Contemporary artists from India in Italy - II

Torino (Italy) based Luce Gallery presents a major group show 'Indian Rainbow', featuring prominent contemporary Indian artists, namely Atul Dodiya, Justin Ponmany, Thukral & Tagra, Jagannath Panda and TV Santhosh.

Jiten Thukral was born in the state of Punjab in 1976, where as Sumir Tagra was born in Delhi in 1978. Working together, Thukral & Tagra have made a name for themselves as expert graphic artists and designers. They effectively explore the drastic changes that their country and Punjab in particular. The two usually design their creation on PC before they work on it. While developing it, the talented duo improvises on each other’s ideas.

Designing may have taken a backseat, but they are acutely aware of the social impact that design can have. Both artists engage with sensitive issues such as immigration and consumerism through provocative experimental research that stylistically transcends the fine boundaries of Pop Art. While playful and humorous, their work also raises pertinent questions about the nature of Indian identity as articulated by Indians themselves and projected on to the aspiring nation by the rest of the world.

Among other participating artists, TV Santhosh, born in Kerala in 1968, creates work that maps the trend of violence and unrest and its oft-representation as a spectacle in the contemporary world. These are the bold themes that he provocatively deals with in his work. One of India's most talented artists of his generation, Santhosh has been witness to a meteoric rise carving out a niche for himself in India and internationally.

By drawing upon source material from newspapers, websites and magazines, he creates polarized images whose violent undertone gets further emphasized by the dramatic usage of acid colours.He strives to project the truth, hidden somewhere in the barrage of images in media to present alternative narratives. The artist elaborates: “It’s not easy to distinguish between factual representation and distortion of facts. As an artist, I strive to formulate a language capable of capturing notions of reality.”