Contemporary artist Bharti Kher was awarded the top French honour for her contribution to art. She spoke to S Mallik about her fascination with the bindi, female sexuality and myths that she explores in her works
Within over two decades of her career as a contemporary artist, Bharti Kher has been called a feminist and a mythologist. Many such titles are used to describe the artist and her body of work but none of it can actually do complete justice to the genius who has maintained a huge diversity in the subjects that she chooses for her artworks. One of the recent example of her unique art would be a 14-feet sculpture which depicts the heart of a blue sperm whale titled An Absence Of Assignable Cause. It was exhibited as part of the collection Misdemeanours at the Rockbound Museum in Shanghai.
Many honours and awards have been conferred upon her for the exemplary work. The Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and letters), France’s highest cultural award, is the recent addition to her list of honours. The artist received the award from François Richier, the ambassador of France to India here and the book Misdemeanours was also released on the occasion.
The title was honoured to her for her contribution to Indian contemporary art and its popularity worldwide. Kher’s bindi works have received an international acclaim. “I think I am partial when it comes to the use of bindi. I love it as a material. It serves multiple purpose. To me it represents the third eye and I use it to create patterns on a reflective surface. When you are looking at your reflection you are also being watched. It amazes me to discover that how many colours and sequences can be created with such a small thing,” she said.
Her works are always grounded in narratives. They either reflect the society or are a representation of Kher’s thoughts. A few of her works are often mythological. The fact that Asians have a better understanding of mythology inspires her to work more on the subject. She explained, “I feel that in Asia people really understand myths. One of my collection Anomalies was about how things are not always as they appear, how the function and cause are not always the same and how intentions are not always what you see in the end. I name some of my work after myths and people think they’re true but I have made them up.”
The artist hardly adheres to the conventional modes of contemporary art. Instead, she takes the liberty to choose any medium that she feels would best express her thoughts and ideas. Her work titled Hybrid Beings is a collection of photoshopped artworks and images which combine the human body, animals and monsters. One of them is actually a picture of her bust where her face is infused with that of a monkey. The artist feels that there is an innate devil that lies within every human being. She said, “We all have a devil and an angel inside us, don’t weIJ We’re just too afraid or ignorant to accept that. People often ask me what I was thinking when I made the collection and I just say that I was thinking of life.”
The 46-year-old is a staunch feminist and her artworks, mostly depicting women, are a proof to that. She calls her figures ‘urban goddesses’ because she does not approve of women being worshipped only for their fertility. She explained, “I want them to open up and be unashamed of being sexual. There have been some horrific rape cases in India recently and what shocks me is not just the ferocity of the crime but the mindset. It will take great leaps in education and a revolution where men should really take the lead for things to change.”
Making and looking at art gives Kher a great joy. “I created with my hands the magic that I so wanted to see existing in the world. This decision I made at six, that I would either stay in the world of art or join the circus,” she rounded up.