Ranbir Kaleka's work has been described as ‘creating a seemingly living tableau on a canvas and screen.’ It revolves around producing art in an intermediate space between a painting and running visual (video), which is not as much a hybrid as a transmutation.In fact, viewing his work is like a manipulation of time in which one may both experience the moment of action as well as view it from above. Born in 1953, he spent his formative in Patiala, and studied at the College of Art in Chandigarh (1970-75). He received a Masters Degree in Painting from the Royal College of Art, London (1987). Underlining his credentials as an artist of international standing, his work has been hosted in many museum exhibitions of Indian contemporary art over the past decade.
In 2007, he was commissioned to create a permanent video installation for Chicago’s new Spertus Museum. His work was included in the Sydney Biennale in 2008, and also formed part of the ‘India: public places, private spaces’ show dedicated to contemporary photography and video art in India at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Incidentally, ‘Sweet Unease’ is the internationally celebrated artist’s first solo in Mumbai. Ranbir Kaleka’s work tends to evoke a sense of the fantastical, at times. An essay by writers Himanshu Bhagat and Supriya Nair (The Mint) explains:
“It’s the multi-layered, long drawn out sophistication of the narratives of each of Kaleka’s installations that complicates them, even more than their conceptualism. In fusing both video art and painting, his practice finds its most spectacular idiom. For example, in ‘The Kettle’, repeated viewings can draw art viewers into a contemplation of time and its illusory effects. It’s as if the artist opens a window through which tales come pouring through.”The crux of this effect is evident in an extended ‘Sweet Unease’ itself. Its characters tend to provoke orientation and disorientation part in their endless, ghost story of a dazzling dance.
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