This exhibition included painting, sculpture and installation by eight artists selected from the length and breadth of the Indian sub-continent, some were already known in the UK, while others had never before exhibited in Europe.
Parekh, Khakar, Malani and Pal integrate elements of folk art and mythologies into their painting which raised questions about gender and sexuality. All the works of sculptors Sundaram, Rimzom and Reddy alluded in some way to the great tradition of Indian sculpture yet all depart from it in markedly different angles. Rimzon uses it as a base for new poetic narratives, Reddy to create new icons, while Sundaram alludes to it in the context of a wider exploration of art and its presentation. Wankhede tears and paints on top layers of handwoven fabrics to create abstract squares of subtle colours, textures and meanings.
All offered solutions to questions of representation, narrative and form, and all, to greater or lesser extent, made references to traditional art or craft. It was perhaps this factor which brought this disparate group of artists together and formed that ‘critical difference’ which creates a modernism that is clearly distinct from its European counterpart.
An Aberystwyth Arts Centre/Showroom touring exhibition, toured to Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool (July/August) and Huddersfield City Art Gallery (August/September).
