In the Indian Art News

I have found a few thinks of interest in the Indian Art news-

First the good news, Dayanita Singh et al. Awarded Prince Claus Award -

The Prince Claus Award for culture and development was awarded last month with its major recipient and one of its minor recipients, Indira Goswami (writer) and Dayanita Singh (photographer) both contemporary Indian artists prominent in their respective fields. The award, which has been handed out annually since 1997 is intended to honor and encourage the work of artists, thinkers and cultural organizations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. This years theme was Culture and the Human Body, which Miss Singh certainly explores with her intimately humane, highly contextualized, portraits. See the links below for information on the award as well as further links to examples of Singh's work:

http://www.princeclausfund.org/nl/what_we_do/awards/PrinceClausAwardDayanitaSingh.shtml - award information

And the bad news, Indian artist S. H. Raza finds exhibition of his work full of fakes.

See excerpts below from the Times Online

S.H. Raza, one of the country's foremost artists, attended an opening for an exhibition of his paintings in Delhi – only to discover that most were fakes.

Raza, who is based in Paris, had contributed some drawings to the show at the Dhoomimal Gallery while the gallery had borrowed about 30 more paintings – supposedly his early works – from his nephew.

"When I reached the gallery and started looking at the canvases on the walls, I was stunned," Mr Raza wrote in an Indian newspaper.

The scandal highlights the lucrative opportunities for forgers in India, which has witnessed an unprecedented boom in demand for local modern and contemporary art over the past few years.

The value of Indian art sold at auction has risen from about $5 million (£3.4 million) in 2003 to $150 million last year and the local art market in India is now estimated to be worth around £200 million.

But art experts and dealers say that one of the main risks for buyers is that India does not have any fixed mechanism for authentication of art works.

"Forgery is a tremendous problem now," said Mrs Jain. "In the last 10-15 years, so much money has come into the art market and a lot of people who are buying don't have much experience."

To Read the compleat article- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5544692.ece

Things to look for in 2009

Tamarind Art is looking forward to an exciting year in 2009! We have a number of exciting shows in the works. We are also working on extending our cultural events.
We will have music and dance events, book readings and a very thought provoking lecture series about not only Indian Art but also where the art market in general is going.

We are still looking for people to be involved in these events if you know of anyone please have them contact Tamarind Art info@tamarindart.com 212-990-9000. We want to have as many people involved as possible.

Spotlight on Kausik Mukhopadhyay

Kausik Mukhopadhyay was born in 1960, was trained in Shantiniketan and lives in Mumbai. He is a recipient of a 1990-91 Fellowship at Kanoria Centre for the Art, Ahmedabad; a 1994-95 Fellowship for Artists Working in India from the Inlaks Foundation; and a 2002 Charles Wallace Grant for residency at Gasworks, London.
His work has been exhibited throughout India at galleries and museums in Bangalore, Bangladesh, Bombay, Calcutta and New Delhi, among others. In 1998 Mukhopadhyay exhibited in Presence of the Past – A Response to the British Museum Exhibition “Enduring Image” as a Gift to India on its Celebration of 50 Years of Independence, NCPA, Bombay. And in 2000, he exhibited in Art for the Art District, a site specific work for the Kalaghoda Artfest, Bombay. Internationally, Mukhopadhyay’s work has shown in “Century City – Art and Culture in the Metropolis” at Tate Modern in London (2001), at the Stephen Lawrence Gallery of Greenwich University, London (2002), “Edge of Desire,” in Perth, Ausralia (2004), and at Tamarind Art, New York in 2006 (“Reverse Depth”), and again in 2007 in “Maps, Metaphors and Mythologies”.

Mukhopadhyay’s installation art at first appears whimsical and childlike, but upon closer consideration, one is struck by a clever sophistication in its underlying message. Much of his work is composed of found objects given a second life by being taken apart and put together again in a new way. In a culture where recycling is a viable way of life for many in the lower classes, those who cannot afford the latest gadgets and appliances often find ingenious ways of reusing discarded objects to meet their needs. With a tongue-in-cheek humor, Mukhopadhyay aims his reuse commodities at the bourgeoisie, who are ever on the lookout for the latest fad, the newest technique or process on the never-ending quest to outdo their neighbor.

