Installation view
Passage to India at Initial Access: New Indian Art from the Frank Cohen Collection
I'm not sure whether this is an example of Frank Cohen's slapstick sense of humour or maybe that of the curator of the exhibition David Thorp, but as the viewer walks through the doors of the two large industrial units that constitute Initial Access in Wolverhampton, they are greeted by a large wooden sculpture of a defecating baby elephant, arse first, naturally. This burnt-wood sculpture, replete with silver turd, is the handiwork of India and South Korea-based artist Tallur L.N., and certainly set a forthright and decidedly zoological tone to the exhibition.
Tallur's elephant, as striking as it was, soon found itself overshadowed by that of Bharti Kher, whose immense fibreglass sculpture of an adult elephant asleep (or dead?) on the gallery floor covered in thousands of tiny bindis - Indian body decorations - was a highlight of the show and reminiscent of a ridiculous scene in the 1968 film 'The Party', in which Peter Sellers, playing the part of a young Indian actor at a fashionable modernist house party in Hollywood, berates the partygoers for decorating an elephant, suggesting that this might cause offence to Indians - how would they like it if Indians started drawing moustaches on ladybirds? Perhaps it is no coincidence that another body of work by Bharti Kher, the Hirsute project, was devoted to moustache fashions in her neighbourhood at a time when she first began working with bindis. Or maybe it is.
Tallur, L N, 'Esophageal Reflex'
Bharti Kher, 'The Skin Speaks'
After Indian elephants, the viewer might be forgiven for expecting to find cows nearby, and they weren't to be disappointed here, thanks to Mumbai-born Sudarshan Shetty's 'Untitled (Double Cow)' from 2006. Comprising two complete skeletons made of aluminium, the piece took the form of one cow lying on its back, its legs pointing upwards, while the other balanced on top, their feet forming an axis of symmetry of sorts. Apart from the spectacle of seeing such a feat of animal acrobatics, there was the added curiosity of an electrical mechanism that sporadically caused a hammer to hit the bronze udders of the upright cow. Quite how the semiotics of the work play out I couldn't say.
More clues as to what makes Shetty tick came through his paintings, two of which depict slightly awkward, lifeless modernist interiors. They would be completely unremarkable without the presence of a floating dinosaur skeleton with accompanying red stain on the floor in one and a broken pipe dripping blood in the other. As if the board game Cluedo had produced a Jurassic edition, these works bring to life a disconcerting dialogue between the fundamental issues of life and death and the peculiar architectural contexts in which we act out our lives. The press materials for the show had promised the inclusion of one of Jitish Kallat's remarkable fibreglass dinosaur-bone vehicles, which would have made an interesting dialogue with Shetty's paintings as well as with Kher's elephant, but unless I somehow missed a large sculptural installation, it just wasn't there!
T.V. Santhosh, 'Counting Down' (2008)
It would seem that the show evolved and changed considerably after initially being installed as not only did a somewhat provocative work by Rashid Rana of veiled women made up of erotic images disappear from its spot on the wall but a significant and welcome later addition came in the form of T.V. Santhosh's 'Counting Down' (2008), presenting 30 life-size silver fibreglass dogs standing in rows with LCD clocks strapped to their backs, each counting down to 00.00. Electronic text display boards were placed on the floors, showing a scrolling text of the testimony of Yoshitaka Kawamoto, a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima. The arresting narrative and flickering red LCD screens added to the drama and impact of the work, creating a striking and decidedly disturbing installation.
The animal theme underlying much of the exhibition showed no sign of abating in the work of Jagannath Panda, who in addition to a painting featuring dogs also presented a fibreglass sculpture (clearly a preferred medium of the exhibition and perhaps of leading Indian contemporary artists) of a goat from 2007 entitled 'God and Goat'. This charming piece involves a goat sat on top of a crate or case of some kind, the goat covered in floral fabric of a variety of golds, browns and delicate pinks. From its stomach emerges a cloth umbilical cord with a red fabric ball at the end. Such spheres are clearly important to the artist's work as evidenced in the nearby sculpture 'The Feral Sphere' (2007), a large ball covered with shimmering golden fabric, veined like leaves and teeming with swirling patterns of insects and dragons, reptiles and beasts attempting to devour each other.
