Mexican artist Arturo Hernandez Alcazars work is often a culmination of his observations as an urban pedestrian. In Fallen Wages,he has used an axe to split a wall with one rupee coins placed on top of the wooden handle. These coins,which are of little value today,are symbolic of the money given to labourers,who are often underpaid. The exhibit is part of An Antipode So Close. on display at Vadehra Art Gallery. Fallen Wages shows how the balance of a nations economy is dependent on these labourers. Despite this,they are given meagre wages,which are low in value,much like the one-rupee coin, says curator Julia Villasenor Bell. The exhibition explores how India and Mexico,despite being on opposite sides of the globe,have a similar history of indigenous civilisations,colonial rule,multiple languages and faiths,apart from being rapidly developing economies. The inspiration for the title of the show comes from the Greek words anti and pose,which in geography is used to define two places on the Earths surface that are diametrically opposite to each other. A connecting straight line running through the centre of the earth joins these two points and 11 contemporary Mexican artists have tried to interpret this line by exploring the similarities in political and social forces shaping the two nations. Another work by Alcazar titled Never Work comprises sheets of paper and a stamp made by the artist in five languages (Russian,Spanish,French,English and Hindi). It gives viewers a chance to stamp their bodies or pieces of paper to remind them of not letting work become the only dominant factor in their life. Another artist Artemio sent his designs to artists in Agra and allowed them to interpret his designs,which had symbols of rifles,grenades and bombs and were shaped as a mandala. The work Bailarinas (From the Mandalas Series) is set on a marble plate with symbols of rifle inlays. A mandala is symbolic of peace whereas rifles only cause destruction. The artist has tried to show how weapons rule our lives,and it is time we reinterpret them, says Bell. The exhibition is on display till January 11 at Vadehra Art Gallery, D-53 Defence Colony. Contact: 46103550/46103551
