A cross section of contemporary paintings

'Cold Blast' as an exhibition, presents before us a cross section of contemporary paintings done by Indian contemporary artists. These artists experiment not only with the ideas and make ideological interventions but also they indulge in experimenting with various materials and surfaces. Also, this show of seven artists proves that aesthetic interventions are possible even through the medium of painting even if some people say that painting has now become a 'conventional' medium.

Critique of totalitarian ideologies has a perennial charm for the artists. Vinod Balak presents an ironic world where the social and democratic ideologies transform themselves into totalitarian regimes in due course of time, and also he envisions worlds where erstwhile egalitarian ideas becoming contemporary market commodities. Through the mode of allegory he creates icons of our times. In 'My Master was a Communist', the artist weaves several spheres of socio-cultural production into one singular image.

In 'Pig Factory' too Vinod Balak brings forth the same dark humor through the evocation of an 'animal farm' where pigs slowly become the wielders of power. The ordered nature of a pig sty and their uniformed presence and the camaraderie amongst them doubtlessly underline the fact that the artist is hell bent on forwarding a critique on the existing forms of communist ideologies. Beyond, the political color, these works become examples of contemporary human beings who are led by avarice and herd mentality.

On the other hand, Sujil's language looks too conventional to be defiant. The watercolor wash and the precision drawing make the onlooker think about the golden days of artistic craftsmanship. The subtlety of rendering and the tenderness of the images position the artist as a romantic who has been searching for his wilderness to lose himself.

Though the works give an impression of a romantic painter, the intensity with which the artist treats them tell us that the artist aspires for the purity of the mediums that he uses and through this purity he wants to reach out to ideas that are dear to him; from love to nature. Purity is not a negative notion in Sujil. For him, purity is all about identity; giving autonomy to each aspect of his works.

(Information courtesy: Chaithanya Art Gallery, Kochi)

Spotlight on seven upcoming Indian contemporary artists

The seven artists namely, Aditi Pande, Dibin Tilakan, Saju Kunhan, Sudheesh K, Sujil, Sujith KS and Vinod Balak, who feature in a new group show at Kochi based Chaithanya Art Gallery belong to the category of the young Indian contemporary artists. Their local affiliations and global understandings play a very pivotal role in establishing their identities as 'contemporary artists'.

For Saju Kunhan, as curator of the show JohnyML explains, these implosions are the most important outcome of the life changing incidents across the world. Taking the city of Mumbai as a case study or as an aesthetic image, even without highlighting the landmarks for identification, Saju Kunhan portrays 'a city' as a 'cold blast'. It does not hurt instead it allures the mind with the beauty of the blast. However, for the artist, this blast is cold because the heat of it has already created a series of implosions.

K.Sudheesh tells the viewer a different story; an extremely provincial and local one and with the artistic freedom to oscillate between different worlds, he connects it with the contemporary global realities. By de-layering the society like a clinician, he arranges different layers that he has extracted in a folk perspective. He produces the criticality of this particular society, which is spectacular in its own ways, for a moment detaching himself from it.

Known for his strongly colored and magnificently peopled surreal worlds, Sujith KS, in the present series has taken a different approach to deal with the internal turmoil of a thinking individual living in the midst of social spectacles. With an enlightened awareness about nature and the current debates on the depletion of environment, he intervenes in this discourse through a different visual mode, or to put it in different words, through a different voice.

The artist does not lament on the forests that we have cut down. He does not speak of the rivers that have gone dry. Instead, he paints a landscape which is possible if human beings aspire to make them a reality. These are sustainable models of landscapes mingled with a sort of religious reference.

Aditi Pande - the only female and non-Malayali artist in ‘Cold Blast’

Among the participating artists in a new group show, entitled ‘Cold Blast’ at Kochi based Chaithanya Art Gallery, Aditi Pande is the only female artist and the only non--Malayali artist.

She deftly her status as an 'Indian contemporary' artist through playing around with the subtle nuances of two 'localities' in her works. reveals curator Johny ML. Though, she does not stress too much on autobiographical renditions through her visuals, she takes special care to incorporate her provincial understanding of life vis-à-vis the existence of a young woman in contemporary India.