Jagannath Panda, 'God and Goat', 2007
Jagannath Panda, 'The Feral Sphere' (2007)
A mosquito even made a cameo appearance in Krishnaraj Chonat's sculptural installation 'Private Sky' (2006) - a work that made a strong bid to steal the show. On a low white plinth rests a white plant pot, out of which grows a white tree in the branches of which, on a lawn of white fur, rests a white tree house. This is not some makeshift tree house, however, but rather a large, American-style family house replete with double garage. Behind the plinth a white fur disc is suspended in the air, as if a furry moon. In front of the house on the plinth stands a large black mosquito, seeming to have its proboscis stuck into the white floor as if sucking its blood. A poetic critique of the rapidly growing real estate markets in India and the derivative Western architectural styles that have been emerging with the Indian nouveau riche, this piece is perfectly poised between fantasy and the issues of the real world in India today.
Krishnaraj Chonat, 'Private Sky' (2006)
Atul Dodiya, 'Fallen Leaves - A Stroll # 2' (2006)
One of the least attention-seeking pieces in a show full of bold and boisterous works - but nonetheless one of the most thoughtful, engaging and accomplished - was Atul Dodiya's 'Fallen Leaves - A Stroll # 2' (2006). A series of small, individually framed oil paintings on dried leaves, mounted on black backgrounds, depict political and military leaders such as Lenin and a young Castro (perhaps?). These delicate paintings appear like needlework, the veins giving the impression of thread. Animals even manage to make an appearance in this work, with a small painting of two swans preening themselves at the water's edge. With as much an oriental tinge as an Indian vibe, these leaf paintings are placed alongside a panel made of powder-coated mild steel with auto body solder and a mysterious walking stick. Suggestive of post-WWII American abstraction but with mischievous Dada tendencies, the combination of these elements with the leaf paintings creates an intriguing and virtually impenetrable dialogue worthy of further exploration.
'Passage to India' not only demonstrates Frank Cohen's personal taste for, and clearly the pleasure he derives from, contemporary Indian art, but also makes for an interesting, attractive and enjoyable group exhibition presenting some of the leading figures in contemporary art in India today. Following on from the recent India Oggi exhibition at Spazio Oberdan in Milan and in advance of the rumoured Serpentine Gallery India exhibition and Saatchi Gallery's 'The Empire Strikes Back - Indian Art Today', 'Passage to India' makes a valuable contribution to the exploration of one of the art world's current geographical hot spots.
Matt Price
Matt Price is an editor and writer based in London and Birmingham.
Passage to India at Initial Access
New Indian Art from the Frank Cohen Collection
Until 2 August 2008
Initial Access, Units 19 & 20,
Calibre Industrial Park, Laches Close,
Off Enterprise Drive, Four Ashes,
Wolverhampton, WV10 7DZ
Hours Tuesday-Friday 11am-4pm,
Sat. 10am-4pm Admission Free
T: +44 (0) 1902 790419
www.initialaccess.co.uk
Matt Price is a writer and editor based in Birmingham and London. Following a degree in art history from the University of Nottingham and an MA in curating from the Royal College of Art, he started his career as an editor for Hans Ulrich Obrist before being appointed Managing Editor of Flash Art International, Milan. He has since worked as Deputy Editor of ArtReview and Publications Manager at Serpentine Gallery. In addition to Flash Art and ArtReview, he has also written for magazines including A-n, Art Monthly, Fused and Frieze. He is now working on a freelance basis with Phaidon, Albion and the Palais de Tokyo.
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