The idea of sculpture becoming a part of public art for viewers to enjoy its magnitude and composition is something that defines the very conception of iSculpt for Delhi. By Uma Nair
Contemporary sculpture practice and the combination of masters and practicing sculptors in the city of Delhi become the most important part of this 20 artist gathering at the Gandhi King Plaza that morphs into a sculpture court.
Sculpture and space
At the Gandhi King Plaza, the configuration between the sculpture and the space it inhabits and shares with the viewer, will contribute to this sensation. Sculpture should always be understood as having been placed, and should be read in relation to the area it occupies. An exhibition is always a testing ground, an integral space for both the viewer and the artwork iSculpt for Delhi will be a well staged enhancer for this sensation. The theatricality of the setting will arise from the sculptures’ dramatic postures, amplified by the relationship orchestrated between the form, the space and the viewer.
Amongst the 20 sculptures it is the environmental echo that surges in the works of Neeraj Gupta’s elephant with pots called Heaven and Earth, and Satish Gupta Conference of the Birds.
In the exploration of extraordinary vitality and innovation in the art of sculpture, reflects, a large number of methods, from traditional modelling and casting to the modes of assemblage, ‘soft’ sculpture, and minimalism. Heaven and Earth a monumental elephant with pots, is Neeraj Gupta’s ode to the elephant who stands as an endangered species and is on its way to extinction.Gupta extols the beauty of the gentle giant and its place in the habitat with this majestic sculpture.
Another ode to the environment is Satish Gupta’s Conference of the Birds, an elegy to the 5,000 year old Sufi poem that spoke of finding truths amidst hardship in the dialogues between two birds. Linking the ecological system in many ways and telling us the importance and imperative role of trees in the world is Dhannanjay Singh’s man and the tree as well as ceramic artist and National Award Winner Keshari Nandan’s Tree of Life.Taking us beyond to the context of nature and man is Rahul Modak’s Monumenta 1 that holds terracotta leaves with a holistic pillar in the intensity of leaves of time and decay and death and despair.
Heads and the spirit
Amongst the most enduring of subjects is the human head. National Award Winner Arun Pandit’s monumental Head is an amalgam of pathos and pain. Pandit has merged man’s role in the world of technological advances with his work that makes us think of Errors and multiplicity .Yet another head of a different dimension is the marble head of Parmod K Mann entitled Nymph.Looking for works that uplift are Biman Bihari Das’s Lord Buddha and Rita Datta’s Madhav two works that are created in the depth of spiritual fervour.
Sculpt for Delhi runs till December 18 at Gandhi King Plaza.