‘Likewise’ by Jitish Kallat at ARNDT, Berlin

Berlin based Arndt & Partner (ARNDT) presents a Jitish Kallat solo show, entitled ‘Likewise’. The wide array of work captures the psychological strains of the mega-metropolis and evokes the themes of survival and sustenance that recur through his practice.

The grotesque-surreal and ironic imagery is composed of video, sculpture, photography and large format paintings. ‘Eat or to be eaten’ seems to be the question asked by the intricately treated sculpture of a gigantic, oversized kerosene stove titled ‘Annexation’. The sculpture has on its surface over a hundred images recreated from those found within the porch of the VT station (now renamed) building that is the hub of Mumbai’s railway commuter action.

The decorative architectural friezes of this structure, quite curiously, carry several images of animals that are devouring each other and clinging onto different kind of foodstuff; viewed together on a single sculpture, this particular turmoil is not unlike the day-to-day grind of survival, which this porch always witnesses.

The two large triptychs, seen in conjunction with the sculpture, evoke this very struggle daily. Like a crumbling cascade of narratives - cars, busses, people, animals, all pile up, interlaced with the hair of the persons, painted from photos snapped at railway stations. Stains and drips, descend from beneath the mouths of the bronze gargoyles that, in turn, clutch the paintings in their mouths.

A black, oily substance appears to seep out and form speech bubbles – their edges formed by an urban horizon line comprised of water towers, factories and houses. The backlit photo ‘Conditions Apply’ is reminiscent of schoolbook diagrams of lunar cycles. However, rotis (the Indian flatbreads) can be identified, on closer observation, representing the moon’s varied phases. ‘Forensic Trail Of The Banquet’ is a video projection that simulates a journey through dark, cryptic and hypnotic space.

When viewed a little longer it seems like floating cellular formations, suspended tumors etc. morphing the insides of the body with the dark, indeterminate cosmic space and evoking notions of survival, sustenance and mortality. With his photo-series ‘Chlorophyll Park’ (Mutatis Mutandis), the artist literally pulls the rug out from under the city’s chaotic traffic.