Cutting Across the Border

Dodiya’s reference is to the series of works that form his latest solo exhibition,If It Rains Fire,which the Delhi-based Nature Morte gallery is organising in Berlin,Germany,from today. The works examine critical political issues and India’s relationship with its neighbouring countries like Bangladesh,Pakistan and Sri Lanka through the medium of burnished milled steel. “Even in a work like Cracks in Mondrian I have referred to the LOC. My works address issues like the Naxalite movement and terrorism. I think my stand is quite clear on this— while one understands and identifies with the struggle of the Naxals or the terrorist,it is the use of violence that one is averse to,” says Dodiya.

“The works are new,but they carry the artist’s unique stamp. Atul has always been interested in the process of replication,where one material stands in for,or mimics,another. For these works he has used steel sheets and burnished the images onto them,but the sheets are made to resemble the back of canvases and it fools the viewer askance,” says Peter Nagy,owner of Nature Morte. “He has also used fridge magnets for the first time,collected from various museums across the world. They have works by artists like Francis Picabia,Andy Warhol and Michaelangelo,” says Nagy.

The last suite of works that complete the show is on paper done in Dodiya’s inimitable watercolours. Breakfast Project,for instance,is a watercolour that uses text. The practice of quoting the works of artists who have played an important role in his life— like Raja Ravi and Marcel Duchamp— is something Dodiya has been doing consistently over the years. In the past he has also rendered poetry in hand-painted water colour letters. This time though he has turned to newspaper headlines. “The papers always say the full report is on page 12 or so,but one often wonders what the whole story is; is the tension between our neighbours a created one?” says Dodiya,once again giving his viewers food for thought.

In some other works like the Potato Eaters and Scribe he makes direct references to the struggle of the lower middle-class to survive. “This is another major concern in my work. When I am painting about India,I constantly have the image of a woman grinding floor in a hand-mill,in my mind,” says Dodiya,who grew up in working class Ghatkopar in Mumbai.