‘Fieldnotes’ by Kallat and Tallur’s ‘Chromatophobia’

An overview of Entries for The Škoda Prize for contemporary Indian art this year were down to 128 from 169 the previous year, attributed partially to shifting of focus to fairs on part of galleries that hosted to fewer solos as well as the inclusion of a few established artists like Alwar Balasubramaniam in the nomination list.

The composition of the longlist this year testified that the award committee was grading exhibitions, and not artists per se. We give you an overview of the shortlisted exhibitions that are on view at the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.

‘Fieldnotes: Tomorrow Was Here Yesterday’
It was conceived by Tasneem Zakaria Mehta as a residency project. It linked Jitish Kallat’s obsession with Mumbai to the museum’s history and architecture. He wanted the works to act as conduits between the existing pieces at the site. One installation, for instance, alluded to the city’s construction boom with more than hundred resin sculptures, which resembled bamboo scaffolding. ‘Annexation’ was another work on view.

'LN Tallur’s ‘Chromatophobia: The Fear of Money'

The exhibition courtesy Nature Morte at its New Delhi space was also shortlisted for The Škoda Prize. Known for his kinetic sculptures which often comment on society and politics, the artist’s works combine a sharp wit along with a prodigious use of materials. His works may appear quintessentially ‘Indian’ at first, but they certainly participate in the most advanced dialogues surrounding sculpture today and reveal themselves to be both cosmopolitan and historically astute.

Many of the works featured in the exhibition used the classical sculpture of India as their starting points. These ‘found objects’ were then combined and manipulated, confounding the established categorizations we usually interpret art: figuration and abstraction, traditional and contemporary, decorative and functional, creative and destructive, religious and secular. The title ironically situated his practice within the intersections of desire, value, pedigree and psychology.

The winning exhibition was that of artist Navin Thomas’s ‘From the Town’s End...’, previously showcased at GallerySKE, Bangalore.