Shaheen Merali curates an important show with contemporary artists from India and abroad.
The very idea of art rebels against war. But these are no chicken-heart times we live in. War is ubiquitous; everywhere you look man is wreaking some form of violence on his fellow, as technology and every sophisticated tool of civilisation are deployed to perfect the war machinery.
Do artists respond to the violent times they live in? Yes they do. Indeed, you could say that in many ways artists are the only ones to respond any longer as most of us are inured by now to the constant barrage of news of violent, and even more violent, happenings around us.
“Everywhere is War (And Rumours of War)”, a group show put together by artist-curator Shaheen Merali at the Bodhi gallery in Mumbai, attempts to track these expressions of “despair not only about the loss of lives, but also about the loss of voice in our current, tumultuous times”.
It’s a large show — 36, mostly young artists— and a significant show — given the range and profile of the participants. Here are all the new masters of Indian contemporary art — Subodh Gupta, Jitish Kallat, Hema Upadhyay, Anita Dube; along with the rising stars —Vibha Galhotra, Shilpa Gupta, Sumedh Rajendran.
Plus, there are a few photographers and cross media artists — Nikhil Chopra (performance), Nalini Malani — and some voices from the diaspora — Reena Banerjee (Kolkata-born, Brooklyn-settled, had two solo shows last year in Berlin and Paris), Chitra Ganesh (digital artist from Brooklyn, she has collaborated with Mariam Ghani from Afghanistan for her video work on show here), Jaishri Abhichandani and Zarina Hashmi.
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And a few important international names led by Francesco Clemente, the Italian expressionist painter who spends part of each year in Chennai. The rest of the global cast includes Jon Kessler, American mixed-media sculptor whose works since 9/11 have focussed on the war-mongering by the US, Alicia Framis, Rashid Rana and Sara Rahbar (Iranian).
Like any group show, this one’s a rag-bag. Some works are the essence of simplicity like Clemente’s urn painted with a skeleton, an absolute contrast to Reena Banerjee’s elaborate sculpture of a “mannequin, horn, cow skull, shell bone, glass, bulbs, plastic antique and vintage sari, gold wire, spoons, glass balls, wire, wood, lace trim”.
Violence is at once local as it is global. Which is what gives a resonance to many of the works. Reena Kallat’s clothes iron with its underside a mass of trishuls, temple spires, choppers (the kind you’ll find goddesses weilding) rings with a horror that should resonate with even someone who’s completely unconnected with the Indian context.
As should Ashim Purakayastha’s untitled watercolour which references criminals “wanted” notices everywhere from the West to the most obscure town in India.
