A Kitschy Affair

For some it’s a mean machine that is “made like a gun,and goes like a bullet”,but the religion of Royal Enfield denotes its predominance in the Indian pop culture “as an exotic and Anglo-Indian mix of classicism,ruggedness and spirituality”,reads a label below a polished specimen of the motorcycle at W+K Exp gallery in Sheikh Sarai. Royal Enfield in various avatars is a part of this exhibition and is titled “Big Niche”,which explores the latest pop art trends in music,art,design,food and brands.

Artist duo Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra,author and filmmaker Hanif Kureshi and photographer Bharat Sikka are some of the artists who have displayed their works at the gallery. “Every generation has its own pop art. So we just have an assortment of the most prominent ones of our time,” says Hemant Sreekumar,who has curated the works at the exhibition. The displayed works depict diverse forms of icons and styles that include Thukral and Tagra’s quintessential pop art depicted through an installation called The Beautiful Game comprising a pool table and rules used to promote AIDS awareness; Kureshi’s Handpainted Type,a visual documentation that explores typography skills of Indian street painters; and Sikka’s series of fashion photography titled Fiction,which is set against overpowering suburban background among others.

“These are people we have been talking about and talking to as we wanted to feature these divergent trends without over-killing the concept. They have a different and unique way of looking at reality,and that for us,is pop,” adds Sreekumar,who is a Delhi-based sound artist. The exhibition,the planning of which took only three weeks,also holds a video representation of the recent street art festival called “Extension Khirkee”,that had transformed walls of Khirkee Extension.

“We are aware of such trends,big or small,everyday. But through this,you get to analyse various icons and styles and how to relate it to the urban general public at large,” says Sreekumar,who is not taking the exhibition anywhere else,but would like for it to “live in the internet and let others take it forward.”

The exhibition is on till April 22 Contact:46009595