A major Indian art show in Israel

Art lovers in Israel will get a rare opportunity to closely look at the dynamic and diverse, thriving and throbbing art scene of India in an ambitious and diverse presentation of painting, photography, installation, video and sculpture works. One of their characteristics is multiplicity and recurrence of motifs or images densely bound together. This amply echoes the vivacious visual texture and chaotic expanses of the typical megalopolis.

Several talented artists like Jitish Kallat, Subodh Gupta, Bharti Kher, Riyas Komu, Sudarshan Shetty, L.N. Tallur, Ravi Agarwal, Raqs Media Collective, Atul Bhalla, Ranbir Kaleka, Sakshi Gupta, Shilpa Gupta, Rashmi Kaleka, T.V. Santhosh, and Gigi Scaria, among others are going to be featured in a new exhibition, entitled ‘Critical Mass’, at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

The works are firmly anchored in the present socio-political realities and how their multiple layers of meaning tend to reflect in varied responses to the rapid transformation: bursting megalopolis and wild countryside, the developing society and the millenary civilization, a rush toward the future and a strong traditional identity.

As India’s rapid economic growth and social transition continues, a strand of subtle contrast and curious complexity - little to do with its politics or its economy - is sprouting. The emergence of multitude of inter-linked issues regarding social inequality, environmental concerns, faulty development, urban-rural schism, gender and class divides makes the scenario a conundrum of extreme opposites. All these complexities are becoming the drivers for several contemporary Indian artists – prompting them to move away from the self to society. A major group exhibition in Israel testifies this transition.

An introductory note explains: “The notion of matter and material serves as a principle metaphor for the physical and visual experiences of the contemporary dynamic life in India. This overwhelming experience of density, noise, flow, and rich materiality is clearly reflected in the themes, materials, and visual aesthetics of the works featured."

They entail a sharp critique of consumerism and globalization, religious and political extremism and an ensuing tussle between tradition and modernity. An elaborate exhibition catalogue will carry elaborate essays on Indian culture and also on the socio-political shifts that are taking place in the sub-continent.