Five Artists and the Four-Letter Word

The brief led the artists to explore different notions of love. If through his digital print Burning House,Chintan Upadhyay observes that love cannot be domesticated,in one of his wood installations,Bose Krishnamachari undermines the notion of love at first sight by incorporating Braille in his work. “Denial of an ability becomes a medium of aspiration to know,feel,exercise and also to affect the notion of love. Blindness is a sort of denial. It accentuates other sensory faculties in a human being,” says the Mumbai-based artist.

Lahore-based Sana Arjumand denotes love in the age of global media in her series titled “Politics of Love”. One of the works from the series titled Age Does Matter,depicts a goat-like being enjoying the music being played on a gramophone,in turn reflecting on love that is a result of culturally and socially prescribed norms. In Size Does Matter,Arjumand discusses the possible blinding effects of love,through the image of a man performing waltz with a monstrous figure. “I don’t think love is blind,at least not any more. Love is measured and reconsidered and hence,predictable. By painting the opposite of the illusion of ideal scenarios,in “Politics of love”,I comment/question the terms and conditions that have been carved on the package of love,” says Arjumand.

Manjunath Kamath looks at the implications of culture on love. In his digital print Fake Love Story,he projects symbols that are sub-consciously associated with passion,from peacock to cupids and a bride in white standing before a mirror,horrified with the prospect that her groom could be a man-animal. “I am emphasising on an abstract language of love,which is opposed to the generic definition. I believe that the ancient connotation and understanding of love was stronger as opposed to the commercialisation infused in this gesture in the modern times,which is quite fake,” says the Delhi-based artist.

The exhibition at Latitude 28,F 208,Lado Sarai,is on till September 30. Contact: 46791111