India’s contemporary artists are sculpting a new language
Several Indian contemporary artists are sculpting a new visual language by opting for an unconventional albeit aesthetic visual fare, in terms of not only the medium but also different themes. They are keen on experimenting with a wide range of materials and mediums - bronze, ceramic, terracotta or stone, wood, paper, glass, silk, fiberglass etc.
By employing innovative materials and methods, the artists are infusing a new meaning in the language of sculpting. Riyas Komu’s sculptural installations, which are loaded with deep socio-political meanings, are a testimony to this trend. He is currently working on a large-scale installation project that speaks ‘the language of the dead’, as he explains.
The new three-dimensional sculptural wok by the artist relates to the dead, the living and the God, and the intricate interrelationship between them. It’s not mere physical or bodily connotation that he is pondering over; it’s rather the death of principles, ideology and pure political belief that he is trying to project through this bewildering body of work.
Another talented contemporary artist, T. V. Santhosh, who received his Bachelor’s degree in Sculpture from Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan, and his Master’s degree in Sculpture from M.S. University’s Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda, is known for experimentation. Gradually, he started feeling more comfortable expressing himself through painting, although he continues to sculpt.
On other hand, N. N. Rimzon moved away from narrative painting to experiment with conceptual sculpture. Through his sculptures, arranged in an installation-like space, energised by various contradictions of size, color, setting etc., the artist directs the viewer to a complex experience of his imagining.
Inspired by Ram Kinker Baij, German realism and expressionist figuration, he exaggerates and then distorts his figures. The prominent sculptor’s later body of work reveals post-modernist nuances in their attitudes, but the social-radical statement continues as an important motif, particularly in a work as direct and unambiguous as 'The Tools'. Extending the language of sculpture, he created a site-specific sculpture-installation, ‘Far Away from Hundred and Eight Feet’.
From the younger lot, another notable sculptor is the Bangalore-based, S Gopinath, who has had a show at Mumbai’s Jehangir Gallery in September 2007. The artist creates works that are very earthy, very contemplative. He uses the space around and within the works well, and they have a distinctive mood about them.
Sudarshan Shetty is one among the prominent contemporary Indian artists, keen on freeing Indian sculpture from its formal approach. Another noteworthy sculptor of his generation, Nagji Patel also believes that it is high time that the overused academic style is discarded. His sculptures shaped like agricultural tools well over a decade ago were part of an effort in this direction. A beautiful piece of contemporary sculpture by him is a landmark in the city of Vadodara.
Another talented artist from India, D. Ebenezer Sunder Singh, took to sculpting after he met a sculptor from Czech Republic, Petr Kavan, who worked at studio in Mahabalipuram with the local artisans. Petr Kavan himself had done a few sculptures in granite. Inspired by him, Ebenezer started to work on life size fiberglass sculptures.
He reminisces: “By creating a space inside my painting studio for my sculpture works, I worked on life size human figures, keeping my own body as the reference. I toiled in clay everyday to give life to my figures. Then with the help of a sculptor friend I went for molding and casting of the figures in fiberglass.”
The artist adds, “Even though it involves great amount of labor, I worked hard and produced four large sculptures. They had the identity of that of a painter. I painted the sculptures with Resin and Pigments and gave a cubistic pictorial look to it. It turned out to be an intriguing interplay between three dimensions and two dimensions. The three dimensional sculpture held a two dimensional pictorial quality to it.”
Several Indian contemporary artists like Ebenezer, Riyas komu and TV Santhosh are sure sculpting a new, exciting artistic language!
