LEAD ESSAYS
22 What was the nature and scope of the encounter between artists and intellectuals from India and Japan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries? And how does this
largely forgotten history create a comparative framework to engage with the idea
of two simultaneously emerging national modern art cultures?
TAPATI GUHA-THAKURTA reveals.
44 The idea of ‘Asian aesthetics’ has exercised many an important thinker in the past. Singaporean KWOK KIAN CHOW tells us why we should pay it some attention.
60 COLLECTOR
Bangalore-based S. N. Agarwal’s art collection is a curious assortment of styles
and periods, finds NIVEDITA MAGAR.
61 PROFILE
Beasts of burden and exploited people populate G. R. Iranna’s world of art. MEERA MENEZES traces his journey.
SPECIAL REPORTS
63 The India Art Summit 2009 was a high point of the Delhi season, affirms
MEERA MENEZES.
67 INTERNATIONAL REPORT
N.S. Harsha’s affection for sewing machines – both real and imaginary – is becoming a cause for concern, thinks SHANAY JHAVERI.
INTERNATIONAL REVIEWS
69 As Anish Kapoor’s colossal Svayambh wends its waxy bulk across the hallowed
halls of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, spattering gilt-edged archways with
crimson gunge, ZEHRA JUMABHOY
is speechless with glee.
71 CAMILLA R. NIELSEN watches Rini Tandon make Waves with her latest solo at
Nature Morte Berlin.
73 Ranbir Kaleka’s paintings of hoary-haired old men, elfin beings and unicorns are
about the passage of time, loss and mortality, says SASKIA MILLER
REVIEWS
75 ABHAY SARDESAI critically responds to Gigi Scaria’s exploration of urban dystopia.
79 Corruption, colonialism and pollution are just some of the themes that Balaji Ponna tackles in his paintings. ANIRUDH CHARI enjoys the satirical works.
80 Avinash Veeraraghavan uses plastic dolls, robot soldiers and tiny toy animals to explore desire, obsession and memories in his photos and installations, states MARTA JAKIMOWICZ.
81 GITANJALI DANG thinks that Baptist Coelho’s first major solo promised more than it could deliver.
82 ELLA DATTA is spellbound by A. Balasubramaniam’s Minimalist magic.
84 Simple things hide complex thoughts in Manisha Parekh’s new body of work.
LATIKA GUPTA is happy to unravel their secrets.
85 A rhino with a richly patterned hide, a doe-eyed deer and big-beaked birds are
among the beasties that Jagannath Panda has lined up for visitors to his show.
LATIKA GUPTA wishes there were more exciting creatures on offer.
86 LATIKA GUPTA is a little skeptical about going with the flow of Atul Bhalla’s latest show
dedicated to water.
87 Shukla Sawant’s solo is called Outside the Fold but she includes many stories of
marginalisation within it, discovers MEERA MENEZES.
88 With delicate stitches Rakhi Peswani’s show intertwines art with craft. JANICE PARIAT is
taken with her handiwork.
89 Gregory Crewdson’s America has dark secrets and hidden anxieties, confides AVNI DOSHI.
90 Shaheen Merali’s second curated venture in Mumbai might span five continents but this time he hasn’t overreached himself, says ZEHRA JUMABHOY.
91 What with pummelling a Contessa, discovering the mysteries behind an inflatable phallus and watching people weep, PHALGUNI DESAI is kept on her toes at Volte’s inaugural exhibition.92 LISTINGS