L.N. Tallur new solo exhibition ‘Antimatter’
Artist L.N. Tallur’s visual language contains references to traditional Indian symbols that he opts to convert into a contemporary language.
A solo exhibition of new works by this prominent Indian artist entitled ‘Antimatter’ is on view at Arario Gallery New York till the first week of August. L.N. Tallur’s interactive installations are intriguing, rough and incorporate objects shot through with ironic humor.
His works are vinyl sculptures that are inflated with air. The viewer also encounters them deflated, lifeless and flat. In various works, he presents a cityscape or group of buildings; a self-portrait; and curiously, a large pillow-like form printed with a crowd scene. The works require the viewer to be patient to observe their transformations, to watch as the objects or images become readable, and to question at which point it is ‘complete’ or ‘finished’.
A curatorial note mentions: “His large-scale, mixed media sculptures and installations are both ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ views of the painful humor of a vernacular culture in transition, inevitably displaced and irredeemably distanced both from local roots and the spectral phantasms of cosmopolitan experience.”
Among the thirteen works on view is one that invites viewers to enter an enclosure made of inflated jute grain sacks. The bunker-like structure addresses the potential for conflict over shrinking food resources in a rapidly growing world, and the plight of rural farmers in globalizing nations like India.
He trained under the esteemed painter late Bhupen Khakar, and the influence is very much evident in the sly, audacious wit of his work. The artist has also studied museology. The artist has exhibited works widely in India and in North America. Recent exhibitions include Edge of Desire, Asia Society (NY, 2005); MusioTemporario, Lisbon (2004); Leeds Metropolitan University Gallery, (Leeds 2001); Art in the world, Beaux-Art Magazine (Paris 1999).
Inspired by the status of unification in the critical context of the plurality of India’s diverse cultures and religions as well as the influence of unification on that plurality, the artist looks to express the absurdity of culture. He comes from a village lagging behind the urban standard of development, an experience that he brings into play.
As an agnostic, in one of his creations ‘Ablution: After the Spiritual Bath’, he sees inflatable materials well-suited to spiritual expression. The work combines installation and sculpture with elements of process art. This conceptual work is not limited by place, time or space, and reflects his views on absurdity that morphs into its own form of logic and coexists with multiplicity.
His works reflect a socio-political transformation and existing schism in India, to address contemporary realities existing in the country. He comes from an environment quite in contrast to urban settings in terms of its culture, geography, economy, etc. and he considers the hand made quality of village utensils for example, rather than manufacturing, an important influence on the way in which he fashions his sculpture.
He makes use of this distinction deliberately as part of his unique visual language that is encapsulated in his installations and sculptures, containing many references to traditional Indian symbols.
View L.N. Tallur new solo