In a work titled 'Break Time', she highlights the provincial identity of her own artistic self by creating the ambience of a classroom, where the protagonist, interestingly faceless, is left alone in the midst of a young children's graffiti. In the second painting titled 'My Little Warriors', Aditi portrays herself as sleeping Gulliver surrounded by several Lilliputians.

Digging into history and mythology is an interesting act of artist Dibin Thilakan to bring out exceptionally provocative images in his works. Replete with a sense of dark humor and arrogant and irreverent images, his paintings have been hailed for their raw energy and force. Though, some of the works carry the signs of an 'absolute' male perspective of the world, a deeper look would reveal that he attempts are not to demean the opposite gender but to bring her presence in a provocative way to mock at the male perversions prevalent in a spectacular society, which even thrives on virtual pornography.

The dark humor in his works reveals for us a world where politics is mocked and mythology is re-articulated with the artist's surrogate as the central figure. Seen against the daily occurrences of bomb blasts and terrorist acts across the world, explosions and blasts have gained a sort of social legitimacy not only as tragedy but also as spectacle.

Explosions bring in the pictures of death and destructions. The frozen and the moving images of the affected people almost come and go before our eyes as in a dumb charade. But none cares about the series of implosions caused by these explosions. These implosions are emotional, intellectual and spiritual. A city, when reorganized by the acts of terrorism and political aggression of the state, things implode in people's mind.

(Information courtesy: Chaithanya Art Gallery, Kochi)

Indian art market now on a more solid footing

After a sharp correction that has virtually eliminated the speculators, the art market is now on a more solid footing. The ArtTactic Indian Art Market Confidence Indicator (November 2010) has staged a remarkable recovery since May 2009 largely backed by the improved secondary and auction scene for Modern Indian art. More importantly, art investment as a theme is back!

It was since the 1990s that the ‘NRIs in Dubai, London and New York, flush with their new-found wealth, joining the rush to buy art. The trend continues until today and is one to last for the years to come, considering the vast potential of Indian art. Stan Sesser of The Wall Street Journal mentions in a news report (Running of the 'Bulls': A $2.8 Million Record): “At the recent auction at Christie's in New York, many of the collectors bidding in person were ethnic Indians, not many older than their 30s. The interest is now seen building around a talented younger generation in the country.

Margherita Stancati in The Wall Street Journal new report (‘Who Buys Indian Art?’) echoes the view: “As India’s economy is growing, so is the portion of the population that can afford to invest in art. This means many buyers are actually new to the art market. As a result, the profile of collectors is changing too.” Dr Hugo Weihe, Christie’s Senior Vice-President & International Director (Asian Art), points out in a recent essay that the classical arts & miniature paintings have been collected for a long time in the West. But now the interest is awakening in India itself- something long overdue, in many ways.

The values still look ‘very reasonable’, looking at the longer term and taking into account the relative scarcity of the material still available, the expert feels. On the other hand, Holly Brackenbury, Sotheby’s deputy director (Islamic and Indian Art), says it will take 5-10 years for India to catch up with China and Russia in terms of art sales.

A kaleidoscopic view of contemporary and modern art market

A recent BBC News repot pegs the value of the modern and contemporary Indian art market at an estimated $400 million (£250 million) even while the world art market value is said to be about $40 billion (£25 billion). So the country represents just a percentage of the global share, which is not very encouraging. But that also leaves immense scope for growth and expansion. But how to make this happen in real terms…that’s the real challenge!

One obvious ingredient is to set up more world class art institutions. Several private museums are coming up and that’s a promising development, but they won’t be able to keep up the good work without the necessary support from the Indian government in terms of tax benefits and import restrictions. India needs more private public partnership in the arts sector.

Painting a positive picture in this regard, The New York Times columnist Somini Sengupta notes: “Apart from Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), at least two other private museums are in the planning stages, one in Coimbatore, the other in eastern Kolkata. And there is already one devoted to new, often unknown contemporary work from across South Asia (Devi Art Foundation), which reflects the interests of its backers, the mother-and-son duo Lekha & Anupam Poddar.”

Clearly, awareness of art and art practices is a vital aspect that demands a greater emphasis even as an increasing number of collectors are queuing up. The recent Deloitte art & finance global conference with a focus on the increased importance of art & collectibles, covered a range of topics like Lessons learned from the art market crash of 2008, recent developments in art & law, new directions in art investment, a vision for the art markets, a new art from emerging markets, art philanthropy , growth of art market research firms and databases etc.

