Public and Private: An arty Affair

Rohit Ukey & Kanika Gupta

Ph.D. Students, Visual Studies,
School of Arts and Aesthetics,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Introduction:
This article is a review of two contemporary art shows that happened in the capital city in the
month of September 2017. One show was hosted by a private gallery at Golf Links Road while
the other happened at the National Gallery of Modern Art. The public and private ownership
dichotomy in this case posed as an interesting case study. One was a retrospective, in which
the artist can play a significant role in the making of the show, while the other was a group
show, in the spirit of a common thread linking all the works. Curation is an imperative aspect
of any exhibition and who plays the role of a curator, the artist herself/himself or a practicing
curator, does not change its significance.

‘Long Story Short’: Jointly curated by Palette Art Gallery and Kanika Anand, 31st Au-
gust-7th October 2017
‘Long Story Short’ is an attempt to combine the modern and contemporary narrative art under
a single umbrella. Curator Kanika Anand tries to bring together all artworks under the concept
of memory, mythology and personal as well as social experiences of the artists; but it seems
that the curatorial note is not enough to justify all artworks in detail. It is understandable, be-
cause curation is a tedious job where a curator needs to conceptualize all artworks under a
common theme. Unfortunately, sometimes, detailed discussions on art are totally absent when
an art-show is curated for a particular class of the people only.
At the entrance of the gallery one sees a list of the eleven artists who participate in the show.
The entrance quotes, “Every man’s memory is his private literature” by Aldous Huxley. It
looks convincing in the sense that every artist’s work is her/his literature thereby drawing upon
personal experiences; memory is what differentiates each one of us.
The first work one comes across is Umesh P.K.’s painting. The minute detail of forms in his
painting are highly naturalistic, though influence of surrealism appears at places. Although,
subjectively this painting looks like a fairy tale, but the hidden meanings behind it can be read
as the artist’s personal feelings of introvert nature, his desires and his ambitions.
The right section from the entrance of the hall includes work of Gopikrishna and P.S. Jalaja.
There is much complexity in the subject matter of Gopikrishna’s work. He uses multiple sur-
realist and grotesque forms of human and animal figures, which might be a representation of
the monstrous thought process running inside a human mind.
P.S. Jalaja’s work’s (Fig.1) core subject is based on migration of people, their suffering and
pain during their stay in refugee camps. She uses the term ‘untitled’ to make her subjects more
universal. Universalism is not only seen in the title itself, it also shows through various moods,
emotions of people by the use of multiple human forms and vibrant colours.
Left section of the hall covers modernist artworks of Amit Ambalal, Bhupen Khakhar, Arpita
Singh and K.G. Subramanyam. It feels that the curator deliberately tries to club all these pio-
neer modernist artists together and placed them in a separate section. The journey begins with
Amit Ambalal in the concept of his nostalgic memory. From Amit Ambalal’s artworks, it can
be seen that he is quite fascinated and influenced from Nathdwara painting tradition. He chose
such vibrant, primary colours and animals forms and converts them in a modernist way to show
his pictorial vocabulary. His love towards pet dogs is seen in the next series of works, ‘His
master’s voice’ where he shows himself with his dog. In the next painting ‘Flowering relation-
ship’ he shows his emotional relationship with his dog. The next one, ‘Blessing’ is derived
from the concept of religious dogma which comes from his family background. Amit Amba-
lal’s family patronized Sadhus and Babas and Shri Vidyanandaji is one of them. This painting
is part of one of his childhood memory where he portrays Shri Vidyanandaji in the form of a
tiger, who would usually sit on a tiger skin1.
Besides Amit’s works, Bhupen Khakhar’s five works are displayed in the central wall. The
subject of homosexuality in modern Indian art is predominantly depicted by the Bhupen
Khakhar. Humour on heterosexual relationships, and people whom he met in his daily life are
key subjects of his works. The work titled, ‘Is it flower’, breaks the conventional aesthetics of
femininity and symbolically represents existence of homosexuality. His anger towards the In-
dian society for conventional mindset for love, choosing heterosexual partner and his own ho-
mosexuality is seen in his next painting ‘Man burning in anger’.
Arpita Singh’s works (Fig.2) has been displayed in the right side of the Bhupen’s works. Her
works break the oriental notion and concept of beauty for the female body. She mocks at the
world using prescribed notions of colours and forms associated with the “Second Sex”.
Following Arpita, K.G. Subramanyan’s four works are displayed in the central portion of the
gallery. He breaks the conventional medium of painting and starts working on acrylic sheets.
Influence in his works comes from the Patua painting tradition from Kalighat2. He not only
breaks the use of conventional material for painting but also dislodged ways of portraying
women. His works show the dark side of society where women are used as a commodity in the
world of prostitution. Even while dealing with this subject, his individual formalistic language
can be recognized.
There are three contemporary artist’s works (Prasad K P, R. Magesh, Madhu Venugopalan)
displayed in the next room. Exhibition lighting unfortunately falls short for these works, each
of which have minute detailing, especially those of Prasad.
