We live in times when the ?I-told-you-so? syndrome becomes stronger each day. Indeed, it is the plundering instinct of monopolies and multinational finance capital that has begun to tear the tinsel off the myths that capital has clothed itself in so far. People no longer have faith in its promises. That is why both the share market and the dollar are paying the price for the indiscipline of finance capital. This is why real estate, art and gold are the best investment options today. Perhaps art and gold are better than real estate as the new state of indiscipline has plunged the world into a series of wars which target real estate and resources most. So, in the end, there is only gold and art. And the figures indicate that the return on art is better than that on gold. So, art it is.
In art too, plunder takes a backseat. That is why the grave and temple robbers have to take to the wings and leave the stage for contemporary works. And in contemporary art too, Indian contemporary art stands out. Not only is it cheaper than art of the same quality in the West, but also it reflects a natural process of development, based on its emergence in a liberation movement and rejection of colonial aesthetics that gives it spontaneity, simplicity and originality. All it lacked was exposure; but its success in auctions in India and abroad has given gallery owners the incentive to project it properly as gallery owners all over the world do. This will definitely give our market genuine staying power beyond mere sales hype and cocktail circuit contacts.
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A 1970 bronze sculpture, Mother & Child, by Ram Kinkar Baij; ?Courtesy: Kumar Gallery catalogue |
Exhibitions too are of a higher standard. The works are properly cleaned and framed. Also, they are looking beyond painting onwards sculpture which is still grossly underrated. Now we can be sure that it gets its due. For example, the Art Alive Gallery has just released a very well-produced book on the sculpture of KS Radhakrishnan by R Siva Kumar of Santiniketan, which does two things: it highlights the contemporary importance of Santiniketan as well as its significant role in contemporary Indian sculpture. This work should do the same thing for Radhakrishnan that Ramu Gandhi?s book has done for Tyeb Mehta or Gayatri Sinha for Krishen Khanna.
Catalogues too are far better produced even for exhibitions. A case in point is the catalogue the Kumar gallery has produced for the first event of its golden jubilee in the world of our contemporary art. The gallery is a repository of some of the best works of our contemporary art today, as it systematically supported many of our leading artists today with retainers when they found it difficult to sell their works. So, naturally it was able to access their best works.
This is evident form their exhibition, ?Spirit of a Century,? that no serious collector ought to miss. It has works like AR Chugtai?s ?Freedom Chained? of 1916, that shows two women in chains standing by a doorway, reflecting both a cry for independence as well as for women?s rights, clearly pointing to the anti-colonial origin of our contemporary art as well as its concern with social consciousness.
Then we get that triad of new India: Ram Kinkar Baij. His sculptures at the Reserve Bank entrance on Parliament Street in New Delhi are proof of his towering stature in our contemporary art. A sculpture and a painting of his in the exhibition are ample proof of it, if any is needed. The two others, who followed him from among the masses, FN Souza and MF Husain, are also represented by very well-chosen works reflecting their genius. This is our post-independence art at its best.
Then there are those from a more privileged background, but who were attracted to the pageant of a country whose down-trodden masses were waking up to the experience of freedom and who saw in their empowerment an avenue of a new, liberated expression. Among their works, we have an excellent canvas of Krishen Khanna?s ?Bandwalla? series; AP Santhanaraj?s and Ram Gopal Vijayavargiya?s studies of rural folk; Paresh Maity?s Rajasthani couple, KS Kulkarni?s Vrindavan, A Ramachandran?s ?Urvasi?s Toilet,? Satish Gujral?s ?Man with Doves,? Maniklal Bandopadhyay?s ?Urchins,? Goberdhan Ash?s ?Friends,? Gopal Ghose?s fisherman and his loat, and Ajit Sarkar?s ?Baul Singer.?
Then there are sensitive works about our times, our changing environment and how it affects us by Akbar Padamsee, Badri Narayan, Manu Parekh, Rameshwar Broota, Paritosh Sen, Arpana Caur and Anjolie Ela Menon. There are moving landscapes by Damayanti Chowla and Sailoz Mookherje; still life studies by KH Ara and SH Raza; and excellent abstracts by SH Raza, Ganesh Haloi, Sohan Qadri, Shobha Broota, Sangita Gupta Sharad Sonkusale and Tarannum, to name only a few.
The sculpture section is a treat with works of Ram Kinkar Baij, Dhanraj Bhagat, Somenath Hore, KS Kulkarni, Sankho Choudhary, KS Radhakrishnan, Satish Gujral and Atul Sinha, reflecting not only the different trends of contemporary sculpture, but also the rich variety of materials use. This exhibition is perhaps one of the best overviews of our contemporary art scene and should not be missed by collectors who want to know the best available in the market.