India: Modern and Contemporary Art

At Vadehra Art Gallery, we saw 3 floors of art by Atul Bhalla at Defense Colony 53

On our last two days in Delhi, the Poteets and I had an opportunity to visit some private contemporary galleries. I was ready to be re-engaged in the present or at least near past.

At Gallery Espace who represents Subodh Gupta, who is well-known for incorporating everyday objects such as steel tiffin boxes or thali pans into his artworks, we found this exhibition Of Herbariums, Hortoriums And Home  with Nandini Bagla Chirimar and Paula Sengupta. Paula Sengupta was exploring the chintz of the East India company and how repeating a pattern with different color ways, suggest those fabric choices we have all seen in pattern books. This artist might even end up printing fabrics. Nandini Bagla Chirimar presents map like pictures of her home environment and I found these similar to the work of Iana Quesnel in San Diego. 

Paula Sengupta.

Paula Sengupta.

Nandini Bagla Chirimar

Nandini Bagla Chirimar

Nandini Bagla Chirimar

At Vadehra Art Gallery, we saw 3 floors of art by Atul Bhalla at Defense Colony 53 and work by  A Ramachandran at Defence Colony 40. We particularly liked a video of mirror images of the artist moving a glass of water and a chunk of raw meat on a table. Perhaps we were giddy from the relief of crowds, but this amused us in the way a minimal and very serious comedic scene can sometimes do.  

Atul Bhalla at Defense Colony 53

Atul Bhalla at Defense Colony 53

Atul Bhalla at Defense Colony 53

A Ramachandran at Defence Colony 40, a surprising lush look at lily ponds. 

At the National Gallery of Modern Art we saw a survey show ...in the seeds of time. This exhibition traced the trajectory of modern India art from the colonial encounter from the 18th century to current trends in the 21st century. The building was massive, secluded and modern. 

The story of the Salt March in 1947 was big news and well documented by world journalist. Salt was turned into a government controlled monopoly and Gandhi organized a non-violent but loud march to Dandi to protest this essential element in everyday lives as necessary are air and water. This stunning installation titled Dandi Yatra was the best I have seen recently and very powerful.  

An anonymous man was captured in pen and pencil on paper on the march to Dandi.

Raja Ravi Varma, one of the first Indian painter to use oil paint.

This amorous couple by an unknown artist was back painted on glass.

Bal Krishna painted by an unknown artist with applied gold in the Tanjore style

Radhika painted by Abanindranath Tagore (1871 to 1951) leader of the national movement in Art in Calcutta in 1896 and part of the Bengal School. They turned from the colonial style to the Asian style for their influences. 

God Shiva holding a skull by unknown artist

Hide and Seek by Ranada Ukil, born1900

Kalia Mardan,  1959  painted by Madhu Powle, born 1935

Fantastic Figure by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 to 1941). There was a whole series by this modernist painter.

Amrita Shar-Gil was the only women artist we saw and she was represented by many pictures. This one is called  Young Girls, 1932

The Santiniketan seems to revert back to a naive and native style. 

On the top floor, we seem to see work influenced by the west and some of these artists are well know and making millions in auction prices at Sotheby's and Christie's.

Untilteled lithograph from 1970 by B,B Muckherjee (1904 - 1980)

Eros Killing Thanatos, 1984 by F.N. Souza (1924 to 2002)

Untitled painting, 1976 by B.H. Raza (b. 1922)

Roopantar was displaying sculptures from the reserve collection. Beautifully displayed on black marble rooms, this was a whole separate building at the National Museum of Modern Art. The end of the day and running out of battery life, using a secondary phone,  so sorry no labels.

Finally, a world about shopping. I am not a great shopper but we went to the Dilli Haat market in New Delhi and it was such an agreeable experience that I can highly recommend it. Prices were fair and you could still bargain down a bit. There was entertainment and hand crafted goods from all over India. 

Our host and hostess for the last two days was Anand Bora and his wife Manisha and daughter Divi. Anand handles our software through his company  Determinant Studios. 

If you want to know more about this 2018/1019 trip to India you can read. India: Monuments and Museums  and  Great Big Indian Wedding: Cultural event that ends my year!