Whether it be sculptures made from toy cars representing the pollution curbed due to the odd-even rule or shoes and sandals made with blades, the eighth edition of the India Art Fair 2016 is going one step ahead to explain the stories behind these installations. Arjita MIshra reports
A huge body of elephant with two heads, one head appeared to be bigger and older and another one was smaller and younger, with soft skin. It was made from metal scrap. The rods behind the elephant head depicted the plants, the veins of a tree shrub. “It is reflecting the transformation of a plant into an animal,” said Sakshi Gupta, the artist who made this sculpture which was installed at India Art Fair 2016. According to her, “No one is static, every one keeps transforming. So with the help of this installation, I have tried to show how a plant is transforming into an animal.”
The above description of the art was one of the USP at the India Art Fair which is organised at NSIC Grounds and saw a huge crowd on its first day of opening. There was another sculpture of elephants which were presented by Wildlife SOS. It is an NGO which is working to save wildlife. To attract or get attention of people towards endangered animals, the NGO installed fiber made elephants which was painted by the celebrities. The sculptures were given the names of celebrities like Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, et al. The organisers said that these elephants are given these names because the actors had painted it.
Artist Shridhar Iyer presented his collection of paintings as well as installation boxes which was curated by Art Konsult. His installation boxes were titled as Yogmaya which were made up from feminine objects. “I have not used any expensive materials to make my installations and this makes my art work different from others,” said Iyer.
After getting inspired with the odd-even rules in Delhi, artist Shahid Parveez made an installation titled Do I Need To Say Anything with thousands of toy cars in the body and face of a man wearing mask to save himself from the polluted air. According to Parveez, “As the pollution is increasing day by day in our country, that day is not so far when people will carry masks with them.”
Art Alive Gallery showcased the collection of various artists and Paresh Maithy was the one who showcased his collection of sculptures. One of the his sculpture was titled as Force. It was a huge bull made up of bronze. It was all about the force trying to represent the kinetic energy and the motion of today’s world through the power of speed of the bull. “This sculpture is made up of bronze and it’s weight is around 1000 kgs. It took six months for me to make this as there are several processes involved in making a sculpture,” said Maithy.
Shirine empire, a gallery led by Anahita Taneja, showcased the work of six female artists— Anoli Perera, Neerja Kothari, Priyanka Dasgupta, Puja Puri, Samanta Batra Mehta and Tayeba Begum lipi. lipi is an artist from Bangladesh who showcased her collection of bikini which was made from safety pins. “Bikini is a symbol of leisure, of people on vacation and on the beach. It symbolises the huge collections and differences between lifestyles and cultural sensitivities around the world,” explained Taneja. lipi also made and installation of shoes and slippers made up from blades which was titled as Miles After Miles.
Another art installation was of KS Radha Krishnan. In his collection, Mukham Mukham (face to face) was the collection of 15 heads of Buddha facing each other. It was representing Buddha- Brahmin dialogue or the the dialogue of silence because Buddha is known for peace.
There was an art of Wim Delvoye which was curated by Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. It was titled as Chappel. It was made from laser cut stainless steel in the style of Gothic Cathedral with its typical architectural features of stained windows flying buttress (It is a specific form of buttressing most strongly associated with Gothic church architecture).
In Taseer Art Gallery, there was an installation of an artist from lahore, Pakistan, Humaira Abid. She works with woods and her installation combined the traditional miniature painting with wood sculpture. Her work examines womens’ roles, relationship and taboos from a cross cultural prospective. In her collection, she had shoes, lunch boxes and pillows made up of woods.
Rina Banerjee, an Indian artist who got settled in San Francisco presented her work Friendly Fire with the help of Hosfelt Gallery, situated in San Francisco. With the use of steel structure, textiles, beads, feathers, threads and bulbs she made a snake who was releasing his skin to survive. Feathers denoted the leaves of a tree whereas bulbs were representing the knowledge of a person. The face of snake was made with the help of beads and brass represented the branches of tree.
Artist Subodh Gupta presented his collection, Starstruck which was made from aluminium, fabric and resin. It was made from the utensils which we use in cooking like kadahi, thali, plates, et al. At the fair, there are not only art installations made from bronze, woods and metals or the collection of paintings, but there is also a collection of BMW Art Car. In the collection, there are 17 cars created by some of the most renowned artists across the world. With the colourful art and designs, the cars are given a new look.
photos Pankaj Kumar
