Delhi Sketchbook

Do you remember Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights? The drunken rich man falls in love with the tramp every night and when he wakes up in the morning, he kicks the tramp out of his bungalow. Some times art critics are like this legendary tramp, destined to live at the margins and occasionally enjoy the freedom of being rich. But how does it look, a tramp kicking another tramp’s butt, that too in front of a rich man? The situation would definitely remind you of Gold Rush where the tramp is challenged by another uncouth tramp.

Recently I was caught in a Gold Rush situation. A young art critic came to meet me at the Samovar Café in Mumbai. We had beer together and later this young person accompanied me to a couple of art dos. I was with one of the well known artists in Mumbai and the art critic friend got high on red wine as the night progressed. Sitting between myself and the artist, this young art critic friend started a debate on art and obviously it turned against my arguments. The young critic became so agitated and told me that he is not going to write for the site anymore. While we were arguing the artist played the role of a jovial referee exhorting the young critic to talk against me. Though the situation did not go out of hand, it gave me a lesson. Whether you like it or not, artists do not give any damn to your arguments. On the contrary, they enjoy these hapless souls spilling blood over their works and going back home hurt and humiliated.

The Delhi Sketchbook of the last issue had ruffled the feathers of some women artists in Delhi and Mumbai. Their complaint was that I write like a male chauvinist and exclude the voice of women from the stuff I write. It sounded good and I requested them to write retaliatory articles on the issue. One of the critic friends also had expressed similar sentiments to me and I requested her also to write. I waited for the articles from the women artists and critics. The women artists finally said that they could not write as they need a bit more time to think. However, a woman critic did write and it was quite strong a write up, grilling me on the burning coal of passion and emotion. It was quite sincere and direct.

I should have published her piece. But I decided not to. Why? If I publish, it would again sound like two critics fighting for the dignity of artists, whereas artists do not want to take a direct position in the whole issue. Why should the critics suffer for the reputation of the artists? In fact, whatever be the position of the artists, whether he/she be a super seller, a globe trotter, an auction stage scorcher or a biennale favorite, critics and historians are the people who register their works for their posterity. You may not be wanting X or Y, even you may not be wanting your works be written about by A or B. But you will or your promoter will have to choose P or Q from the alphabets of critics, curators and historians. Their words, after all that glory and limelight of market fades, their words written from their hearts and brains would register your works for the posterity. Who needs posterity? You might ask. But look at those museums even. They are the mausoleums where your glory is embalmed and preserved by the ART CRITICS, HISTORIANS AND CRITICS.

Post-modernity and the late capitalist logic, where every one is either a member of the mass society or a ballooned hero, must be making the artists to think that they can survive without art critics and art historians. But remember critics are the people who make even the late capitalist logic an enduring system of thoughts. That is why recently when a gallerist asked me to reduce my remuneration for writing a catalogue, I said a categorical NO to her. She told me, “See JohnyML, I can request you to reduce the money. But the artists will not listen to me.” I told her, “You should be paying more to the art critics, who burn their brains to make works of art to look like the best stuff ever produced.” She laughed and I could sense that it was the most sincere laughter I had ever heard from a gallerist.

Without caring a bit for my future in this field of art writing, I would demand the gallerists to ask the talented young art historians and critics to write their catalogues and monographs. The old hands who still keep the gallerists as their hostages by throwing emotional tantrums should realize that the young generation of art critics is here. But only thing that this young generation of critics should move away from the age old cannons of art history and criticism and equip themselves with new systems of knowledge to deal with the changing art scenario. And also they should develop better writing styles.

Those who give annual awards for bad art and bad artists should wake up and give huge amounts to young art critics and historians to produce worthy books on Indian contemporary art. When a foreigner writes, ‘Iranna was born and brought up in Delhi’, you will say that it is a typographic error. When the young art writers in India do wonderful articles on contemporary Indian art, you pretend not to have seen them. Please don’t give them job as documentation officers. Instead, treat them like kings and queens, provide them with grants and scholarships, give them opportunities to go abroad and study more.

If not when the doomsday comes, you will have Rasa, Bhava and alankara theories on New Media Art.