The display begins with Prasad’s works (Fig.3). His works contain pictorial elements of his
hometown, a theme most consistently used by the artist in his otherwise large body of work.
He has a special way of working with water colours, certainly a forte of the artist. Here, in the
two works displayed, he uses the same on canvas, in a tedious time taking process, using layers,
so that the final outcome, at times almost loses its property of water colour. To begin with, the
artworks ‘Experiment is truth, experience is superstition-2’, and ‘Experiment is truth, experi-
ence is superstition-7’, appear as ariel view of probably his village, covered with dense jungle
at places and having small pathways. His works look like a game of hide and seek, where a
viewer goes through this jungle and suddenly finds an object on the way. However, following
the details for a long time, one loses oneself in tiny tales spread over a large canvas, far apart,
as if lost in their own world, seemingly having no connection with one another. There is Siva-
Parvati lost in love on the moon on top of one canvas. And yet, at a distance, is an eruption, so
large and inevitable, that these small worlds seem transient, vulnerable, almost forsaken. There
is a play of fiction and reality as well. A lady is wearing translucent wings, yet she is grounded
in a way, as if she has never experienced flight. Also, one senses a subtle politics of image
making, in showing these tiny characters, many from the artist’s own life, fictionalizing them,
making them so oblivious of the obvious inevitable danger. The artist’s personal memory sub-
jects like his village, his mother-father, and his home, draws one close to the artist’s mind,
simple, seeking, made of a tiny hundred tales.
Next, R. Magesh's work ‘Lemuria’ (Fig. 4) is based on the transmigration of people from one
place to another. The title itself defines the core concept of the artist. Mythologically, it has
been assumed that ‘Lemuria' was a land connected to India, Madagascar and Australia, but
after displacement due to tectonic movement these regions were separated from each other3.
He deliberately uses diptych composition for his art work to represents the concept in a better
way. A girl in the left panel is looking towards the migrants (present in the adjacent panel) in
the boat who are displaced from another region. A painterly perspective in the sky and its
reflection in the water makes viewers think about one-point perspective. The composition fixes
in the gothic architectural window frame to give an illusionary feeling to the viewer.
Following, Madhu Venugopalan’s works (Fig. 5) deal with the notion of love in arranged
marriage setup. He critics traditional marriage system by showing decorated beds with flowers
in his works. Connecting the present social context of marital rape cases, which is yet to be
recognized by Indian legal system, his work raises a question on the society. Is it love/marriage
or a funeral?
There is one separate room for the B.V. Swetha’s works (Fig. 6), having one installation art
and two framed works on the wall. She uses long stitched cloth with embroidery work on it
and acrylic colours to draw small figures on the border of the cloth; behind this long cloth she
places a naked pair of fibre glass legs. This art work in the first viewing, feels so scary, probably
due to a single artificial light source coming from the top. She shows the daily routine of house-
wives, their pain and suffering.
Her next work titled ‘Celebration in the land of red’ is made with gauche on paper. It feels that
she is trying to break a romantic idea of a traditional marriage ceremony. The middle portion
of the picture is designed with red carpet where the bride is placed. She is the centre of attrac-
tion or the object, almost as if placed in front of the society and, she is surrounded by her family
and husband. A representation of blessing from the cupids and, the decoration and lighting on
houses of both sides, shows humour on the notion of happiness in a marriage ceremony. The
upper portion of the painting is covered with buildings and people appears for balancing the
composition. A lady holding lamp and stick, standing on a lotus, reminds one of the famous
painting ‘Liberty Leading the People’ by Delacroix. The context of both paintings is different;
Eugène Delacroix's painting runs on the theme of revolution and; Shweta’s work shows ideas
of wealth, the bride, commodity and social status. But the idea of romanticism connects these
both paintings. Similar pictorial composition is seen in Shweta’s next work ‘Celebration Part
1’. Only upper part of the painting is composed with buildings and central part of the picture
has a decorated gallery; it is generally found in Mughal miniature paintings. Shweta criticizes
similar romantic ideas about post marriage ceremony. She dislodges the idea of ideal romance
after marriage by using the forms of wolf and herself. Shweta shows two standing women in
the lower portion of artwork; in the left she shows highly masculine female figure and the right
is a delicate form of a woman, taken from Sandro Botticelli’s famous work ‘Birth of Venus’.
This can be read as the quest of a typical Indian male, stereotyping not just the image of a
modern ideal Indian girl but also indicating his dichotomic expectations.
A short and precise curatorial note describes the theme which weaves the show together most
appropriately. It manages to convey the essence of most works in the show though it does not
get into individual details of each work.
Minimal outreach, the display, treatment of visitors, accessibility clearly convey the sole mon-
etary intention of the show for the gallery. The suitability of the curatorial note is a boon per-
haps, but further writing on artworks would not have served any purpose for the gallery and is
therefore absent.

