A new series of works by Atul Dodiya

A new series of works by Atul Dodiya, entitled ‘Bako exists. Imagine’ takes place at Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai. An accompanying note states that ‘Bako exists. Imagine’ is a text-based work which consists of twelve paintings and an installation with nine wooden cabinets. It adds: “These poetic episodes are based on a fiction, written in Gujarati by a major contemporary Gujarati poet Labhshanker Thaker.

Bako is a young boy who meets Bapu - Mahatma Gandhi, in his sleep. In fact, they both meet each other in their sleep and talk. A kind of fantasy, which allows and evokes childhood memories... There is no fence of age between this old man and the young boy. They joke, they laugh, they talk abstract.

In these twelve blackboard paintings, along with the cabinet installation, autobiographical references gradually mingle into a larger creative journey. The intention is – the viewer no more remains an outsider but subconsciously, becomes an invisible character involved along with Baka and Bapu in this hilarious fantasy.

Pioneering the first generation of artists from India who identify themselves as postmodern and global, Atul Dodiya's work accesses a rich vocabulary of stylistic and iconographic allusions from both Indian and Western art, along with imagery and ideas rooted in film, history, popular culture, and literature. He is renowned for use of clever quotational tricks and compositional witticisms, along with an exceptional mastery over a full range of styles that encourage frequent improvisation and reinvention.

Atul Dodiya, born in 1959 in Mumbai, is considered one of the flag bearers of the new generation of postmodern Indian arts. His work is marked for the richness of its stylistic vocabulary along with iconographic references essentially rooted in Indian and Western art history. Known to be a painter with grasp of quotation and composition, he has attained fame internationally for his iconic work.