Women of Colour

Three indian artists feature in a book on the role of women in global art

I can say without a qualm that the Western art fraternity is prejudiced against women artists, says Mumbai-based artist Nayanaa Kanodia,adding,Where in our country,nobody bothers with whether the artist is a man or a woman. Kanodias former claim is shared by Reinhard Fuchs,a German art writer,and is a trigger for his latest project a book titled Women in Art which highlights the works of over 500 women artists from the Middle Ages to modern era. Representing India are Kanodia and Delhi-based artists Arpana Caur and Bharti Kher.

Fuchs told me that while working on his book ART&PRICE Index (2009),which lists the results of 70,000 art auctions held over the past 25 years,he found that only 5 per cent of the works recorded by him were produced by women, says Kanodia,who has been featured in the book for her work,titled Our Pets (oil on canvas). The painting has been rendered in the LArt Naif or Naive Art fashion a movement that was started by hobby artists without formal training in painting,about a century ago one that soon gained momentum and caught the attention of academicians. Iconic artists such as Henri Rousseau and Frida Kahlo (who has also been featured in the book) were affiliated with the movement.

Our Pets exemplifies my style,which seeks to document the dichotomy between the Western culture and Indian tradition. This painting captures a moment in a couples life posing to click a picture with their pets, says Kanodia. Caurs painting,Day and Night (oil on canvas) revolves around time. Day and Night is a series I have been working on for the past 15 years. I enjoy working on the subject because it is such an ordinary phenomenon, says Caur,adding I first sat thinking how to represent the cycle of night and day,and devised a yellow woman embroidering the thread of life to represent day and a black figure,the formers opposite,cutting the thread with scissors,thus representing night.

Like her other works,Day and Night is embellished with symbols indigenous to India. I believe a piece of art should proclaim its roots and stay true to it; else it ends up impersonating popular trends of art in the West. Therefore in Day and Night,I have depicted the yantra,which,to me,represents eternal stillness, says Caur.

Besides Caur and Kanodia,painter,sculptor and installation artist Khers

rocking horse,called The Great Chase,has also been featured. The work has been styled as a unicorn

with a spire-like horn rising from an absent right ear.

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