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Busan Museum of Modern Art : "Hungry God - Indian Contemporary Art"

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BUSAN - It is common knowledge that India is the next "it" country, after China, in the world of contemporary art. Yet when you think of Indian art, or India for that matter, the first thing that comes to mind are those impossibly beautiful amalgamations of bright colors.

 

If you would like to discover a rather unknown and more sophisticated side of Indian art, head for the city of Busan, where a rare opportunity to witness the intensity of Indian contemporary art is offered at its Museum of Modern Art.

 

With the Arario Gallery, a trailblazer of Korean art, the museum hosted "Hungry God - Indian Contemporary Art," an exhibition of unprecedented scale and quality that was introduced at Arario`s Beijing branch last year.

 

It includes 12 leading Indian artists such as Subodh Gupta (1964- ), Atul Dodiya (1959- ) and Nalini Malani (1946- ) and the works range from paintings, sculptures and installations to photographs and video works.

 

Most of the artwork has been commissioned for the show, and many artists have tried novel approaches, some ventured from their familiar territory to experiment with new genres while others have created much larger pieces of art, enjoying the freedom (and space) offered by the gallery.

 

Gupta`s "5 offerings for the greedy gods" is the best example of making use of the large display space. He stacked stainless steel utensils 4.5 meters high and 11 meters wide, his largest installation ever, once again exploiting the cliches of India. This work also shows the strength of Indian artists who seem to flawlessly merge local and global aesthetics. These steel utensils can be found anywhere around the world, but at the same time the work challenges the country`s caste system, because those tools are used in any Indian kitchen regardless of social status.

 

"Itch, scratch, raw," a series of large installations by Bharti Kher (1969- ), seems to be beautiful abstract paintings from afar, yet they are made of bindis, the ointment painted on the forehead of women wishing for luck, (among other meanings). The artist has elaborately put the bindis, now available in self-adhesive versions in many different colors, on an aluminum board, presenting how the once religious or traditional symbols have become modern and fashionable.

 

The hologram and acrylic work of Justin Ponmany (1974- ) takes a wittier and more sarcastic approach. The words "Original Sin" and "Karma" are repeated in his "Remission," asking the meaning of life, death and resurrection, and the fake religious picture in the middle mocks the weightiness and solemnity of religion.

 

While Tallur L.N., one of the 12 participating artists, believes that "art doesn`t have nationality" and finds "the whole idea absurd," it would be hard to deny their "unity in diversity." "Indian artists are not afraid to be experimental and in the meantime are very masterful in terms of techniques," said Gwak Jun-young, deputy director of Arario Beijing, who curated the show.

 

The exhibition runs through Feb. 19 at the Busan Museum of Modern Art in Busan, located near the Museum of Modern Art Station, Subway Line No. 2. Closed on Mondays. For more information, visit http://www.busanmoma.org/

 

The source of news : The Korea Herald 2007-01-16