Moving Images

Curated by writer and critic Yashodhara Dalmia,the exhibition featuring a selection of 18 Indian artists,will be held at Grosvenor Vadehra,London,in September. Before that,it will be previewed at the Vadehra Gallery at Delhi’s Defence Colony,on August 20.

“I chose the title ‘Indian (Sub) Way’ because there is a double rejoinder: on the one hand,it’s about movement,travel and urbanisation,about a culture of high-rises and malls,and on the other,it’s about the vast differences between the haves and have nots. It is about bridging those gaps,” says Dalmia.

Artist Ravinder Reddy depicts this through a sculpture — the monumental head of a tribal woman. Covered in gold paint and with large protruding eyes,his iconic sculptures always inspire a sense of awe for these women who are either farmers or casual labourers. “I have added a little detail,the woman is carrying a bag of her belongings on her head,a pointer to the fact that she is migrating from the village in search of work,” says Reddy,54,who migrated from his small village,Suryapet,Andhra Pradesh,to Baroda to study art.

Delhi-based Anita Dube,who is currently working with mixed media collage and candle wax,has created an 8×12 ft work featuring Mayawati and the garland of rupee notes. Superimposed on the image are rows of tiny black candles,spelling out the words Shub Laabh. “One could say that this is the current state of India. This image of Mayawati captures an iconic moment,” says Dube.

Gigi Scaria creates an imaginary city in his photomontage by placing images of high-rise buildings from China,India and the US. At a glance one cannot distinguish that the buildings belong to different cities from across the world. This could be read as Scaria’s comment on the similitude of cities in a globalised world. He also places this montage of buildings precariously over a bridge across a flyover,gently hinting that cities that have grown overnight can easily crumble.

Orissa-based Jagannath Panda’s canvas is packed with a jumble of chopped trees,peacocks,hyper malls and street lamps. Riyas Komu’s large portraits of working class boys and GR Iranna’s hybrid donkey-lion laden with workers tools is a comment on the ongoing issue of migrant workers.

Is the curatorial promise,that the show has artists’ questioning India’s rapid change,fulfilled? Largely,and that’s because most of the works are not didactic.