Fair Start

What makes Delhi famous? Is it the chaat ,T3 airport,Qutub Minar,Lotus Temple,the Ho-Ho buses or the high-end fashion weeks? The painting titled Dilli by artist Manisha Jha tries to solve the mystery at the exhibition “Media Flourishes” at Lalit Kala Academy. Comprising 60 works by 16 artists,this painting is a part of the ongoing curtain raiser for United Art Fair — scheduled to be held from September 14 to 17 at Pragati Maiden — and gives a flavour of what to expect this year.

Jha has painted Delhi as a tree of life,where Qutub Minar forms the trunk of the tree. Its branches show Dilli Haat,yoga centres,traffic jams and the metro. Jha,who is also an architect,says,“Qutub Minar and the Yamuna have been witnesses to all the changes in Delhi.” The painting,which was also on display during an exhibition at Commonwealth Games in 2010 at India Habitat Centre — the proof of which is Shera who stands at one corner of the canvas — displays varied facets of Delhi.

Also on display is Shobha Deepak Singh’s photograph titled Transient,where the artist has captured a young dancer in performance,dressed in a white,swirling dress.The Rs 1,000 note gets a new twist in Anand Jaiswal’s archival digital print on canvas The Natural Instinct 6 ,where a man in a white robe stands in the middle of the note while a set of pharaohs with a woman’s face in the centre,also make an appearance on the note,almost linking historic times to the contemporary world.

One of the exhibition’s curators,Alka Pande,says,“We have looked at younger artists’ ways of representation. We are interrogating the scene of art in contemporary India — whether it is rural,folk,tribal or experimental avant garde.”

The exhibition is on at Lalit Kala Academy till May 4. Contact: 23009200