The Quixotic Edge It's an ambitious recipe for a radical break. Take
a hundred or so artists, fresh and young -- if not in age, in sensibility. Give them
precise instructions about space -- a specific wall and space were assigned to each
artist, they were even sent diagrams of the gallery. And a brief: deal with
"disjuncture and beyond disjuncture". In plain English that translates to
looking at tradition, modernity and post-modernity. Really, the moments when tradition
breaks down. Then, place their works in 16 art galleries scattered throughout Delhi. And
then, wait for the synergy, fingers crossed that all this rises to the occasion. Makes a
statement, or at the very least, ends up as the art event of the year.
It began last week and will last till February 8. There's
everything: sculpture, photography, paintings, installations, videos, prints: anything
that is art, or can be. As do the boundaries between the various media: sculptor Puspamala
has used photography. Painter Shilpa Gupta has used postcards and plans to use a telephone
for people to phone in messages as part of her exhibit. Painter Ranbir Kalekar has used
the video, as has painter Navjot. There's no material which has not been used: from birds
eggs with silk screen transfers as A. Balasubramaniam has done to steel wool.
The curator, art historian Amit Mukhopadhyay of the Lalit Kala
Akademi, treats this as his own mission impossible "to take stock of things".
There's no budget and hardly any sponsors. And yet, painters like Arpana Caur, Chitrovanu
Mazumdar and Vivan Sundaram have found time to work for it. And art galleries like Art
Today, Nature Morte, Art Konsult and Vadhera Art Gallery to provide space for this
eclectic show-and-sale. "We would like to see where we are going as we head towards a
new millennium," says Mukhopadhyay, who is curating the project with Manjit
Debashish.
Edge is the key word here. Precipice to a fall. Peep into a
new beginning. Or just cutting edge. It could be all three.
It's an ambitious recipe for a radical break. Take
a hundred or so artists, fresh and young -- if not in age, in sensibility. Give them
precise instructions about space -- a specific wall and space were assigned to each
artist, they were even sent diagrams of the gallery. And a brief: deal with
"disjuncture and beyond disjuncture". In plain English that translates to
looking at tradition, modernity and post-modernity. Really, the moments when tradition
breaks down. Then, place their works in 16 art galleries scattered throughout Delhi. And
then, wait for the synergy, fingers crossed that all this rises to the occasion. Makes a
statement, or at the very least, ends up as the art event of the year.
The curator, art historian Amit Mukhopadhyay of the Lalit Kala
Akademi, treats this as his own mission impossible "to take stock of things".
There's no budget and hardly any sponsors. And yet, painters like Arpana Caur, Chitrovanu
Mazumdar and Vivan Sundaram have found time to work for it. And art galleries like Art
Today, Nature Morte, Art Konsult and Vadhera Art Gallery to provide space for this
eclectic show-and-sale. "We would like to see where we are going as we head towards a
new millennium," says Mukhopadhyay, who is curating the project with Manjit
Debashish.