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Journalism of Courage
Delhi is seeing more of video art than ever before
Videos once meant cassettes brought from the uncle in the US, not art. Then the video began to make fleeting appearances in mixed-media shows where connoisseurs halted before the screen, gaped at moving images and with bewilderment tried to deduce its place at an exhibition. Now reels are finding prominence in the easel-partial art world, as screens are moved from the corners of the gallery to the centre-stage.
Renu Modi, who introduced Video Wednesday at Gallery Espace in July, agrees, 8220;There is considerable interest in video art. Not many are investing in it yet, but the number is on the rise.8221; On the last Wednesday of every month, her gallery at Friends Colony Community Centre turns into a screening room where enthusiasts are served popcorn and videos by select artists. This month Modi had K M Madhusudhanan8217;s History is a Silent Film and Pushpamala N8217;s Rashtriya Kheer and Desi Salad. 8220;We have had people waiting in queue,8221; says Modi, who plans to continue with the project till July 2009.
Less than two months ago, video art also debuted at an Indian auction 8212; the Emami Chisel Art auction in Kolkata. Although Bangalore-based artist Surekha8217;s video Between Fire and Sky failed to excite bidders, gallerists are convinced that the medium, which is at the most 50 years old, is finding prominence in the Indian circuit. Indian video art is travelling to the US as well. At the exhibition 8220;India: Public Places, Private Spaces8221; at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Gayatri Sinha is showing videos by Subodh Gupta, Sonia Khurana and Zenib Sedira. 8220;The lens-based medium offers a different documentation. Navjot Altaf8217;s Lacuna in Testimony, based on the Godhra riots, for instance, acts as a strong political commentary,8221; says Sinha.
In Delhi, the shows might be getting a crowd, but it will be sometime before video works get the red dots. 8220;There is some hassle in displaying video art,8221; says Rajgarhia. 8220;Unlike a canvas or a photo that can be hung on the wall, a video work will require investing in a TV set.8221; Vikram Bachhawat, director , Emami Chisel Art, says video art will find its patrons and he is game to include it in forthcoming auctions. 8220;The market for video art is nascent but not non-existent,8221; he says.
Meanwhile, at the Devi Art Foundation, video art from a private collection is going public. Now playing is Sudarshan Shetty8217;s untitled work that has the Taj melting down and Tejal Shah8217;s Untitled III that has two naked bodies taking pleasure in a whimsical dance. Still life paving way for moving pictures?
