Bharti Kher’s work to form part of an international auction

As part of Phillips de Pury & Company s ‘BRIC 2011’ auction catalogue, curator Joseph Backstein writes on seven of the most exciting contemporary artists from Russia and an interview with Thukral and Tagra illustrates the New Delhi-based artists who emerged from a graphic design background to become contemporary Indian art’s most exciting young duo. From China featuring Zhang Huan, primarily a performance artist and one of the artists to emerge from the “Beijing East Village” commune and Gautier Deblonde photographs artist Yang Jiechang in his studio preparing works for his major exhibition in Rennes in May.

Phillips de Pury & Company's ‘BRIC 2011’ Auction highlights for India include ‘Invisible People’ is a large pentaptych created by Bharti Kher in 2006. The work consists of five separate reflective aluminum panels layered in a plethora of felt bindis of varying shapes and sizes. The spot of vermilion on the forehead, long a marker of Indian, specifically Hindu identity, appears here in its modern incarnation: a piece of adhesive fabric, available a variety of colors, shapes and combinations to suit every dress.

A mark of identity, the bindi has become a leitmotif in Kher’s vocabulary. Used as a material to articulate and animate her intentions, the bindis act as a medium, much like paint or clay, but with an inherited narrative creating a second skin to her works. The artist addresses a number of sensitive issues like class and consumerism, and draws on her personal experiences to reflect on these.

She is particularly known for her appropriation of the motif of bindi, a red dot on the forehead of married women in India, that’s looked at as a curious fashion accessory in the West. It appears in her work as a central motif, conveying a range of connotations and meanings whilst transforming surfaces and objects. Her life size sculptures of animals (deer, elephants, hyenas, etc) done in fibreglass explore her interest in kitsch. They demonstrate a witty and sarcastic side of her creation. Her art practice encompasses digital photography as well.