Every city has a character of its own and none of us can ever remain untouched by it. For an artist, however, the way a city grows and evolves can become a source of endless inspiration. In an upcoming group show at New Delhi’s Latitude 28, ten artists from across India showcase their interpretation of city life. Titled Diver-cities II, the show has been curated by Bhavna Kakar and includes artists like Arunkumar HG, Avantika Bawa, Baiju Parthan, Gigi Scaria, Manjunath Kamath, Roshan Chhabria, Prajakta Palav, Sarnath Banerjee and Sudipta Das.
Says Bhavna Kakar, curator of the show and director, Latitude 28, “Art today becomes an exciting statement of the cultural diversity mapping diverse geographies. Homogeneity, which emerges as a byproduct of globalisation, leads to the growing importance of nudging the cultural producer to look for celebration of difference. The city now occupies the mind of the artists in various arresting poses. This show celebrates this diversity of creative processes.”
Born in 1968 in Karnataka, Arunkumar H G completed his bachelors and masters degrees in Fine Art from M S University, Baroda. His use of readymade objects such as toys, plastic, ceramics, cowdung, hay and TV monitors gives us a glimpse of his susceptibility to the neo-pop movement. His toy-like, yet intricate sculptural works often convey a simple message. Sometimes, however, Arunkumar switches the dynamic of this relationship, creating works that physically appear basic, but convey a complex message quite contrary to their appearance.
Avantika Bawa’s current site-specific installation is called Right of Aurobindo and Left of Aurobindo drawing inspiration from cartography of the vicinity of the site of installation, Lado Sarai.
“Industrial materials such as brick, cardboard, wood and concrete as well as common actions such as sitting, leaning, tilting and stacking become the fodder and fuel for my work. My practice reflects the regional, cultural and geographic influences of the time and space in which I am working. I explore new territories, which allows for subtlety, anti-monumentality and unexpected levels of candour,” Bawa says.
Delhi-based Manjunath Kamath tells stories with his images. His narratives, however, are altered and adjusted constantly, adapting fluidly according to the environment they are narrated in, and resulting in a different meaning each time a story is told.
As a visual artist, Kamath feels impelled to regularly reinvent his method of storytelling. In his work titled Let It Be, he stocks household items on top of a cupboard while migratory birds seem settled inside it, as if the artist is asking for space for birds in the concrete jungle that cities have become.
Prajakta Palav explores her life and experiences in the ever-expanding mega-city of Mumbai. The megacity is a machine for the unceasing, untiring churning-out of reality. When the world is too much with us, we lock ourselves into a cocoon and create representations of the real that we can control. In her new suite of works titled Jelly with Nuts, Palav delves into a series of paintings that challenge the notion of the Indian wedding pandal (pavilion) which is a temporary structure but still maintains privacy on busy streets by creating a personal territory. “For me, this pandal is a fantastical land,” she says.
Note: Suchitra Gahlot’s solo show in New Delhi is titled ‘Shut Up, Internet!’ and not ‘Message in A Jar’ as mentioned in the last week’s column. The error is regretted.
(Poonam Goel is a freelance journalist who contributes articles on visual arts for unboxedwriters.com)