Seriously Funny

On the opening night of his first solo show at the Lalit Kala Akademi,Tanmaya Tyagi competed with his caricature of American President Barack Obama as far as smiles go. His caricature had portrayed the US President with a fake smile,much like that of the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland. In Tyagi’s case though,the smile was genuine since the political caricaturist and cartoonist was delighted with the turn out at his show Political Cartoons and Caricatures on Wednesday evening. The first guests to arrive were photographers Ram Rehman and political activist and artist Savi Savarkar,while chief guest Sitaram Yechury came in late,reportedly because he was stuck in traffic. Rehman regaled guests with funny anecdotes while Tyagi plied them with home-made pakoras and chai. “I chose caricature over fine art because I feel that the impact of the political cartoon is hard hitting and direct,something even the common man can understand. Art tends to not talk about things directly,” said the 36-year-old,who began his career at the age of 15.

Art critic Suneet Chopra who knew Tyagi’s late father,artist Hari Prakash Tyagi,commented that the young artist has not spared anyone from his witty caricatures. “His sharp political insight is clothed in simplicity and his vision is pointed even more than his fathers,” says Chopra. The cartoons are indeed witty and have commented on everyone from revered figures like Che Guevara and the Dalai Lama to the oft-sketched Bal Thackeray and Narendra Modi.