When Art Alive Gallery began planning its 25th anniversary exhibition, curator Kishore Singh wanted the show to do more than look back at the gallery’s history. He wanted to place that history within the larger story of Indian art — one that stretches from the Indus Valley Civilisation to contemporary practice.
‘A Moment in the Monumental’, brings together works by 30 artists at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Bikaner House. Singh, who curated the exhibition, says he began by looking at Art Alive’s history through the artists who have been closely associated with the gallery. His curatorial approach then expanded to examine the history of Indian art through different materials, subjects and contexts, while placing them within a particular timeline.
The exhibition displays works by modernists such as S H Raza, Krishen Khanna and Satish Gujral, alongside artists including Sakti Burman, Manu and Madhvi Parekh, K Laxma Goud, Thota Vaikuntam, Veer Munshi and Jogen Chowdhury. It also features women artists including Anjolie Ela Menon, Arpana Caur, Anupam Sud, Jayasri Burman and Tara Sabharwal.
The exhibition is on view till October 6 at Bikaner House and will later travel to Art Alive Gallery, where it will be shown from October 15 to November 15.
Materials shaping art
One of the exhibition’s concerns is the way materials have travelled through the history of art. Clay, for instance, is among the earliest materials used by artists; the exhibition includes installations by Parthapratim Das Gupta and P R Daroz that use the material in very different ways. Bronze, another early material, appears in works by K S Radhakrishnan and Sakti Burman.
With TMS, Singh also discusses the history of landscape painting in India to European artists who travelled to the country during the colonial period in the 18th and 19th centuries. Landscape painting was later introduced into the curriculum at art colleges in the country, replacing, to an extent, the earlier tradition of miniature painting.
“While Indians gave up the miniature and went large-scale, Europeans have given up the large-scale to give us small works,” the curator says, pointing to the exchange of practices and the evolution of landscape painting. This contrast is reflected in Maite Delteil’s whimsical, small-scale landscapes, where rounded tree canopies in orange, magenta, green and blue stand on yellow grounds beneath bright blue skies.
Artists such as Paresh Maity, Manu Parekh and Shibu Natesan have used landscape painting while developing individual visual languages.
A large panoramic work by Paresh Maity, titled 'Arunouday', shows a mist-covered waterfront in Kashmir at dawn. The work is painted deep rust and brown tones at the top to warm amber light, turquoise haze and dark waters below, giving it a realistic, photographic quality.
Traces of the past are also evident in ‘Imperialism: By the Yardstick and Sword’ by The Singh Twins, which explores the histories of Britain and India; it depicts Britannia, the personification of Great Britain, seated atop the White Cliffs of Dover, dressed in brightly coloured saree. She holds a trident in one hand, and a Union Jack shield in another. Below her, are painted detailed scenes showing ships, trade, and industry, which highlights colonial trade.
Traces of a troubled past
The show also features artworks that reflect on social and political histories. Veer Munshi’s relief painting, for instance, looks at Kashmir through the idea of healing. Munshi, a Kashmiri Pandit who was displaced from Srinagar, has created a carpet-like work that appears to have been damaged by shrapnel. Traditional motifs cover its surface, while detailed paintings of buildings and heritage structures such as Srinagar’s Badshah Tomb, Martand Sun Temple located near Anantnag, and the Madin Saheb Mosque document “what Kashmir was and what has been lost”.
Satish Gujral’s works similarly connect personal and historical memory. One of his untitled works responds to the violence against Sikhs during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi. Gujral used wood and leather and scorched them with a blowtorch, capturing the agony of burning flesh.
Continuity and movement
While Jayasri Burman’s highly detailed ‘Naivedya Nivedan’ gathers 36 gods, saints, and luminaries work brings gods and inspiring figures together at a grand banquet, Madhvi Parekh’s painting creates a playful, enchanted world. Parekh’s works, the curator points out, feature motifs inspired by those found in village life, reflecting her childhood in the small village of Sanjaya in Gujarat.
The idea of movement and exchange also appears repeatedly through the exhibition, including in the recurring image of the boat. Singh describes the boat as a symbol that has carried different meanings — from trade and cultural exchange to migration. It appears in works by artists including K S Radhakrishnan, Paresh Maity, Manu Parekh and Sakti Burman.
Singh sees the evolution of Indian art not as a break from the past, but as a process of continuity and adaptation. “People talk of art being different, but I always see continuities in art. Because one thing passes on to the next [and so on],” he says. Hence, as artists grow, develop, adapt and assimilate new influences, their practices keep changing while retaining connections to earlier traditions.