Casting the Self

FROM moulding himself in fibreglass cases as a cadaver to shaping 12 feet steel sheets, Jehangir Jani has tried almost every medium. Now, ...

FROM moulding himself in fibreglass cases as a cadaver to shaping 12 feet steel sheets, Jehangir Jani has tried almost every medium. Now, 8216;Portraits8217;, his oil on canvas works, feature bronze-bodied men emerging out of the shadows. They celebrate the hedonist and painter in Jani, who has flirted mischievously with the notions of desire and confrontation.

8216;8216;I visited porn sites for 8216;inspiration8217; where I could study the male physique,8217;8217; says the 49-year-old, who is also moved by other painters like Renaissance master Caravaggio and the late Bhupen Khakhar. 8216;8216;However, by the time my 8216;characters8217; emerge on my canvas, they have been personalised and reclaimed,8217;8217; says Jani, who has always walked the thin line dividing pleasure and body politics.

The suite of 18 shadowy oil on canvas works come after 11 years of neglecting this medium. Nevertheless, his apparent comfort with it allows him to raise some interesting questions about erotica in art. 8216;8216;The bodies you see on pornographic sites are disempowered. For them, it8217;s not about desire but economics, and the monetary transaction in a way nullifies their erotic charge. The figures I have done, on the other hand, confront the viewer on a one to one level,8217;8217; says Jani.

Besides his online 8216;research8217;, Jani has enjoyed working with the palette knife on a fully black canvas. 8216;8216;Every other colour has a history of its own associations except black, so I chose it when I decided to work with ochre and burnt sienna.8217;8217;

Oils, besides their immediate monetary value, have been a pleasure to work with. But Jani is in no hurry to 8216;settle down8217;8212;no, we are not talking about matters of the heart but his art. His upcoming show at Samukha Art Gallery in Bangalore will feature photographs.

8216;8216;I8217;ve never sworn myself off other media. Besides, thematically I8217;ve always been exploring the self. Nothing changes just because I have worked in another medium, 8217;8217; says Jani, maintaining that he8217;s always been a painter-sculptor.

Will the black and white photographs he8217;s planning to shoot with the blatantly sexual Ashok Salian be as confrontational? 8216;8216;Considering I8217;m going to be posing before the camera instead of being behind it, I will be in charge of how I look,8217;8217; says Jani.

8216;8216;Of course I8217;ve chosen to work with Salian because I8217;m interested in seeing what his eye as a photographer will bring to the works,8217;8217; he adds.

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Given that he8217;s always chosen to portray himself keeping in mind characteristics like 8216;8216;my largish nose or my fleshy stomach8217;8217;, it will be interesting to see if photography will retain these features which give his work a more humane touch.

8216;Portraits8217; is on at The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai, till July 31. Another exhibition is slotted in Mumbai and Delhi this November showcasing sculptures in ceramic and gold leaf