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Feature
Hub 2008: A Contemporary Parampara
Twenty four artists who had their education from the Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University Baroda, recently came together to have group show titled ‘Hub: 2008’ . Baroda based art historian, Rita Sodha goes through the works of each artist and explains why their works are outstanding amongst their peer group.
A prudent venture by a clique of young artists, all of whom have had their formal art training from the ‘endearing’ Fine Arts Faculty of Baroda, come together for the group show, Hub 2008: A Contemporary Parampara. Cognizant of Baroda’s time honored trends of orchestrated expressions and semantics; traditions of imparting, imbibing and critiquing visual aesthetics, and the ensuing calibrated praxis, younger generation of artists have perceptively strived to situate themselves around this radiating core. The kind of receptive latitude and nondiscriminatory autonomy Baroda practices, stimulates students to arrive at an individual language and constitute a personal idiom, consequently expanding the orbit of the on going Parampara. Driven by an ardent academic desire, the exhibition is an endeavor to locate and display the range of diverse strains of artistic discourses that have emanated from the faculty at Baroda. Showcasing about twenty four artists, many of them belonging to the same batch, some much younger and others still older, conceptually display concern over environment, urbanization, rapid industrialization, social matters of contention, political maneuvers, gender (mis)conception and emancipation, and much more.
Of Automatics, Configurations and Schema:
A set of works in the show adapt mechanics, motion, recurrence and reappearance at its core. Gouri Soumitra’s sculptural machinations integrate mechanics as its elemental vocabulary. The movement and displacement of tiny balls embodying his works, initiated by the theory of mechanics causes them to travel a designed path which is assiduously followed by the viewer’s gaze. The gimmick not only engages the viewer but is employed as a strategy to promote a deviant tactile dimension to sculptures. The progression of balls with their clicking sound and anticipated rhythm of motion in Curvy Vision expands the magnitude of sculptural aesthetics lending resonance and a sense of pace.
Metaphysical in import, Atul Mahajan’s works hinge around the application and symbolization of air as a metaphor of life, stimulation, momentum and progression. Operating at two levels of perception, the material physicality of the art work and the incumbent analogical reading, his animated ‘installations’ aim at a cerebral interaction with the onlooker. The present work in latex rubber simulates a patterned curtain with the image of a peeping head. Just as the folds and ripples on the curtain caused by the wind deconstructs the painted motifs, the apples (symbolic of desire) and the leaves (stray thoughts) thereby reconfiguring and contriving newer forms, so does the mind in its conception, generation and admittance of uninterrupted trail of thoughts. Stimulated by one’s outlook, one either suffers or remains gratified.
Deploying the paradigm of the archetypal mould, a derivative of the mechanized, common place assembly production, Ganesh Urala articulately cites the paradox of human growth. The banana mould is a poignant and mordant marker of widespread technology and rampant industrialization mocking the contrived, unnatural and aggregate manufacture of even natural objects as the banana for example. Discreetly referring to the myth of creation of Adam and the worldly phenomenon there after, its analogy to the sculptural notion of the mould is significant and the subtext sardonic.
Kruti Mukherjee diligently investigates and playfully demonstrates the conjunction of natural forms with mechanisms in her painting A Different Story. Exploring the concurrence of converse structures she integrates organic forms such as the banana or the red pepper with either the working mechanism of the screw or the shape of a hammer, consecutively not only creating a novel apparatus but also reconfiguring the operations of mechanics.
The self: Interrogation, Evocation and Celebration:
“My works are not ‘representations’ of the physically disabled as the idea of ‘representation’ operates on empowering the presenter with an authority or authentic voice to represent the other. My interest in the subject is an outcome of my own disability. I cannot make or present myself as an observer, but I make myself as a subject, whose disability is shaping its subjectivity” unreservedly conveys Raju Patel. Intensely autobiographical, Raju Patel does acutely sentient water colors in subdued tones. The concurrent motif of the artificial limb in his works metamorphoses from a referential aid and lifeline to a puissant, all encompassing icon.
