When Philip Dodd, Chairman of the creative industries company Made in China, claimed that the future “belongs to a constellation of India and China”, he may not have been exaggerating. Dodd was one of the many luminaries visiting the ongoing India Art Fair in Delhi and is credited with bringing for the first time to the fair Chinese collectors, gallerists and private museums. India Art Fair, now its sixth edition, is undoubtedly the most keenly awaited art event on India’s cultural calendar. Showcasing 91 booths from India and across the world, an exciting public programme which includes solo art projects, a Speakers’ Forum and a city wide collateral events schedule, India Art Fair continues to be a highlight of India’s busy cultural season.
While it may take more than just a day to soak in all the art that is on offer, we choose the top ten picks that stood out for sheer innovation and style.
1. Banana Tree, Waste Tube, Waste Tyre & Steel by Debanjan Roy
The banana tree right at the entrance of the fair grounds is black in colour, and it has to be for it’s made up of waste. The leaves of this tree are stiff and sinister, not moving at all despite the cold winds that refuse to abate in Delhi. “In this project, I have taken used and discarded automobile tires and tubes, and recycled them to create a banana tree (a symbol of growth and fertility). This is a tongue in cheek artwork highlighting the problem of disposal of packaged consumer goods and industrial waste materials existing all over the world today.”
2. Iconic Shrine Lost Soul, painted fibreglass by Chintan Upadhyay
Right opposite Roy’s blackened banana tree is one of the most colourful exhibits at the fair. It is the signature style of one of India’ most well known artists – a baby head by Chintan Upadhyay, only this time the magnitude of the 10-feet- high sculpture brings into focus the multitude of stories intricately painted on the glistening skin of the cherubic figure. Says Upadhyay: “In this I decided to make an iconic representation of a baby which is immortal, genetically controlled (can never physically grow) and born in new media. The painted imagery tells us different stories on issues as diverse as mass consumption, eugenics and female infanticide.”
3. Chimes of Freedom, iron, aluminium, wood and metallic paint, screen by Seema Kohli
Before you step into the tents that house the art booths, pause for a few minutes in front of another installation. Titled Chimes of Freedom, this is artist Seema Kohli’s take on uncritically digesting information that is fed to us via media, educational and religious. Painted over the cylindrical metallic tubes, are different words inscribed on it. The viewer is urged to respond and contribute to the work by writing the same word in his or her language or in any other visual-textual sense that they relate to.
A softheaded hammer is also provided to strike at the tubes. The interactive nature of the work is emphasized in a visual as well as auditory sense. With this interactive participation of writing and striking, the audience shares the process of creating, in cohesion with the artist.
4. Separation, Miniature art by Waswo X. Waswo and R.Vijay
Amidst all the larger-than-life artworks that are on display inside the tented venue, make sure to walk up till Booth S-2 presented by Gallery Espace that is brimming with the colours of miniature art. American artist Waswo X Waswo, who has now made India his home, has worked upon a series of new works in collaboration with miniaturist R Vijay to create this series titled Separation. Inspired by W. S. Merwin’s poem Separation, the artists have created works that bear titles such as A Dream of Death and Convergence which revolve around the visuality and aesthetics of separation. Whether mounted on the wall, or framed like a table piece, each work speaks of a technical maturity and finesse that only miniature art can boast of.
5. F. N Souza
Think Souza and you just cannot dismiss the images of the nudes he was so famously infamous for. At the Dhoomimal Gallery booth, Souza’s nudes are in full glory, but every stroke is so aesthetic that even an untrained eye knows how precious each canvas is. The young director of Dhoomimal, Uday Jain is pleased at the response the booth is evoking and no wonder it is, since it is curated by another doyen of Indian contemporary art, Anjolie Ela Menon.
6. Sujata Bajaj
The bizarre and the bold seem to be on a decline and that the fair is big on the traditional art form of paintings – whether in mixed media, oils or acrylics – this time is not lost on anyone. So if you like your art the way it used to be – beautiful on the wall and easy on the eyes, just step into the Art Alive booth and enjoy the colourful abstraction of Sujata Bajaj’s canvas titled Peregrination of Colour. “Colour is an intrinsic part of my work as I come from Rajasthan where colour is celebrated as a way of life,” says the Paris-based artist.
7. Untitled work by Jangarh Singh Shyam
From sound and performance art pieces to moving images projects, an intriguing File Room project by photographer Dayanita Singh where a book itself becomes the exhibition to Anjana Kothamachu’s gigantic cement sculpture, it’s interesting how the fair has room for everything. But don’t miss the simplicity of tribal artist Jangarh Singh Shyam’s lines in the two untitled works that are on display at Gallerie Ganesha booth. This is also the place where you can find some of the most captivating works of art – most inspired by our folk traditions. Check out the watercolour by Neelkant Choudhary from Madhubani, Jaysree Burman’s intricate mythological work and Dipak Banerjee’s tantric symbolism.
8. Dialogue, mixed media installation by Smriti Dixit
At India Art Fair last year, Dixit had created a room-sized installation merely out of thousands of price tags as a remark on consumerism. Mumbai-based Dixit is celebrated for her abstract ‘floral balls and bouquets’ created out of strips of dresses, threads, wires, clothes’ tags, sponge, brass, rivet and junk. In this edition, she has chosen molis (the red thread worn on auspicious Hindu occasions) to make a critique on both religion and female sexuality.
9. Path Finder, mixed media installation by LN Tallur
The winner of the 2012 Škoda prize for Indian contemporary art, Tallur draws from a wide spectrum of cultural references, ranging from art history, religious iconographies, a globalized economy and popular culture. His sculptures often incorporate performative gestures and usually exploit a range of materials and also a sly sense of humour, ultimately reflecting on basic human attributes such as greed, fear, desire, and anxiety. The sculptural work titled Path Finder may seem static at once, but at the press of a button, the seated figure of a middle-aged man confronts a spinning car tyre which sprays wet clay on to him. The work is a parable of the mid-life crisis as existential dilemma, equating the wheel of life with the rat race, and offers a humorous version of the spiritual seeker.
10. Aura, steel and light installation by Subodh Gupta
No discussion of an art fair can be complete without mentioning Indian contemporary art’s poster boy Subodh Gupta. One could spot two major works at the fair – one a wall mounted, heart shaped installation in shining brass at Galleria Continua and the other his signature steel bartans titled Aura, which is a play on make-believe prosperity.
India Art Fair 2014 was on at NSIC Exhibition Grounds, New Delhi till February 2,
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Poonam Goel is a freelance journalist and has covered the arts for over 15 years. She contributes on visual arts for various newspapers, magazines and online media. More about her on Story Wallahs. Write to her @ poonamgoel2410@gmail.com