India needs similar such initiatives to highlight value of art as a mirror to society and self-introspection, apart from the investment angle and sheer decorative purpose. Most gallerists, curators and art practitioners point to a general lack of understanding. They also concede that the task of creating conducive culture will demand resourcefulness. Yet a section of them are optimistic that things will change.

‘Something I've been meaning to tell you’

Curated by Sunil Gupta and Vidya Shivadas, a new group show at Vadehra Art Gallery (Okhla) features works by Anusha Yadav, Clare Arni, Gauri Gill, Nandini Valli Muthiah, Priya Sen, Sarindar Dhaliwal, Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi, and Sunil Gupta.

Explaining the core concept, an accompanying note mentions: What’s becoming increasingly apparent from the history of Indian photography is the preoccupation with the family portrait. The considerable formalities of the studio portrait have given way to the snapshot and the more intimate subject matter of art making. As the extended family is under stress, pressure is increasing to divulge its secrets.

The multiplicity of relationships that individuals have, are often managed by a cloak of secrecy about real and/or imaginary feelings about siblings, parents, children and others. How and what to reveal seems to be one of our paramount contemporary concerns. Meanwhile society itself is changing; now more accepting of a range of a family structures from one individual alone to same-sex families. The title of the exhibition comes from Alice Munro, a Canadian writer of short stories that extensively explore this sensitive and difficult terrain.

Anusha Yadav's online ‘Indian Memory Project’ where people are asked to upload a photo and relate the story of the relative takes the personal archive into a contested public space. Clare Arni's extended portrait of the Belgian woman ascetic Meera as she emerges from her thirty year spiritual retreat spent in a cave in Hampi. Gauri Gill's extraordinarily evocative witness of the short life of Jannat from rural Rajasthan- not a sociological study nor a memorial. Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi's record of his father battling brain cancer.

Sarindar Dhaliwal's video piece, ‘Olive, Almond and Mustard’ a Diaspora artist's reflection on the Punjabi village of her birth, the memory of her mother's tales and the nursery rhymes of her adopted homelands. Priya Sen's video project 'Antecedent Garden', takes her through a continuous museum of places and childhoods - both simultaneously becoming signifiers of the future, as well as a constantly changing past.

Nandini Valli Muthiah's series, ‘Remembering to Forget’ where children enact, in fancy dress, roles chosen by their parents - a performance that for many will remain with them through their adult years. Sunil Gupta's ongoing project, ‘Country’, investigating the traces of his father's family in rural Uttar Pradesh and its three hundred year trajectory into the modern world.

(Information courtesy: Vadehra Art Gallery, Okhla)

Public participation in museum activities widen thanks to the Internet

For those looking for that ‘stand-alone piece or viewing experience’ on the move, institutions like MOMA have introduced apps for latest mobile devices. One such experiment was done for its show, entitled ‘Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York’ in February 2011. Close to 50,000 people downloaded the free iPhone application.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s international network added new meaning and context to the democratization of art last summer with the launch of its YouTube Play project. Any user with a computer and a video camera could vie for a deserving place in its public video-art Biennial that was organized at all its branches in October. (The videos were on display on YouTube and in the museums.) The event was very much successful and attracted almost 23,500 submissions from over 90 countries. The number of viewer on YouTube was 24 million.

Enthused by its success, the Guggenheim is in discussions with the video sharing site about the next edition. The Guggenheim’s chief curator based in New York, Nancy Spector, states: “The event gave us the ability and opportunity to touch people instantaneously. It was a good entrance into a medium, which was always thought to be low culture but is fast emerging as an art form.”

For many museums, sites act as the main entry point. The Indianapolis Museum of Art Attendance figure was 430,000 visitors in 2010, but its site had close to one million users., The Indianapolis Art Museum director, Maxwell L. Anderson, has been quoted as saying: “We’ve to be relevant on the Internet by constantly making our information more and more interesting.''

One way, he revealed, was with what he termed the accumulated power of ‘collective thinking or wisdom’. And so a couple of years ago, the museum unveiled artbabble.org, a site with videos from institutions all across the globe. The museum started with six partners for the venture and now it has nearly 30 around the world.