Pooja Panchal’s painterly expressions are her responses and reactions to personal encounters with people and her surroundings. Working in a compartmentalized language, each section like a diary entry embodies tales which when read together synthesize as reflective thoughts of the artist and a dialogue with one self. There is an intended pun in There is colorful people around me… I am not alone. It recounts narratives of loneliness and discontent the artist got told by her friends when she had actually set out to share her own feelings on being alone. Deploying carefully coded imagery (such as the male specie of the sea horse which nurtures its young in its body along with its mate, in reference to a friend’s outpouring about her husband’s denial in taking care of their baby) bearing imports of various exchanges with a running text, her sections read as ideograms.
Impassioned self referential works by Rupal Dave delve into the politics of the representation of female sexuality. Forceful and unsettling, she examines female sexuality in relation to the male physicality and sites the former on the receiving end inscribed with sensibilities of suffering, pain and violence. Asserting the female ‘identity’ through the means of ‘sexuality’ is her strategic device, and foregrounding intimate sensuality her politics of empowerment. Subverting the sexual imagery, she situates it in the realm of anatomical privilege thus imparting a tinge of irony to her works. The symbolic red warm tone of blood is intentionally employed “to heighten the tension (both pictorial and emotional) between empty space (the world) and the lines (body)”.
Mukesh Singh formulates his paintings from incessant observation of his surroundings. Unpretentious and candid, he privileges the act of painting; the theme takes a back seat. His works are characterized by cadenced and pulsating recurrent forms; a singular form is empowered and a patterned arrangement emerges in permutations and combinations with each other.
Bhupen Burman’s sculptural relief superscripted with a contemplative intent manifests a harmonious solidarity with the surroundings deriving from an unequivocal acceptance of the self. The figure in the relief taking pleasure from the scent of the flower (symbolizing fruits of achievements and lessons from failures) which has grown onto the creeper emanating from his hand not only denotes an umbilical relationship of the self with one’s associations but is metaphorical of enjoying one’s being. Intricate patterns and profundity of ideas appealingly coalesce in his works.
In a similar drift, The Simple Souls an etching by Kodanda circumscribes the concept of unanimity and concord of all souls, human and animals, in accordance to their respective environments. His philosophical premise however does not harbor or forge unity or one ness as a counter reaction to the turbulence around but asserts it as an innate state of being. ‘Reality’ (of existence) seeks unity as congenital and homologous; segregation, isolation, splitting and dividing is the ‘Unreal’ state.
Of Agency, Vocabulary and Difference:
Works by few artists reveal mediumistic bearings; the agency defines their visual aesthetics, vocabulary and the desired discourse.
Installations by Preksha Tater employing various materials and mediums, jute threads, terracotta pots, wooden pieces, painted forms, architectural alcoves, the play of light and shade are a result of ceaseless experiments and chance. The endeavor comprises in acquiring an appropriate effect culminating from the premeditated and incidental interplay of diverse elements and forging a distinct liaison with the contiguous physical space. Not working with preconceived configurations, her creative impulse prods her to keep reassembling and restructuring her works while in the process.
Rushika Patel in antithesis to the endlessly mass produced forms of the industrial world characterizes her works with intuitive and non representational images precariously oscillating between the realms of corporeality and transcendence. Her codified ‘impressions’ inhabiting an abstract space represent fleeting temporal memories. Sandwiching strips of aluminum foil amidst layers of translucent silk screen and some other fabric, she recreates an alternative three dimensional space by exposing these structures to a source of light. The resultant interplay of reflected light (from the gleaming aluminum) and cast shadows create multiple effects bestowing the work with a luminous presence. Her works operate amidst the rigueur of improvisation, intuition and a studied approach.
Reveling in the act of painting, Payal Bhalala working with water colors randomly splashes colors on paper and procures organic shapes which become her backdrop. Against this she delineates figurations or geometric alignments as envisaged to complete her pictorial arrangement. Buddhadeb Mukherjee’s expansive serene landscapes huddled with numerous topographical features, undulating mountains, series of planes, clusters of trees, water bodies, vast sky and a comparatively imperceptible human presence brings up concerns of contrived anxiety nonchalantly juxtaposed against the ease, comfort and joy of nature.
Fascinated by the string of shifts and stirs in the parts of human bodies caused by movements and the conglomerate visual language of hoardings with subjects zooming in and out arbitrarily, Nagarjuna Sridhara freezes and encapsulates anatomical displacements in individual frames which are grouped together in his graphic prints. Usually combining conventional methods of printmaking with newer perspectives, his chin`colle on etching Caution: Curves Ahead is inspired from museum displays where vacant spaces usually represent exhibits that are absent on account of being taken for conservation. His print divided into six frames has three void spaces demonstrating the absence of the subject and the other three its reappearance.
