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Corporal Concerns
‘What Wears Me’, a group show of eight photographers, curated by Matthieu Foss is successful as the pictures intercede the political and religious, the free and shackled and the canonical and the atypical. It is interesting to see an open embrace between painterly goals and photographic references, says Vrushali Dhage.
'What wears me' a group show of eight photographers, Shilpa Chavan, Prabuddha Das Gupta, Shahid Datawala, Fawzan Husain, Shilpa Gupta, Sunil Gupta, Pat, and Zubin Shroff, was housed at the C & L gallery, Mumbai. The show was curated by Matthieu Foss, a Paris based curator.
As the title mentions the show was not just a portrayal of how people drape themselves, style or of corporal decoration; which is or becomes the means of formulating an opinion about a person at first sight. The show addressed much larger issues – how various factors, which include religion, politics and personal attitude, impinge on ones dressing sense. Therefore deciphering the ideology of ones dressing is not just interesting but a multi-dimensional task too. These eight photographers have been in their respective capacities exploring these issues and its ancillaries with much canniness. It is interesting to note that despite being from different backgrounds the works well converged on the common concern. Foss skillfully well tuned the show, such that there was no feel of unevenness in the quality and conceptuality of the works.
Shahid Dattawala, carrying his earlier work ahead of photographing old lingerie shops in Delhi, he addressed the concept of women wearing a 'burkha', a drape which is supposed to keep the woman protected from the eyes of 'another man'. A religious compulsion imposed on Muslim women; a rule still followed unbendingly by a few radical groups in some countries. Here Dattawala takes a look at the mutability of the concept. In the series 'Burkha' we see a woman posing quiet boldly. A pose not adhering to the function of the 'burkha', - 'to be covered'. So does religion really influence dressing?
In contrast to the (illusionary) cover of the burkha, Prabuddha Das Gupta who has been studying women in his earlier works, in the current series portrayed them on beaches. In works like 'Sahar' and 'ragi', he shows women on the beach in bold attires. Here Prabuddha has captured an interesting interplay between the bodies and the bright beach sunlight. But at no point did technical expertise supersede the thought. An example of a soft work was that of Shilpa Gupta's 'Don't see III'. Though not visually complex, but the work was politically insightful. It exposed how one willingly chooses to wear an indifferent attitude. Gupta acerbically scoffs ones escapist attitude, which on a larger scale has a corrosive effect on the society.
Pat's series, 'Hustler' displayed a subtle sexuality of humans. The dark tone of the pictures further insinuated the intended content. Similarly Sunil Gupta who is a gay activist, was a part of the gay movement of the 70's in New York and has been working extensively for the right of gays. He has used photography as a tool to address these issues with much deliberation. As the problem still remains in sensitizing people towards the issues; and off changing the misconception – that it is not perverted sexuality that binds a man to another man, but they share a relation. These pictures document realities which a conventional society would consider depraved and give a contemptuous look.
Shilpa Chavan in her works conjured accessories and utilitarian objects, such that they moulded and re-moulded / metamorphose, to take a mysterious yet recognizable form. Example ' UFOcombs', 'UFOmehndi' objects like steel, bras and combs become a part of the bodily ornamentation. Fawzan Hussain and Zubin Shroff addressed the same issue of dressing and personal presentation from diametrically opposite points. Hussain looked at a highly stylized life through, 'Hair & Style' and 'Frills & Patterns'; whereas Shroff looked at girls in simple sports wear with a non glamorous look, in 'Barkha Rutton 1', 'Hetal Hemani Mumbai 12'.
Each work depicts a human psyche born out of social dictums and fluid definitions of freedom. A common thread which runs through all these works is that of an encroaching turbulence. Though of simplistic and realistic rendition, each work was equally capable of producing / evoking a thought interceding the political and religious, the free and shackled and the canonical and the atypical. It is interesting to see an open embrace between painterly goals and photographic references.
Foss is the Mumbai representative of Tasveer, a network of photography galleries operating between Bangalore, Calcutta, Delhi and Mumbai.
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