Worlds Apart

For his latest exhibition,German artist Jens Ullrich finds an unlikely collaborator in Mumbai-based signboard painter Davindar Singh Sokhi.

BY way of his art,Jens Ullrich often brings different entities together. The difference can be as vast as their belonging to different eras,as in the classical sculptures commissioned at the time of the Nazi government in Germany and contemporary sports motion photography; he blended the two in his collage work in 2011. Or as small as interchanging collars between different shirts,a part of his ongoing exhibition at Galerie Max Mueller,Max Mueller Bhavan. I like to bring things together that belong to different sources. It makes me get closer to reality, he says.

Ullrich,currently at an artists residency by the gallery,was intrigued by the commercial sign paintings on the hardware shops of Fort and traced its artist down to Malad,near a gurdwara. Davindar Singh Sokhi,a former sign painter by profession who works in a factory currently,became the German artists unlikely collaborator for an ambitious art show,titled United Machines and a Collar System that attempts to blend the two diverse artistic styles. It is on till June 18. He paints the machines in their bare essentials,painting it with precision and details. Besides,he has a great sense of composition, says Ullrich.

Residencies provide new fodder for artistic expression. For Ullrich,it came in the form of something as basic as garments. When I came in January,I realised most of the warm clothes I had brought with me from Germany cannot be worn here. But ironically,I also realised that their labour and manufacturing may have been outsourced from India, he says. While the garments,khadi apparels,became a way of Ullrichs artistic expression and form the canvases for his paintings,Sokhis sign-paintings are done on aluminium cut outs. The two worlds,says Ullrich,are connected through the common links of industrial labour. The handspun khadi,is Ullrichs ode to Indias indigenous clothing industry.

While Ullrichs current exhibition isnt strictly a collage a format he has often used in the past there are similarities. The mellow sophistication of Ullrichs art is juxtaposed with Sokhis visually striking sign paints of machines on the walls. The works are mounted at a distance from the walls,creating subtle shadows in order to produce a three-dimensional effect. Photographs of Sokhis original commercial art are also on display. Its a profession he inherited from his father but had to give up due to lack of work caused by the arrival of digitally-designed flex boards. This exhibition,Sokhis first in a fine arts context,will give him work as an artist,hopes Ullrich. He also plans to take this exhibition to Germany.

sankhayan.ghosh@expressindia.com

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German
Mumbai