For the Odisha-born artist, who is showcasing his new series of works in a solo exhibition, titled ‘Crystal Cities’, after a seven-year hiatus, taxation is a sensitive topic for artists struggling to survive.
Questioning the uniform Goods and Services Tax law, he asks how “intellectual art” can be compared to an industrial commodity.

“It is bad because you can’t look at any creative intellectual product as a commodity. It is not a mass product.

Sometimes we sell and sometimes we don’t. And if the government compares it to any industrial product, it is not fair to the artist,” Panda told PTI.
He recalls the days of his own struggle when putting up an art show posed huge challenges. From finding an affordable place to showcase art works to gathering support from sponsors, Panda has overcome several hurdles in his artistic journey.

“I belong to Bhubaneswar in Odisha. My father was a government employee and we lived in a small house there. We are a big family and supporting education in an art school was a challenge for my father.”

After I passed out from M S University in Baroda, the lack of government resources to showcase my works became a major hurdle. When you are new in the market, reaching out to private studios also becomes difficult.”

The situation has not changed much since he believes.
“I think we should get many more incentives and opportunities. Because if we look back, not many new mediums have come up… there are not many opportunities for younger artists,” he said.
Panda, 47, compares the struggling state of the Indian art industry with China, where artists get massive backing from the government.

“Whenever I analyse the present state of our industry, the only example that comes to my mind is China. Chinese artists produce massive art works and they do the business of billions which adds to the economy of their country.

“Unlike India, there are a lot of incentives given by the government…they don’t own any land for the studio but the government gives them massive studio spaces for a very little amount. In India, we struggle to get space and are dependent on private entities,” he said. His recent exhibition reflects some concerns of an artist, deeply connected with contemporary events. A mixed bag of paintings, sculptures and photographs, Panda’s new paintings comment on rapid urbanisation and issues of privacy in a new world dominated by social media. Drawing from the tensions of urbanised environments, the artist is clearly exploring his concerns with urbanisation and dislocation, social and economic injustice and shifts in cultural paradigms.

Credits – http://echoofindia.com/new-delhi-gst-bad-already-struggling-art-industry-jagannath-panda-132510

The post GST bad for already struggling art industry: Jagannath Panda first appeared on Indian Art News.

China is embracing India, at least in art. A major contemporary Indian art exhibition this summer in Shanghai promises a cultural bridge between the two giants of Asia.

The India Xianzai exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai reflects the growing cosmopolitan nature of the two countries, as well as their shared cultural sensitivities. It also marks the increasing importance of Indian contemporary art in Asia and worldwide.

Organizers say the goal is to present “the best of Indian contemporary art” in the first major museum show of its kind in China. Twenty-one Indian artists will be featured, including Subodh Gupta, Atul Dodiya, Jitish Kallat, Jagannath Panda, Mithu Sen and other internationally acclaimed figures.

According to curators, India Xianzai will examine the “processes, narrative structures and aesthetic strategies that focus on the question of culture as an agency in artistic expression.” A common thread of active political and social engagement runs throughout, as well as exploration of “Indian-ness” in various national, hemispheric and global contexts. The exhibition also addresses cultural assimilation, a concern not just for India, but for every country in our increasingly smaller and flatter world.

India Xianzai features nearly 60 works including paintings, photography, video and installations. Much of the work on display comes from private collections. Several artists like including Riyas Komu, Suhasini Kejriwal and Schandra Singh created new works especially for the exhibition.

The common thread of active political and social engagement with one’s country and how each reacts to the Indian-ness outside the country can be seen running throughout the exhibition.

Other artists represtented include Anju Dodiya, Chitra Ganesh, Fariba Alam, Hema Upadhya, Justin Ponmany, Probir Gupta, Reena Kallat, Suryakant Lokhande, Susanta Mandal, Thukral and Tagra, TV Santosh, Vivek Vilasini and Vibha Galhotra.

India Xianzai runs from July 16, 2009 – August 31, 2009 at MoCA Shanghai, Gate 7, People’s Park, 231 Nanjing West Road, Shanghai, China. Various special lectures and screenings will be held throughout the run. A panel discussion featuring artists, Jitish Kallat, Mithu Sen and co-curators Alexander Keefe and Diana Freundl will be held July 16th.

For a taste of India Xianzai and the latest in Indian contemporary art, enjoy the gallery below! All images courtesy of MoCA Shanghai.

Take Away on Wall, Riyas Komu

Portrait of Zindi, Anju Dodiya

Neo Camouflage, Vibha Galhotra

Nature Gallery, Thukral & Tagra

Scrap Management, Probir Gupta

Under Scrutiny2, Susanta Mandal

The Lucky One, Chitra Ganesh

Saat Samundram, Subodh Gupta

Aquasaurus, Jitish Kallat

The post India Xianzai: Contemporary Indian Art at MoCA Shanghai first appeared on Indian Art News.

NEW YORK.- After the spectacular success of Christie’s South Kensington sale on June 2008 which set numerous world auction records, this season Christie’s New York is pleased to announce the sale of South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art on 16 September. The sale will offer major works from modern masters like Tyeb Mehta, Maqbool Fida Husain, Ram Kumar, and Jagdish Swaminathan, to cutting edge artists such as Subodh Gupta, Riyas Komu, Jagannath Panda, and Rashid Rana. The sale of over 120 lots is expected to realize in excess of $12 million.

