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Entry and Exit - Points of references
Akansha Rastogi visits the recently held artists-designers show at the newly opened Limited Editions Gallery, New Delhi. Titled Vistaar and curated by Sushma Behl, this show has so many pluses and minuses as at times the whole effort seems to generate fodder for the bullish art market, says Akansha.
A lot has happened in between, since I visited ‘Vistaar’ and now sitting to pen this review - uproar and political strife around existence of Ram – Setusamundram episode, murder of 10 dalit thieves by the populace of a village in Bihar. The cultural landscape is changing fast; the verve of aggression from the leaking corners can not be missed. Let me check what all I can recall from my last visit to the exhibition of 34 artists/parties collaborating in pairs to make useful/ functional artifacts.
I remember the elaborate display with scintillating planar structure done by Vishal Dar. It seemed as if one had entered a set designed for a romantic song sequence where the two protagonists would be playing hide and seek in love. I remember being amazed at the opulence and the range of artistic products in the show, and the high-strata list of the artists, most of them being sensex bullies of Indian contemporary art market. I remember having discussions with the people, receiving their takes and non-takes about the show. All of this propelling me to write and discuss the cultural markings of an order established by Vistaar. Curated by Sushma K Bahl, and conceived by Gallery Limited Editions as their inaugural show, Vistaar is envisaged as an extension that places “the nexus back between the applied and fine arts”, to quote from the curatorial note. It’s not that a collaborative project happened for the first time. There have been many, recent one being at the Bonhams but Vistaar is different for offering to revive or add to the tradition of living arts in India, as they say so.
There are several layers of cultural encodings with Vistaar’s producers and audience that I seek to take into consideration. At an extreme end all this opulence seems to be a purely commercial jig – a gimmick to attract the big eyes and pockets and establish an art-dealing institution of the cream, by the cream and for the cream. When looked moderately the cultural space hence being acquired grounds itself in the best conceptual minds of the participating artists. One can’t miss the sofa done by Mithu Sen and her brother Kumar Kanti Sen. The finished product elevates the delicate trademark drawings of Mithu Sen., making her flowering cactus with vertebrate more sensuous and contrasting on the soft sofa. Transferring Bose Krishnamachari’s ‘Stretched Bodies’ abstract paintings onto a stole is a fantastic idea, and his half eaten apple ‘love lust in and out of space’ in stainless steel recapitulates the original sin “Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit/ Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste/ Brought death into the world, and all our woe” to quote Milton. Sunil Gawde’s ‘Ghost’ is a remarkable installation bringing forth the traditional representation of ghosts in a non-form, i.e. the spirit captured in the corked distorted bottles done at Borosil.
I would have anytime admired the installation and the play of idea by Sunil Gawde had I even not known that the ghosts are captured in borosil bottles. The noun Borosil becomes an adjective here defining the power structure being regulated and promoted - an equal party in the making and meaning of art. In a Focauldian sense the art-objects produced for the exhibition by virtue of being subjected to them, are informed, “defined, and reproduced in accordance with the requirements of these structures”. Implying this, the exclusive watch by Aigner and Ranna Gill ‘pride time’ is an appropriated junk to coax the eye. My concern is to bring to notice the kind of value system being perpetuated by such attempts. Is it the artistic merit only that hails Vistaar? No, artistic merit is one of the share-holders but there’s more. Since Vistaar has become an emblematic show in its own accord, reflecting the idea of finesse products and their consumption in a fully regulated way, it imposes a relationship of hierarchy, exclusivity and appropriation. Another question to deal with is what constitutes the absentia in these cases? Such cultural constructions and market-place order with unequal levels and contrasting planes, metaphorically presented in Vishal Dar’s display design restrict the spaces and movement creating narrow passes for easy entry and exits.
I exit.
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