Material Manifestations
Artists: Anju Dodiya, Atul Dodiya, Ranbir Kaleka, Shilpa Gupta
In an act that could be defined as "a return to matter" the artists in this exhibition explore the possibilities, limits, vulnerabilities and paradoxes of material in the making of an artwork. The inert and extra-discursive conception of matter, and therefore material, comes under the critical lens in a new-materialist turn. Through choice, play and manipulation of materials, the artists open up gateways into their own psychological and political inner lives, dwelling on subjects such as comfort, anxiety, political-will, satire and relationships.
Anju Dodiya's collage of fabrics and mattresses painted with biblical scenes of the Apocalypse is a careful crafting of materials that allows her to de-personalise the fear of bearing witness to the descent of civilization. Shilpa Gupta's series 100 Hand-Drawn Maps of My Country draws us into the complexities of the construction and delineation of space articulated by man made borders. Atul Dodiya's cabinet evokes a layered dialogue, referencing defining moments art history while also addressing the complexity of various simultaneous moments in history – in politics, art and culture; while Ranbir Kaleka's works play with the visual surface and visuality itself, created through a fine layering of metaphoric images and historic iconography.
Through artists' choice and manipulations, the material acquires two types of values - one that emerges from its own object-hood and vitality as in the case of Jane Bennett's definition of "thing-power"; and second, the kind of value that is thrust upon it through personal association and subjectivity.