Points of inspiration and reference

India meets Bharat in a show of works by contemporary artists at CIMA Gallery.

The country has seen major economic and social change since the 1980s. At the same time these past two decades have also thrown up seemingly intractable problems — communalism, Naxalism, and the spectre of state violence.

How do contemporary artists view these developments and how has the image of India changed in the visual arts? That’s the subject of “Yeh Image Mahan: India meets Bharat”, the show now on at CIMA gallery.

The exhibition brings together modernist masters like Abanindranath Tagore and Jamini Roy, later modernists like Jogen Chowdhury and Ganesh Pyne, and also contemporary artists including Sumitro Basak, Kingshuk Sarkar and Chintan Upadhyay.

The blood that has flowed in Bengal in recent years hasn’t escaped Jogen Chowdhury and Shakila. His untitled acrylic depicts a bloodied body with three bullet wounds in the back — suggestive of state violence, while her muddied paper collage is a more direct allusion to Nandigram.

Communalism, Naxalism, poverty and, of course, the neverending cycle of violence inspire the works of Farhad Hussein, Debraj Goswami, Reashnmi Baghchi Sarkar and Shakila. What’s striking are the references to frames of modern controversies, a mix of the contemporary and the mythical.

Sumitro Basak and Ashish Ghosh’s “tigers” exude vibrancy, and are symbolic of the cult of shakti. There is also the allusion to poverty in the Indian middle class — Devidayal’s work, a dingy shack, and the colour TV. A cluster of nine paintings by Sumitro Basak also delves into the abyss of Rizwanur’s death. Against a vibrant yellow background, the artist alludes in a not-so-subtle hint at the drama.

These are set against the works of Bhupen Khakhar, M F Husain, Jamini Roy and Abanindranath Tagore, which puts it into context, both politically and artistically — since the younger artists often take these masters as points of inspiration and reference.