Tamarind Art Council is excited to present “Change Exchange,” an exhibition showcasing mixed media on canvas by Nitin Dutt and an installation by Lochan Upadhyay.
As an artist, Nitin Dutt’s endeavors range from sculpture, performance, drawing, painting, photo documentation, film making and architecture. Dutt’s art-making process stands witness to the passage of time as an omni present constant. Dutt’s experiences as an immigrant lurk in every layer of his colors. To Nitin, his relentless and repetitive mark-making is cathartic. The temporal component to his mark-making implicates a certain passage across the surface to register displacement and reclaim a sense of identity. Displayed canvases and installation are the end results that invite viewers to engage with Dutt's expressive quest, evoking a remarkable reaction.
Originally created for a Sandarbh workshop, Lochan Upadhyay’s installation titled “Power of Cloth” is a multi-part installation consisting of large scale wedding chairs fabricated with “katran,” video projection with sound, quilted “shamiana,” and photographic transfer on cloth. As an artist, Upadhyay has always tried to address the diversities and hierarchies that exist in Indian society. He approaches his concerns by studying different relationships and interactions that people share in a given space. For this particular body of work, Lochan has used references from his native region, Vagad, Rajasthan; a society whose customs he is very well versed with. Upadhyay’s installation is an innovative take on the issues such as caste system and “Dowry.” Existing in various forms and across many cultures, the custom of “Dowry” is just one manifestation of an old pervasive discrimination against women. The expendable female child is treated not just as inferior but also subservient, very often as the legal, economical and sexual property of men. Outlawed by constitution, Dowry still retains a foothold in most areas of India, causing concomitant disregard for daughters.