His 2002-03 exhibit entitled “Toofun Mail” is a train made up of pots and pans and an electrical motor, going around a circular track at a snail’s pace. A little wooden hammer taps out in comical slo-mo rhythm, neutralizing the powerful image of the locomotive, India’s first colonial machine other than the printing press.

“City of Spectacle,” a cartoon-like representation of Mumbai, was exhibited at Tamarind Art in 2006. Composed of wooden blocks covered with architectural renderings and toys brought to life with electrical contraptions, this city of whirligigs, clinking hammers, bobbing doll heads and flying rickshaws sits atop three eight-foot high pedestals which, when viewed from below, appear to be a complex and urbane metropolis. One views the city as an inaccessible icon—as it must appear to the working class responsible for building its foundations. When one ascends the attached ladders to view the exhibit close-up, the exposed wooden blocks and electrical devices are revealed. Of the exhibit, Mukhopadhyay says, “Mumbai is going through a frenzied state of urban development. The exclusive areas with its malls and housing societies, highly protected and polished, stands a little away from the rest of the city. This thickly populated city can have these developments only by pushing away the less privileged others out. The city loses its gloss when looked from a closer quarter. It reveals wooden blocks with pasted paper and mechanical devices.”

Mukhopadhyay’s 2008 works include makeshift war and light machines put together with miscellaneous parts from found objects, at once frightening and comical. “Public Sculpture for Ants,” presents an exhibit of tiny objects, none more than four inches high, taking the viewer back to a time when such objects invoked a feeling of fascination and magic, and at the same time giving one a fresh perspective on modern day “art.”

In the most recent work at Tamarind Art, “Remix,” the audience gets to participate by looking through seven separate magnifying glasses at various written messages, which can be changed by moving wheels on the exhibit. Mukhopadhyay says of his latest work, “The place I used to go for breakfast had a board on the wall. I stared at it until the food was served, for lack of anything better to do. It read GOD IS GREAT followed by DO NOT SPIT and in the end GRADE 3. The last line is obvious, the kind of permit (the restaurant received) from the city authority. But the relation between the statements remains elusive. So I started to read it more carefully to find out any hidden meaning which might be evading me. I read from left-to-right then right-to-left, from up-to-down, then from down-to-up. I tried all possible combinations and came out with new insights in these few words—some of them highly philosophical (DO GOD SPIT), some blasphemous (GOD IS SPIT), some arrogant declarations (SPIT IS GREAT) and a lot of nonsensical ones (DO IS GREAT, GREAT IS NOT).”

The seven segments of “Remix” are titled “Mera Bharta Mahan/ Horn Ok Please,” “God is Everywhere/Keep Safe Distance,” “God is Great/Do Not Spit,” “Mera Bharta Mahan/I Love India,” “India Shining,” “I Love India/Phir Lotke Ana,” and “Signature of the artists: Kausik/Mohua.”

The exhibit gives the audience an opportunity to view the written messages that surround us as we go about our day with a new outlook. With random moving wheels, words connect in new ways which “make a lot of sense and nonsense.” Like a “Nutty Professor” with a message, Mukhopadhyay relentlessly makes us laugh and investigate and think.

Spotlight on Manoj Baviskar

MANOJ SARDAR BAVISKAR was born on November 2, 1976 in Aurangabad, India. He received a A.T.D. from Sir J.J. School of Art, in Mumbai in 1995, a G.D. Art in Sculpture from Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai in 2001, a DIP.A.ED from The Sir J.J. School of Art in 2002, and he received his post diploma in creative sculpture from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in 2005. In the past few years he has particapated in a number of shows including an Art Fusion Show which was curated by the Nehru Center in Mumbai in March 2007, the 47th National Art Exhibition Of Lalit Kala Akademi in Lucknow in 2004, the A.I.F.A.C.S exhibition in Mumbai in 2003, the S.C.Z.C.C. Nagpur and the K.K. Hebbar Art Foundation’s exhibition in Mumbai in 2002, the Bombay Art Society’s Exhibition in 2002, and he took part in the Annual Exhibition of the Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai in 1998, 1999, and 2000. Some of his group shows he participated in were “789”, at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in 2008, “Arts” at the Jahangir Art Gallery in Mumbai in 2005, and one at the Archer Art Gallery in Ahmadabad in 2005.

