Art soup For the Soul

Women were cooing at it,fascinated children ran around it and babies tried to reach out for it. Australian artist Sam Jinks’ hyper-real sculptures are made out of intricate materials such as fibreglass,resin,calcium carbonate and human hair. The artist looks at hyper-realism as a movement within art,given the developments in digital photography over the past 40 years. Three of his works are on display,including an untitled work — that of a baby sleeping in a crouched position,which has many looking at it in awe and disbelief.

Man as Art

Preeti Chandrakant believes that everything is a work of art,including human beings. At the fair,she has six living works of art: three each from India and Zurich. The group walks together in the corridors and during their interactions with the visitors,they share the process of getting transformed into works of art. “It happened after a series of intense discussions and we follow a set of instructions,” says one of Chandrakant’s protagonists,a Mumbai-based sales professional. The artist adds,“Living works are human beings whose senses have been sharpened.”

That Afghan Girl

There is one familiar face at the India Art Fair,a face which has continued to fascinate the world for decades. It is Sharbat Gula,the 12-year-old (then) Afghan refugee girl who stares at you with her startling green eyes. In 1984,award-winning photojournalist Steve McCurry captured this heart-rending image in the Nasir Bagh refugee camp,Pakistan,and the image has come to symbolise the plight of refugees during the Afghanistan conflict. The image was published in 1985 and now,priced at $11,000,is up for sale at the Sundaram Tagore Gallery stall,along side McCurry’s other work,Jodhpur Fruit Vendor,which he shot in 1996.

Social Art

Acclaimed for his socio-political and digital work,Rashid Rana from Pakistan is being celebrated here with a project supported by Lisson Gallery and a solo show hosted by Chemould Prescott Road and Chatterjee & Lal galleries. The limited prints are in the form of a collage,where the artist has put together photographs of Urdu signages. The works have attracted attention as well as buyers.

The trojan horse from south africa

South African artist Willie Bester’s work Trojan Horse isn’t exactly a product of the historical Trojan War. It actually came out of an incident in October 1985,when in the Emergency-declared Athlone — a Cape Town suburb — police opened fire on hundreds of unsuspecting masses while remaining hidden behind a South African Railways truck. This incident went on to be called the “Trojan Horse Massacre”,marking a turning point in the struggle against apartheid,and this also inspired Bester’s to do his Trojan Horse Massacre Series in 2010. Displayed at the Robert Bowman Modern Gallery booth,and priced at Rs 1,13,00,000,it’s a visually powerful structure made from parts of cars and motorcycles.

Talking Heads

It is hard to the miss the monumental Ravinder Reddy ‘heads’ at the fair,occupying a place of pride at more than six stalls that have them in various sizes. If Vadehra Art Gallery is showing his 2008 work titled Stepping Out,where a gold nude is surrounded by flowers and an alligator,Gallery Espace has Reddy’s iconic head in blue.

Scarlett Johansson? It’s all Greek To Me

It is surprising to see Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson sprawled across the walls of the Frida Fine Arts Gallery booth,in a painting of course. Interestingly,the actress’ painting is mounted alongside legendary artists such as Lucian Michael Freud and Amedeo Clemente Modigliani — all done by Greek artist Jannis Markopoulos. While Scarlett-ready-mades is priced at $ 17,500,Copying Strategy Lucian-Freud is worth $8,500 and Modigliani: Scarlett Pose-For-Me is for $8,500.