A list of India’s most important works – both paintings and sculptures – was just prepared.

Putting together a list of India’s most important, iconic works of art is indeed a difficult and challenging. This is exactly what art writer-expert Kishore Singh of The Business Standard has done recently. According to the art expert, such a list is desirable if only since it will open up a debate in the mainstream, and let us invest a little more interest in our diverse art treasures. The selections are as follows:

Subodh Gupta’s ‘Very Hungry God’, an installation using stainless steel utensils (Year: 2006), is on top of the list. Underlining the significance of his work, the essay mentions: “The artist made art from the commonplace utensils, with which he both painted as well as created installations. His ‘Very Hungry God’ was shown around the same time Damien Hirst was exhibiting another diamond-encrusted skull. It’s a throwback to hunger and want.”

One name not to be missed out is Atul Dodiya. His ‘Missing 1, 2, 3 (Year: 2000)’ is in enamel on metal roller shutters. Describing him as India’s ‘most thinking painter among the contemporaries’, the essay notes that he intellectualizes his learning and knowledge, to conceive curious paradoxes wherein he searches for identity as much as for lost people.

Bharti Kher’s ‘The Skin Speaks a Language Not Its Own’ (Year: 2006) made with bindis on fiberglass also finds mention. A calibrated artist, she is described as an extremely austere in her repertoire. She works with bindis, the ornamental dot on the Indian women’s foreheads. They have taken on a form and language of their very own, to ask critical questions. On the other hand, Riyas Komu’s ‘Petro Angel series’ (Year: 2006) in oil on canvas is another creation that proves his sustainability through the sheer power of his oeuvre. He comes across as a multi-faceted artist, working in painting, video installations, sculpture and photography among them.

Last but not the least is Jitish Kallat’s ‘Autosaurus Tripous’ (Year: 2007) done in fiberglass. As the writer analyzes, “After a rather brilliant start, where he created distorted photo images on a large scale, for political and social graffiti, as it were, it appeared he might languish, till he bounced back with his ‘Universal Recipient’ and ‘Richshawpolis’ series and then his Jurassic Park inspired series, employing the bones of dino-like strange creatures for weaving urban stories built around a macabre context.

Do you agree with his choice?