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From the ‘Concerns’ Desk ... June 2007
May was really a hectic month.
There in Baroda, the art student Chandramohan was arrested by the (Moral/Modi) Police and the acting Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts Faculty was suspended by the University authorities.
Now Chandramohan has gone back to his native village in Andhra Pradesh and Shivji Panikkar has also gone to his hometown in Kerala. more »
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Cover story
!NDIA! Indefinable!
Riyas-Komu ,-Untitled,-Karachi-Series,-21.7-x-31.5-inches,-2005.
Deborah Jenner, Paris based art historian and writer looks at the works of the eight ‘Indian’ artists featured in the ‘!ndia’ show at Gallery Helene Lamarque, Paris. A specialist in ‘spiritual’ in contemporary art, Deborah Jenner says that this show facilitates a reconciliation between opposites without dogmatism, prejudice or the tyranny of majority rule, yet, with sincere social, political and spiritual engagement. .read on » |
Gallery
Akkitham |
Akkitham Naryanan
In his dearly protected seclusion Akkitham Narayanan creates paintings. His creations are abstract in character, reflecting a deeper understanding of the nature and its varied colours and moods. Perhaps, for any artist who has been working diligently on the same philosophy and style for nearly three and half decades, the language that he uses become a second nature. more »
We present a work of Akkitham Naryanan» |
Spring Board
G. Anjaneyulu |
G.Anjaneyulu
Born in 1976, Garideppally, Nalgonda District, Andhra Pradesh, G.Anjaneyulu received his BFA in painting from JNTU College of Fine Arts, Hyderabad. Equipped with tremendous skill and artistic imagination Anjaneyulu during his formative years painted all what he saw around. His interest in people and their postures and gestures in life situations is converted into thought provoking paintings. more »
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Offbeat
The Heard Melody of Truth
He is famous for what many people called Experimental , some call it Abstract , others call it Elite . Defying being categorized in any particular genre, Abhilash Pillai, Associate Professor, National School of Drama shares his work with the noted theatre critic Kuljeet Singh. read on »
Identification and Isolation
Sandip is a M Sc Physic student at the Cochin University of Science and Technology. He has been writing poems since his school days and his first collection of poems ‘Sheer Echoes of Time’ was published last year. Sandip has a great interest in Carnatic Music, Kathakali Music and football. “Like any other human beings, poets too perform many social responsibilities. However, a poet’s presence becomes all the more important when he underlines his responsibilities with metaphors,” says Sandip. Latest poems » |
| Essay |
Ignorance is Truth
The Vice Chancellor of MS University, Baroda, Manoj Soni recently published the ‘authority’s’ report on the infamous Baroda incident. AAACUA (Association of Artists, Academics and Citizens for University Autonomy) disputes each point made by the VC’s report and says that the VC parrots the Fundamentalists’ voice. Read on »
The Decline of an Institution?
In this thought provoking essay, Baroda based artist Sathyanand Mohan traces out how the fundamentalists strategically chose an institution with a cosmopolitan outlook to further their nefarious causes. Also he raises questions on the randomly collapsing relationship between Fine Arts Faculty and the larger society outside of it, while doubting the ‘modernity’ of the Graphics Art Department of FAF, Baroda. more »
Erasure of the Subaltern as Auto Critique
Abhishek Hazra, noted visual artist and writer ponders over the short films of the experimental film maker Ashish Avikunthak and says that our enthusiasm for emancipatory politics has to be tempered with the realisation of its eventual irrelevance, as suggested in the works of Ashish Avikunthak more »
The Boy Dance/r
Birendra Pani’s latest show ‘Boy Dancer: Convergence and Continuum’ at the Gallery Espace, New Delhi brings the notions of Death and Life in art forms into focus, says JohnyML »
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| Interview |
The Truth of Chaotic Surfaces
Mekhala Bahl had a few successful exhibitions in the recent past. Her works are noticed for the abstract verve and curious titles. Akansha Rastogi in this informal interview chats with the artist to reveal the artist’s working style and perspective on art.more »
Feeling like a Caged Bird
Chandramohan, the art student who was the eye of the storm in the last month, in this fictional interview speaks to JohnyML. Fictional interviews are legitimate in the field of journalism as they try to look at the issues from a different angle. The opinions expressed by Chandramohan are the fictional work of JohnyML and he stands responsible for the answers. more »
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| News |
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Baroda Finds Voice in Delhi » » |
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Takeover/Handover by Asian Art Archives » » |
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Handle with Care: Show by Ashish Kumar Das » » |
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Peers Residency 2007 at Khoj, Delhi By Jayashree Venkatadurai » » |
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Relics Of Grey: Archana Hande » » |
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| Features |
Home / Memory and the Kitsch
Shubhalakshmi Shukla features the 2007 Bodhi Award winner Sunil Lohar and his constant engagement with the visual history of art in his own works. She says that his paintings are the places where memory and values find a home. more »
Protesting with Spray Cans
Ali Saidi Hasan, the Iraqi expatriate artist who has been staying in India for almost a decade now was invited by the Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi on 14th May 2007 to express solidarity with the protesting Indian artists on the Baroda issue. Here is his statement and a few pictures of his Graffiti Performance. more »
Need a New Social Order for Art: Neville Tuli
Tangerine Art Space organized an exhibition of abstract art and an art discussion in Bangalore on the 21st and 22nd of May. The discussion on art was headed by Mr. Neville Tuli, founder chairman of Osian’s auction house, Mumbai. more » |
| Reviews |
OF ALL THAT IS NEW
The Summer Show at the CIMA Art Gallery, Kolkata brought a whiff of fresh air to the otherwise choking climate. However, Oindrilla Maity feels that the organizers failed to explain the logic of the show through an adequate curatorial note. She feels happy for the youngsters who with their fresh works overshadowed the established artists more »
The Lost Article
Art India-Visual Arts IHC Award Winner P.J.George Martin recently presented his new sculptures at the Visual Arts Gallery, IHC, New Delhi. JohnyML takes a look at his works. more » |
| Other Columns |
Mumbai Sketchbook - Abhijit Tamhane »
Kolkata Sketchbook - Oindrila Maity »
Version True - Uma Nair »
Husain in exile reflects cultural decadence
Zealots clip artistic freedom and Husain remains between Dubai and London zooming around in his Bentleys and Cadillacs, enormously nostalgic about a walk down Marine Drive (Mumbai) and a cup of chai on his native soil. It is perhaps the only example of its kind in the world, where an artist who has risen to the ranks of fame has been kept away by the fanatics of a newly dictated religion that draws up its own rules and touts globalism even as it defines a decadent diatribe in the name of Hinduism. more » |
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