The India Art Fair 2016 was a mixed bag of colour, cause and effect with some artworks screaming out loud and some mysteriously silent. Some claimed that artists played safe while some applauded the rebels.
The fair presented a selection of 70 galleries from across the world, with its focus being on the artworks of South Asia shedding light on the regional art collections and initiatives. Discussions and talks and the curatorial walks explored the diverse cultural spaces and evoked a never ending dialogue among art lovers across generations.
The colourful affair brought together the key names in Indian art as well as some newly discovered artists. The fair also introduced new international participants promoting diversity and love for art across cultures. The designing of the fair heightened the viewing experience, nostalgia hit some and many tried to see what's new. Though the concept of wearable art was missed, mixed media artworks were the highlight.
Also read: 5 reasons you must visit India Art Fair
Works of the seven national treasures of Indian art, the seven ratnas out of the declared nine ratnas like Raja Ravi Varma, Tagore, Amrita Sher-Gil, Jamini Roy were on displayed revisiting history and the foundations of Indian art.
From intense portraiture to flowing still-life, from edgy sculptures to enchanting narratives, from the powerful abstract to the reviving printmaking, from the traditional mythology to the controversial nude, everything left the viewers thinking and rethinking.
Through an intense series of short films, Indian modern art's unseen corners were explored, leaving curious onlookers reinterpreting art. Films shot across cities featuring the artists' families, biographers, friends and fellow artists narrating the life behind the masterpieces and the masters of art like Amrita Sher-Gil, Nandalal Bose, Biren De, Souza, Hussain and European travelling artists among others.
Curation at different levels showed the masterpieces in a new light, within and beyond art. Artists and curators chose to move beyond the notion of art to be seen and appreciated in its purest form. The artworks were reinvented in the form of postcards, edible maps, diaries, etc. Pop art had its own little corner and drew many towards itself.
Also read: 5 major attractions at India Art Fair 2016
A unique sight greets the eye at the sculptures section of DAG's Modern's H1 booth Abhas, the tactile artwork viewing experience created by the Access Logic and Logistics created for the visually impaired for the first time in India. It helped visitors experience art from the visually impaired audience's point of view as well as understanding how different aspects towards art experience. Innovative ideas, intelligent expressions and the constantly evolving art vocabulary presented a great show but some trends stood out significantly.
Top art trends seen at this year's India Art Fair:
1. Mix it up: Mix media artworks and installations drew attention towards new ways of observing and perceiving art. Kavita Jaiswal's "Causal Nexus" visual installations time travelled on a variety of tracks emerging from nexus points between cause and effect. The moving images, still photographs, sound tracks, paintings on paper in constant motion changing constantly opened up new spaces for art. Sheba Chhachhi's "Mermaid's Mirror" had 29 film clippings of the timeless actress Meena Kumari, set inside a TV set with constantly rotating images. Chitra Ganesh's work in ink, gouache and mix media on handmade paper revolved around varied themes of inner conflicts and the mysteries of the universe.
2. Art meets nature: Amidst the arty corridors, landscape installations with the theme of "flood, rats, white ants, all seem to conspire against us" collated varied species of the plant kingdom from Acacia arabica, Aacia catechu, Zizyphus jujuba, Carissa carandas, Opuntia, Euphorbia, Guilandina bonduc and Lantana camara created a green corner at the fair.
3. Carved canvass: Sculptures, wooden, metal and acrylic fibre faces, steel elephants, bronze bull, a man on multiple wheels, shunya Buddha, head with dhoti tribal totems and tree goddesses, excavated jars and Gurudev Tagore's head. All these forms captured and beautifully sculpted proved that the much neglected genre in Indian modern art has arrived. Artists like Ramkinker Baji, Dhanraj Bhagat, Somnath Hore among the other sculptors, narrated art tales through evocative figures. Bikinis made of safety-pins by Tayeba Begum Lipi gave the perfect post punk feel.
4. Fabricated art: Shezad Dawood's acrylic on vintage textiles brought two rich and beautiful mediums of art and textiles together. You can totally imagine the art coming off the wall and wearing you. Artist Rina Banerjee experimented with textile, beads, feathers in her creation "Friendly fire" bringing a variety of media and materials together.
5. Art with a cause: Beautifully-painted fibre glass elephants sculptures by renowned artists in support of the Elephants Conservation and Care Centre, Mathura-run NGO Wildlife SOS to raise funds for the care of the 21 elephants rescued in the last seven years gave art a new meaning. Designed by Shiv Singh and put in form by Kapil Kapoor, the 44 sculptures included works by Indian artists like Farhad Hussain, Arpana Caur, Jogen Choudhary as well as celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan among others.
Resource: http://www.dailyo.in
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