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| Erasing Borders: Passport to Contemporary Indian Art Feb-June 2008 |
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Modern art erases U.S.-Indian border
by Michele Wilson, qboro Contributor
10/30/2008
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Indian-American Bivas Chaudhuri’s “The Womb,” on display at Erasing
Borders 2008: An Exposition of Contemporary Indian Art of the
Diaspora at Queens Museum until Nov. 19.
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With one breath, artist Anjali Srinivasan inflates the melon-shaped piece of glass to the size of a large balloon. In the next breath, she sucks in and the glass shrivels like a prune. When she stops, the object pops back into its original, circular form.
Srinivasan, born and raised in India but now living in the United States, is used to captivating audiences with her bendable, flexible glass. But her involvement in an exhibit comprised solely of Indian works is a first for the 30-year-old artist.
“I don’t usually show my work as South Asian,” Srinivasan says, pushing her long, frizzy hair out of her face. “Come on, it’s a blob.”
The young artist is one of 40 participating in the fifth annual Erasing Borders 2008: An Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora, sponsored by the Indo-American Arts Council. The show, which kicked off its sixth and final U.S. leg at the Queens Museum of Art this past Sunday, presents art borne from the melding of Indian and American cultures.
In reality, the artists’ only true connection is their shared immigration experience. That makes for a diverse, eclectic exhibit far removed from the notions of traditional Indian art. Alongside Srinivasan’s blob, called “(RE)Flexion,” are ceramic tiles, photographs, watercolors, drawings, sculpture and paintings of almost any imaginable subject. There’s even a music video. And the back wall holds two reliefs created by an artist who uses his fingernails as his tools.
Each piece represents the fusion of modernity and tradition, the blending of eastern and western worlds, according to artist Bivas Chaudhuri, 53, who has one painting in the show. “We’re not of one culture,” Chaudhuri says. “We have cultural glue from two different countries.”
Though Chaudhuri has lived in the United States for almost 30 years, his immigrant experience still colors his art. “An immigrant goes through a transformation, through their mind, through their body,” he says. “To learn this American culture is to get a special inspiration. It’s kind of a journey.”
That journey is evident in his exhibited painting, “The Womb,” in which the same shape repeats over and over, sometimes in blue, sometimes in yellow, creating new patterns and colors from the overlaps. At first glance, the image looks messy and overwhelming. But as individual shapes draw focus, the painting emits a new orderliness.
“I use those visual repeating elements to energize the whole space,” Chaudhuri says. “I work the space as if it’s full of energy.”
As the show’s curator, Vijay Kumar, walks through the crowded hall, he works the energy of the museum’s space, shaking hands with each person he sees, greeting everyone by name, always offering a warm smile and a few kind words. It’s hard to tell that he’s actually quite shy.
“It’s exciting to meet so many new names and people….It’s wonderful to be part of this wonderful city,” he says.
Erasing Borders 2008: An Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora is on display until Nov. 19. Hours are Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, noon. to 5 p.m. For more information, call (718) 592-9700 or visit www.queensmuseum. org/index.htm. |
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