastructure, glaring gaps between wealth and poverty and the failure of governance are the flip side of this progress. The contemporary Indian artists scan with an ironical eye, the new glittering towers and glitzy malls conjuncted with the slums, cesspools and other detritus of existence. The extreme well being and cringing deprivations now largely provide the binaries of existence.”