Manu Parekh: 60 Years of Selected Works, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi;
26th August 2017-24 September 2017

The recent retrospective at National Gallery of Modern Art Delhi brings together a large body
of Manu Parekh’s works together. A retrospective is always a rare experience, which allows
one to be able to view the whole body of work, from the earliest to recent times, of a single
artist. One is able to see and understand what the artist’s world went through from his art col-
lege days to present day, as a celebrated artist. One can trace various patterns in this journey;
what the artist experimented with, struggled with, yet took up again, or abandoned over time.
In almost all cases, works of a successful artist are spread across the world in galleries, corpo-
rate houses, public art projects and individual buyers, making it extremely difficult for any
student or researcher to have access to all significant works. A retrospective is thus all the more
unique, in being able to bring together works from at least some of these collectors.

Secondly, because it is hosted by a government body, it is far more accessible and ‘welcoming’
than the space of a private art gallery where anyone other than a potential buyer is not wanted
and made to feel out of place.

However, any retrospective would be incomplete without an elaborate curatorial note, details
of different phases that the artist’s body of works went through and a critical approach to his
works. All of this is missing in Manu Parekh’s retrospective. The entire show is divided be-
tween two spaces. Part of it in new building and partly in old building of National Gallery of
Modern Art, Delhi. But this is not what causes trouble for a student or someone not initiated in
art. The whole body of work is displayed like a potpourri at more than one place. Though his
early works of 1962-63, sensitive small watercolour on paper works are put together in the new
building, his flower explorations are scattered between the two spaces.
Many works from his Banaras series are placed together. The works show a distinct feeling of
grotesque, with its stark blackness with hints of colour. The darkness mostly dominates without
any human presence in many cases. Unfortunately, careless lighting of the works makes it very
difficult to view details in many places. Yet one is able to recognise the scape as that of the
‘holy’ city of Banaras rendered dark along with contrasting colours. While many works from
the Banaras series are seen at this show, so many others, extremely significant and probably
the best ones are missing4. The ones present show Banaras in its fearful form. Whether the
intention of the artist was to convey this place as almost a haunted space is not important. But
the works present at this show can certainly be read in this manner. The artist’s exploration
with carnivorous plants can also be traced in his Banaras series though, not so much in the
works present in the show5.

Various influences work at different levels in the large body of work. Souza, Madras school,
cubism, post-impressionism can all be seen. Though the artist in his various interviews stresses
the fact that he takes great inspiration from Tagore, his overall body of works betray many and
diverse other influences as much stronger. There is a whole series done entirely based on ab-
stract expressionism. Very few of these are part of the retrospective. One is instantly reminded
on Mark Rothko and Joan Miro6. To the present authors the most interesting are the small
watercolour on paper works from 1960-63. In simplicity of form and experimentation, they
strongly convey the character of the individual personalities portrayed. The light colours con-
tribute to the mood of the subject and convey a certain feeling in a sensitive manner. These are
rarely talked about.

Though there are so many sensitive works, many times placed together, and sometimes not,
separated in different buildings, there is not a single write-up on any body of work. It can be
said that the show is most carelessly curated, if curated at all. If compared with Raqs Media
Collective retrospective that happened in the same place in 2014-15, titled, ‘The Untimely Cal-
ender’, the present show is most mismanaged. Raqs Media Collective retrospective had de-
tailed writing on most of their works, either in form of small booklets or on the wall next to
individual works. Such attention to detail in communicating what their art is about, is more
than missing in case of Manu Parekh’s show. For ‘The Untimely Calendar’, the artists were
themselves present to give curated walks in Hindi and English. This kind of effort and celebra-
tion of one’s own works is indeed rare, one realizes all the more after viewing Manu Parekh’s
show.
1
The conceptualisation of Amit Ambalal works is derived from his interview which is taken by Khanjan Dalal
for Sahapedia. (https://www.sahapedia.org/amit-ambalal)
2
Dalmia Vasudha, Rashmi Sadana (ed.), Cambridge companion to Modern Indian Culture, Cambridge compan-
ion to Culture, Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp.173.
3
McDermott Alicia, Have Scientists Discovered Proof for the Lost Continent of Lemuria? http://www.ancient-
origins.net/news-science-space/have-scientists-discovered-proof-lost-continent-lemuria-007478 (accessed 2
February, 2017).
4
Exhibition Catalogue, Manu Parekh, Benares Landscapes, Vadehra Art Gallery, Delhi, November, 2004.
5
Various Authors, Manu Parekh, Banaras, Eternity watches Time, Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad, 2007.
6
Exhibition Catalogue, Manu Parekh, Vadehra Art Gallery, Delhi, 1995.