South Asian Modern
After establishing the world auction record at $1.9 million Christie’s will be putting Tyeb Mehta in the spotlight again with Untitled (Yellow Heads), 1979 (estimate: $600,000-800,000). Since his early years as an artist, Mehta has used the canvas to express images in his most unique formal treatment that illustrates the struggles of contemporary society. His encounter with minimalist art, especially Barnett Newman, during his year long stay in New York in the late 1960s, has had far reaching influence in the entire opus of the artist’s career. By selectively utilizing formal elements of both minimalism and abstraction, Mehta, through a balance of form and color, reconstructs the figure in a lyrical synchronization—creating a style uniquely his own.

Self-taught artist, Maqbool Fida Husain, played an instrumental role in the development of modern and contemporary art in India. Referred to as the ‘Picasso of India’ by Forbes magazine and a founding member of the revolutionary Progressive Artists Group (PAG), Husain developed a style that merged Cubism, Expressionism, and Abstraction with traditional Indian forms and iconography. Ritual, 1968 (estimate: $600,000-800,000) is one of the most significant works by Husain and a suburb example of the fusion of Indian themes and Modernist style. Adopting the formal attributes of sculpture, Husain gives weight to each line and color constructing an image of female elders in a style which highlights the integral role of women in Indian society. Last spring, Christie’s once again proving its dominance in the market, achieved the world auction record for the artist at $1.6 million.

The sale also features an important figurative work by Ram Kumar who drew upon the influences of Amedeo Modigliani, Edward Hopper, and Fernand Legér. The record for the artist was established at Christie’s when Kumar’s Vagabond was auctioned for $1.2 million. Untitled, 1961 (estimate: $400,000-600,000), depicts a young girl against a dark backdrop. The artist utilizes the characteristically pure line of Modigliani in the oval face and deep dark eyes, balanced delicately on an elongated neck. In this painting spatial depth is created with tonal variation and texture that translates into the artist’s later landscapes; making this work a critical bridge between the two stylistic idioms. This enigmatic and suggestive portrait is a simple yet forceful characterization by a master.

Contemporary Art
Among the contemporary art offerings, Subodh Gupta takes center stage with four works of art. Gupta draws heavily from his own experience in culling material for his art, recasting traditional objects of Indian culture in contemporary media and contexts. This is evident in the stainless steel canisters and utensils used in Miter, 2007, number three from an edition of three, (estimate: $600,000-800,000). These everyday, utilitarian forms are taken out of their normal context and elevated to the status of luxurious commodities. In turn these utensils celebrate Indian tradition and culture through its very exploitation. In June 2008 at Christie’s London, the similar sculpture Untitled, achieved $1.18 million setting a new record for the artist. Like Jeff Koons’ charmed hearts and balloons, the shiny reflective quality ensures that the surrounding environment becomes part of the work. A true multimedia artist, Gupta moves between sculpture and paintings. In his painting, Steal 2, 2007 (estimate: $800,000-1,000,000) Gupta displays his virtuosity as a painter by combining pop and photorealist aesthetics into a uniquely Indian style.

Writer, political activist and painter Jagdish Swaminathan, was known to draw inspiration from folk and tribal art, miniatures and Indian mythology for his paintings. His painting, Untitled (Bird Mountain Series), 1973, (estimate: $300,000-500,000) is an expression of the artist’s perception of the “virginal state” of nature. Mountains, trees, rocks, and birds juxtaposed against pure expanses of color- induce a meditative stillness. Swaminathan’s vision of his mystical
landscape with weightless apparition-like forms floating in a luminous space brings to mind images of Paul Klee and Pahari miniatures paintings. A cornerstone to one of Swaminathan’s most well known series, Untitled, 1973, epitomizes the artist’s ability to capture the poetic grandeur of the natural world and immeasurable vastness of the spiritual realm in a solitary intimate reflection.

Another highlight comes from Rashid Rana, Pakistan’s most celebrated and well-known artist. Two Dimensions, 2007, (estimate: $80,000-120,000) depicts a monolithic skyscraper is a composite image made from ‘pixels’ of everyday Pakistani street scene. Rana uses his native urban environment of Lahore for inspiration and combines single tableaux of day-to-day life in grand compositions of contemporary existence. The duality of the image along with the ‘double take’ it creates is a key feature of Rana’s digitized imagery. Rana’s work has been showcased internationally and was featured at the Grid <> Matrix held in 2006 at the Kemper Art Museum alongside masters such as Piet Mondrian, Agnes Martin, Robert Rauschenberg and Andreas Gursky.

Already holding Riyas Komu’s world auction record, set in Hong Kong, Christie’s is pleased to be offering Designated March of a Petro – Angel (or Desert March), 2006, (estimate: $60,000-80,000). Exhibited in the Arsenale of the 52nd Venice Biennale, 2007, this work is part of a larger series of six works featuring the actress from the Iranian film ‘Circle’ gazing in different directions. This painting addresses the plight of humanity in societies targeted by larger power-hungry nations or ‘neo invaders’. Komu depicts the actress enrobed in a head scarf, her gaze transfixed on an unknown object or person beyond the edge of the canvas. Through her anonymity, she becomes the symbol of universal womanhood and Komu’s composition becomes a tribute to the spirit of ordinary people with the extraordinary strength to survive.

The post Christie’s New York Presents an Outstanding Sale of South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art first appeared on Indian Art News.