Harendranath Mahato deconstructs a customary idea and recontextualizes a normative pattern. A discerning humorist, The Spelling Mistake can Create a New Word displaying numerous coffee cups with their handles inward is a pun on the form and function of a handle “which ceases to be one if not handy”. An amazingly instinctive correlation exists between his works and their titles. Monumentalizing trivial mundane objects is the preoccupation of Pijush Patra thereby according them an iconic stature. Deepak Khatri’s fancy for fruits are for its nutritive values and nourishment properties. He builds up his sculptures, bit by bit, portion by portion, just as one is advised to consume fruits piece by piece to enhance one’s health.
Alarm, Disquietude and Scrutiny:
Issues related to pollution, urbanization, industrial waste, global warming, terrorism, over population, health hazards keep haunting this group of artists.
A painter by education, Lochan Upadhyay’s association with installation is an outcome of his involvement with site specific works at Sandarbh, a program dedicated to the upliftment of rural people by enlisting them in community based programs through art practices and performances. Derisive of abundant waste urbanization is generating, he (dis)tastefully chooses his medium/ raw material from amongst it (bottles, plastic bags, rags etc.) symbolically iconicizing the flip side of urban progress. As a carrier of counter aesthetics, his works in his zestfully chosen language point towards the surplus, the glut of synthetic excess and pitfalls of development in the mechanical urban space. Suitcase embodying numerous thrown away bottles closely stacked together represents the image of the city with the repetitive mode intensifying its complexities.
Short Stories in painted wood by Loknath Sinha while celebrating the numerous benefits and bounty of urban metros, laments the dearth of a modest dwelling space. Cloistered in a sleeping bag, with colorful blocks emblematic of homes jutting out, the artist wishfully discloses a cherished dream. To be read contrary to what they appear to be representing, Loknath devises an inverse pictorial strategy. Appearing to be celebrating the vibrant temperament of city life, his intended import is in fact the contrary. The radiant hues allude to the eyewash, the actuality not being so colorful!
Also reacting against the perils of urban-life vis-à-vis utter disregard for the environment, the ugly pace of expansion, struggle for survival, inconsideration for the under privileged, pollution and indiscreet wastage, Prem Singh’s subjects are poised either as victors or victims of nature. He neither valorizes the former nor does he pity the latter. Predominantly suffused with hues of red, a clinical disposition coupled with sensitive rendering imparts a moving presence to his paintings.
Unequivocal and unambiguous, Footprints of Modern Temple by Sudip Dutta categorically inscribes the path of modernization alias extensive industrialization. Clouds of smoke released in the clear sky from soaring chimneys, like footprints, track the proliferation of industries leaving behind repugnant scars and blemishes.
Rahul Mukherjee lodges his painterly representations in the surreal sphere where dreamy plots, nightmarish ideas, mythological references, personal reflections and rebellious acts prevail concurrently. Cynical about the interminable evolution, expansion and development, he sneers at their overlooked backlash in his Pulse series. Cogently conveying the gist are his quintessential pictorial elements, the mirror, reflecting one side of reality, and the shadow referring to the inevitable dark side of every phenomenon; its demonic form in conjunction to the human image symbolically mapping the cycle of evolution.
Apurba Nandi’s Blind alludes to the unforeseen and many a times painful adjustments human beings are compelled to make. He observes that though these are not conscious maneuvers, human beings are amazingly predisposed towards soliciting comfort even in dire conditions; just like the elephant having fallen in the dry well is reclining comfortably in something that was or could have been a trap for him. Is a space chosen or accepted blindly?
Reckoning………..
Directors of eminent galleries, financial advisors on art, auction houses and collectors unanimously agree that young artists from Baroda largely because of their consistently uncontaminated and uninhibited expressions are in the spotlight. Not only are they fast gaining an international platform to showcase their works but are also getting represented at prestigious art auctions. Several of them are expected to join the elite blue chip club as far as financial investments are concerned. With the increasing number of art galleries and studio spaces in Baroda it seems as a correspondent put it, “The Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda is a heaven for any student who aspires to befriend a paint brush and canvas and make a living of it.”
