Memory and Identity — Indian Artists Abroad explores whether an Indian influence can be traced in the work of the modern artists, some of whom are known for their avowedly India-inspired work. By Jigyasu Joshi
Some of the art-works in display at the DAG Modern were nearly half a century old. The gallery bought together a range of artistic expressions by putting up for a coveted line-up of close to seventy artworks of fourteen prominent modernist masters of the 20th century, who left India in their youth and did most of their work abroad.
Memory and Identity featured fourteen Indian artists who left their native country to live and work abroad. Their destinations were cosmopolitan: Paris, london, New York, Oslo, Copenhagen. Some found near-immediate success. The avant-garde painter F. N. Souza (1924-2002), often called the “Indian Picasso,” left for london in 1949 and become one of the first post-independence Indian artists to earn international recognition. Modernist painter S. H. Raza (1922-2016) also made a distinct impression on the European art scene. He left for Paris in 1950 and within six years had won a sought-after critics’ award, the Prix de la critique.
Sharing about how did the idea about the exhibition came up, curator Kishore Singh said that they wanted to know what people perceive from these art works. “Western art critics have a tendency-fairly or otherwise-to interpret these works through a foreigner’s lens and, thus, to frequently classify Eastern works as “exotic.” Still, it’s hard to deny that some degree of ethnic identity is indeed present in these works. But how would these same paintings, drawings, and sculptures be read by Indian criticsIJ And to what extent are these works a product of their native and adopted culturesIJ,” he said.
Does the artist’s ethnic identity mean art too has an ethnic identityIJ “Perhaps that depends on the definition of ethnic identity. While overt nationalism is absent from the featured works, hints of “Indianness” run through the exhibition. Raza, for instance, spent years working on an image that has been linked to the tradition of tantra, and Souza’s erotic pen-and-ink drawings have some semblance to the Kama Sutra. Meanwhile, Sakti Burman’s many-armed and multi-headed figures evoke classical depictions of Hindu deities,” said Singh.
The intriguing show raised all these questions, and more, as it explored what it means to be native, to belong, and the ways the past leaves an indelible mark on any artist, regardless of nationality.