welcome to matters of art: India's first ezine on art

These reflections say it all. Last year witnessed an unprecedented hype in Indian contemporary art and the market that cultivates it. Even the alternative forms of art, namely new media art and performances found their niche. The euphoria and intoxication really touched the sky. Major auction houses brought many contemporary Indian paintings under hammer and most of them got whopping prices.

Auctions Dictate the Art Market

Tyeb Mehta made news as his painting titled `Mahishasura’ went for a whopping 1.584 million dollars at the Christies Auction in New York, last September. The other trend-setters at the auction were Ram Kumar, Akbar Padamsee, Atul Dodiya and M.F.Husain. Youngsters like Shibu Natesan, G.R.Iranna and Manish Pushkale got unprecedented prices at the auctions. Internationally too Indian contemporary art became a point of discussion. The Tate Modern, London gave a special place to the Indian artist Francis Newton Souza. The Grosvenor Gallery in London held two solos of Shibu Natesan (Vision Unlimited) and T.V.Santhosh (False Promises) in July and November respectively. Indian contemporary art became the fad of the time last year at international forums.

Transformation of identity happened along with the transformation of aesthetics. The commodities that were basic components in the life of deprivation became costly aesthetic commodities. It seems that Subodh Gupta has a clear agenda. The hidden irony is quite palpable when the onlooker sees the artist like an alchemist making rusticity into gold.

Bombay Boys Rule the Scene

A show titled Bombay Boys initiated by the noted artist-curator Bose Krishnamachari brought in the emerging trend of mediatic realism on to a single platform. Apart from Bose Krishnamachari, Riyas Komu, Jyotibasu, Anandjit Ray, Anant Joshi, Baiju Parthan, Chintan Upadhyay, Justin Ponmany, Sudarshan Shetty, and T V Santosh were featured. The show travelled from Mumbai to Delhi, Kerala and New York making art lovers to sit and take note of the new trends in Indian art. The show inspired Bose Krishnamachari to curate a huge show, titled ‘Double Enders’ of 69 artists hailing from Kerala in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Kochi. This show generated a lot of interest and debates regarding mediatic realism in Indian contemporary art. .

Bose also conceptualised a show called ‘Kaam’ in Mumbai. This exhibition also travelled to New York. Pallete Gallery in Delhi that celebrated its fifth annual show also featured Bombay Boys apart from other artists like Chitravanu Majumdar.

Sakshi Gallery took some daring steps by introducing some alternative sculpture shows, presenting the works of Suil Gawde, Sumedh Rajendran, Anita Dube and Riyas Komu apart from its usual painting shows. The gallery could convince buyers and art collectors to acquire art works done in alternative mediums.

The Indian contemporary sculpture scenario was a bit bleak in the last few years as paintings got unprecedented visibility. However, a 24-feet bronze sculpture, ‘The Ramp’ created by the noted sculptor K.S.Radhakrishnan changed the scenario. The work exhibited at the Sridharani Gallery in Delhi generated a new enthusiasm. The work found its way to the grand collection of Neville Tuli who, in turn, exhibited the same work in various venues as part of his collection.

Peter Nagy’s Nature Morte Gallery in Delhi presented some good shows that include the works of Bose Krishnamachari, Jagannath Panda, Justin Ponmani, Jitish Kallat, Ashim Purkayastha, Subodh Gupta, Bharati Kher and many other young artists from India and abroad. Jitish Kallat’s ‘Rickshawpolis’ was one of the major shows that took place in the Nature Morte Gallery. The Palette Art Gallery, managed by the designer duo Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna, showcased the Bombay Boys as well as presented solo shows by Anjum Singh, Amitava Das and young Pradeep Mishra. The Visual Art Gallery at the India Habitat Centre showcased some interesting exhibitions.

Masters Get Their Due

Though young artists were omnipresent, the art market and the gallerists did not leave the masters neglected. The Delhi based Anant Art Gallery showcased the veteran sculptor Himmat Shah that was well attended by friends and well- wishers. Anant also showcased prints by Jyoti Bhatt that were done from 1950-90s. The National Gallery of Modern Art and Sakshi Gallery together presented a retrospective of Jehangir Sabawala in Mumbai and Delhi. A well-written book by Ranjit Hoskote complimented the exhibition. The Delhi Art Gallery brought a Rabin Mondal Retrospective in New Delhi after its exposure in Kolkata. The same gallery exhibited Sunil Das in Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi. Both exhibitions had well documented catalogues. F.N.Souza, Dasarath Patel and Thota Vaikuntam were other veterans who got enough space in the market.

Growing Demand, Mushrooming Galleries

Trends that Caught the Eyeballs

The reality of this feel good factor found its way in aesthetic production too. The nascent ‘mediatic realism’ (Nancy Adajania-The Art India Magazine Quarter 4, 2005) developed fully to become a trend and it called the shots in the market. Anybody who chose mediatic images and played with it on the canvas (mostly aided by computer filters and projection systems) became a successful artist overnight. The ‘real’ real mediatic image was transformed into ‘unreal’ real painterly image. These artists and painters were sought after by the gallerists and collectors and trend continues to rule.

Though mediatic realism ruled the roost abstraction too found its way to the heart and soul of the buyers. Works by Kishore Shinde presented by Sakshi Gallery in Delhi and Mumbai was a huge success. So was the case of Manish Pushkale presented by various galleries in Delhi and elsewhere. Though Iranna did not delve much on abstraction his meditative figures and abstract backgrounds attracted art lovers.

Pooja Broota Iranna, Samit Das, Josh P.S, Anoop Kamath, Mithu Sen, Ritu Singh were the other artists who got noticed for their unconventional way of working.

Alternative Ways

Alternative art production was another avenue that got financial back up to breath through the onslaught of painterly expressions. Khoj Artists Residency brought in several artists from different parts of the world and put them along with Indian alternative art practitioners. Inder Salim Tikku, Anita Dube, Shantanu Lodh and Manmeet, Ayesh Seth, Asim Waqif, Andreas Kaiser were a few names among them. An art researcher Kriti, based in Delhi, opened her living space for performance art and artists namely Susheel, Anil Dayanand, Shantanu-Manmeet and Inder Salim presented their performances in that place.

Appejay Media Gallery in New Delhi brought various international new media artists. Indian artists and art enthusiasts also got an opportunity to sense what is happening in other parts of the world.

Vivan Sundaram presented his works using recycled garbage at the Lalit Kala Akademi in a show titled ‘Living.it.out.in.delhi.’ In the beginning of the last year Vivan Sundaram initiated a group activity named ‘Biennale Society’ for making Delhi a permanent place for an international Biennale.

High Art is Here to Stay

To put it in nutshell, it should be said that there was a great boom in the Indian contemporary art scene and its continues to be so in the first month of the new year also. While artists like Surendran Nair, Shibu Natesan, Rekha Rodwittiya, Krishen Khanna, Jogen Choudhury, A.Ramachandran, Atul Dodiya, Nilima Sheikh and Gulam Muhammad Sheikh remain classic masters in painting, it is heartening to see that there is enough space for the younger and the alternative groups in the expanding contemporary art market.

Another interesting aspect that became visible in the last year was the coming back of art review and preview columns in major national dailies. Now more columns are devoted to project artists and exhibitions. This also reflects how the art economy has become an undeniable force in the market. The Art India Magazine published from Mumbai got a face-lift through a new design and the Art and Deal Magazine from Delhi became another platform to voice the concerns of Indian Contemporary art.