Spotlight on Pratul Dash

Pratul Dash was born in Burla in 1974, received his BFA in Painting on scholarship from B.K. College of Arts & Crafts in Bhubaneswar, and his MFA in 1998 from the College of Art in New Delhi. His numerous awards include the Industrial Literature Society in Biella, Italy (2005), the Inlaks Scholarship (2004) and the Silver Medal of East Zone Youth Festival, Kalyani, West Bengal (1993).

His work has been exhibited extensively, both in shows throughout India and internationally. In 2008, he exhibited in Dubai at 1 x 1 Art Gallery; in Hong Kong at Visual Art Centre at Kennedy Road; and in Zurich, Switzerland at Avanthay Contemporary. In 2007, his work was shown in London at Royal College of Art and Garnier Contemporary Arts, and in 2006, at Air Gallery, London. He also had two shows with Alliance Francaise. His solo shows include “Proxy Horizon” at Palette Art Gallery in New Delhi (2008) and a show as Unidee in residency at Cittadelarte, Italy (2004).

Dash participated in several painters camps throughout India and one in Switzerland, and he did an international artist residency program in Nepal in 2004. Also in 2004, he did a project site-specific work in Latrrapa, Italy. His work is in both private and corporate collections throughout India, including the Devi Foundation and the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi; Orissa State Museum; and the British Council Division, among others.

Skilled in the art of realism—much like his contemporaries Riyas Komu, Shibu Natesan, and Jagannath Panda—Dash’s huge canvases are steeped in surrealistic images conveying his concern with India’s rush towards Western-style development. “I have nothing against the growth of the country,” he says, “but my concern is with the cost of it.” His belief that it is the “vital role of the artist to uplift the society” is conveyed in his paintings of bare landscapes, concrete mazes, scaffolding, ladders and pipelines, warning of human alienation as well as the destruction of nature. Dash’s paintings transcend the viewer into another world, commenting on the aftermath of self-imposed displacement. Scaffoldings and factories in the distance dominate the surreal yet sublime landscape where the human figure becomes an object, an apparition, as if it doesn’t belong—where melancholy and silence hovers over the horizon.

Since 2000, Pratul became interested in popular imageries and signs of the mass media and has begun to spread his message through the use of Video Art. From his newly acquired camera, he wandered the streets of Delhi. The color, charm, seductiveness, and lure of various objects of daily life attracted his attention.

Originally conceived as multi-screen projections, “Reflections” narrates the scenes of lower class Indian life, where people rummage through piles of garbage—which are juxtaposed with scenes of India under development. We see Dash surrounded by judicial books, posing article 144 as an issue to be addressed, suggesting a hangover from Colonial past. Then we cut to the camera traveling past an empty countryside with only cranes and tractors in the distance—the real-life images so often conveyed in his paintings. In another segment Dash sits on a traffic island in front of Rashtrapati Bhavan, rocking himself with his hands covering his ears—the poignant image of a sensitive man bombarded by the onslaught of civilization. Scenes of a modern department store full of Western-type goods, perhaps unnecessary in his culture even a few short years ago, are contrasted by images of cattle standing in a pile of refuse. In the final scene, birds fly overhead in an empty sky—again an image often found in Dash’s artwork.

“Life of a Double”, a video performance by Dash, take a more comprehensive look at various dimension of the migration issue. In a migrant’s life the actual is where he is now and the virtual, a distant place where he lived and can never cease to be with till his death.
To show dual realities of his life, Dash goes back to his native village Burla, which becomes site of his performance near the edge of Hirkund dam, and secondly uses his bare body which is tormented, alienated at another site, releases all that it has withstood so far. The sacred thread becomes an instrument of torture, constructively guiding performer into emancipation and hope, engaging artist’s body into a subjective act spanning thru isolated time fragment that is driven by an inner need.
One might get a strange relief as the performance unwinds and the distorted image of the face gains the balance. What is left behind are trenches etched into his facial skin, perhaps much like the scars left behind when the tractors and cranes have done their work and left.
In the process of winding and unwinding of ‘Yagnopavitam’, Dash goes thru an extremity of detachment, pursues path of punishment and attains peace in the end. It is kind of come back for a migrant in his native land.