Aicon Gallery showcases 20th Century Indian Artists

Written by Sanford Danforth Thursday, 12 November 2009 21:51

NEW YORK, NY.- Since the beginning of the 20th century Indian artists have attempted to articulate a vernacular visual language; this frequently assumed the form of either taking Western art as something to be rejected outright, or changed significantly, in order to create something for themselves. Attempting to examine this further and perhaps tease out some of those complexities, this survey exhibition features the works of M. F. Husain, Jamini Roy, Anjolie Ela Menon, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Abindranath Tagore, Nadalal Bose, Sadequain, F. N. Souza, Jagdish Swaminathan, S. H. Raza and Laxma Goud. On exhibition 12 November through 12 December, 2009 at Aicon Gallery, New York.

Abanindranath Tagore for instance sought an indigenous style, firstly by referencing the Mughal manner and subsequently through the development of a pan-Asian style. His attempt to create 'oriental’ art was very deliberately positioned in opposition to that of the occident.

Another example is Jamini Roy, who initially produced works in a hybridized postimpressionist style that echoed Seurat and Van Gogh before turning instead to the paintings made outside of the Kalighat temples for inspiration. Roy's rejection of Western Modernism is very pronounced, yet it is this action that makes it possible to read his subsequent development as a parallel to Modernism's increasing move towards a flattened picture plane. So somewhat paradoxically – by turning away from Western Modernism in order to articulate a new vernacular tradition - Roy aligned himself with Modernism's stripping back of ornament in favor of line and color planes.

Utilizing Western Modernism but yoked to Indian subject matter was a strategy that was used by a number of artists who followed Jamini Roy, including F.N. Souza and M.F Husain. They and other artists associated with the Progressive Artists' Group looked towards Western Modernism but attempted to make it specific to India, often foregrounding the rural inhabitants of India as a way to picture the life of the nation.

Likewise, many Modernist artists working in the West, such as Picasso and Matisse deliberately drew on non-Western sources, a phenomenon that became known as 'Primitivism'. The extent of who influenced whom on either side has been the subject of much discussion. As such, it is perhaps accurate to start to trace a complex pattern of rejection, influence and echoing between artists working in India and Western Modernism in the various ways they worked to articulate a vernacular visual language.

Aicon Editions is a group of carefully selected works of contemporary art, specially commissioned by Aicon Gallery from its most successful and most sought-after artists. These artists have worked in their signature media to create pieces that are significant works within their ongoing oeuvre. The first group of participating artists is: Chintan Upadhyay, Debanjan Roy, Raqs Media Collective, Baiju Parthan and Farida Batool.

All the artists see these works as new, stand-alone pieces that are important both in their own right but also strongly link to the concerns and themes of their oeuvres. They see these pieces as being no different to other recent works aside from their edition size and their price-point. Each work is a strictly limited edition of 75 with 5 artists proofs. The molds, plates and files used to create the works are destroyed after an edition has been completely produced. Limited editions have a long and noble history through modernist and contemporary art. It is important to note that Aicon Editions, like the best limited editions, are never simply photographic reproduction of existing works – instead all the artists have specifically responded to the concept of the Aicon Editions project. Visit : www.aicongallery.com/

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