India’s top artists create bewildering bat art

Like any sporting activity, art challenges boundaries of human expression and skills – both of the body and the mind as well as its creative instincts. It’s this inner inextricable intertwining and dynamic play a new public art project-cum-exhibition looks to explore, Archana Bahl Sapra, co-curator of the project courtesy Arts4All stated.

The participating artists, some of India’s top names, were asked to create a new innovative language in their inimitable distinctive styles and signature forms to turn lines colors and different motifs into playing fields. An IANS news report brings out the interesting features of the public installations created as follows:

• The imagery was a contrast to the bats - the medium. Inspired by Indian mythology, traditions and lifestyles, all the artists have sought to interpret anecdotes from Krishna Leela, Ramayana, lifestyles, nature, ethnic iconography and Indian figurative motifs to bring out the synergy between the culture of cricket and the Indian way of life.
• Both are reflections of a certain culture, the news report quotes Chintan Upadhayay, who mentioned, "Cricket is something everybody is attached to - it is entertainment. For me, it is a cultural phenomenon. The pace of the game has game has picked up. The test matches have lost their popularity. The T20 matches represent the fast-growing economy." His iconic metaphor Chintu represents the new India in his bewildering bat art.
• For Seema Kohli and Jayasri Burman, the bat drew parallels with Lord Krishna's childhood sport with the ball and lore from Ramayana respectively. Art and cricket connect well because "the fine of art of cricket and Indian aesthetics are very creative today", Paresh Maity stated. He told IANS: "The project is an example how a cricket bat can become a piece of multi-dimensional art."

According to the artist, "the scope of contemporary art was changing and was growing everyday". "Art cannot remain confined to a piece of paper. In time, it will go to different dimensions and become completely public," he concluded.