By the middle of 1980s, contemporary Indian art
began to chart a new direction. The discourses
that dominated the art scene of earlier decades
slowly faded away. The younger generation of
artists engaged themselves with new concerns.
They explored fresh concepts (and the concept
acquired preeminence, so that the artist’s idea
became germane to the work leaving him free to
commission helpers to complete the project).
Post-modern ideas left their mark. They
experimented with new media, material and
techniques, they rethought the scale of the work
attempting site-specific three-dimensional
installations and they were prepared to
negotiate with both global and local stimuli.
Themes involving gender, environment and urban
crisis began to surface in images. The vibrancy
of popular culture worked as a major trigger in
image-making. Some of the younger artists, even
when they were working with representational
forms eschewed narrative elements even as they
gave vent to whimsy. In sum, contemporary art
tore through the silken veils of the exclusive
private gallery ambience and donned an assertive
dynamism, a colourful vitality.
Work of Sudhir Patwardhan, Vivan Sundaram, Veena
Bhargava, Arpita Singh, Nalini Malani, Paramjit
Singh, Manu Parekh, Manjit Bawa, Rameshwar
Broota, Jatin Das, Anjolie Ela Menon, Arpana
Caur, Amitava Das, Chittrovanu Majumdar, Jaya
Ganguly, Jayashree Chakravarti, Rekha
Rodwittiya, Rajeev Lochan, Atul Dodiya, Jitish
Kallat, Subodh GHupta, Anju Dodiya, Hema
Upadhaya, Chintan Upadhaya, Riyas Komu, Probir
Gupta, Anandajit Ray, and NS Harsha in the NGMA
collection beautifully capture the eclectic
spirits of contemporary art practices.
Bikash Bhattacharjee
Untitled, Collage, Ink and oil on board, 77X61 cm
Bikash Bhattacharjee
Doll, Oil on canvas, 121X 121 cm
Paritosh Sen
The Bag Lady, Oil on canvas, 137X150 cm
Paramjit Singh
Landscape, Oil on canvas, 182X152 cm
Veena Bhargava
Chowringhee, Oil on canvas, 175.5X259.5 cm
Rameshwar Broota
Ageless Stone, Oil on canvas, 126X178 cm
Vivan Sundaram
Black Arena, Oil on canvas, 126X177 cm
Rekha Rodwittiya
The Visitation
Manu Parekh
Evening in Benaras, Untitled, 177X121 cm
Arpita Singh
Painting-I, Oil on canvas, 123X92 cm
Manjit Bawa
Jogan, Oil on canvas, 131X160 cm
Arpana Caur
In Vrindavan, Oil on canvas, 206X152 cm
Krishen Khanna
Bandwala, Oil on canvas, 178X125 cm
Amitava Das
Untitled I, Oil on canvas, 91X106 cm
Chittrovanu Majumdar
Untitled
Anjolie Ela Menon
Shahpur Jat, Oil on masonite board, 89X180 cm
Rajeev Lochan
Vision of Reality, Mixed media on silver gelatine print
Sudhir Patwardhan
The Riot, Acrylic on canvas, 84X152 cm
Jitish Kallat
Naked Skyline-Porous Air, Oil on canvas, 66”X60”
Nalini Malani
Untitled, On acrylic sheet, 173X184.5 cm
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