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Cultural
identities intermingle and transform themselves
creating an absolutely distinctive ethos.
Interestingly this does not happen to concepts alone,
but manifests itself through the individualistic usage
of the pictorial language. This invariably works
towards larger conceptual issues and many a times in
search for a creative persona. This series of
interactions and dialogues can be best read and
deciphered in a non-verbal fashion and present us many
new ways of seeing and perceiving them.
The
present exhibition is one such way of perceiving and
enjoying the innate pictorial quality that the images
possess and present, which forms part of the
collection of this museum. Historicity is important,
but it works with the pictorial to provide interactive
insights leading to visual delights.
National
Gallery of Modern Art has undertaken to present in a
perceptive fashion a part of the strong collection of
over fifteen thousand works that the museum possesses.
The attempt is to invite the attention of the
audiences in other parts of the country to a wider
taste of the vast repository of this museum, from
varied viewpoints and perspectives.
The
Exhibition records the quest for modernism, and the
use of an abstract language in the 1960's and 70's.
The exhibition presents the artist's adaptation to
abstraction with distinct western and Indian elements.
The exhibition also highlights some of the contentious
issues that art has raised or sought to resolve in the
contemporary period.
The
selection showcases the works of some of the most
reputed names in the field of Modern and Contemporary
Art including Anjolie Ela Menon, Bikas Bhattacharjee,
Bhupen Khakhar, Krishen Khanna, J. Swaminathan, M.F.
Husain, Satish Gujral, Ram Kumar, Mann Parekh of our
present times including artists like K.H. Ara, P.T.
Reddy, S.B. Palsikar, Binode Behari Mukherjee, Sailoz
Mukherjee, Ramkinker Baij, J.P. Ganguly, Antonio
Xavior, K.C.S. Panicker, who have contributed to the
making of Modem Art. The contribution of people like
M.F. Pithawala, Ramkinker Vaij, M.A.R. Chughtai, A.A.
Almelkar, N.S. Bendre, Rasik Raval, Jerarn Patel,
Himmat Shah have also been included in the cross
section.
This
Exhibition, I am confident would help in creating a
larger understanding of our times. Through this we can
acknowledge the contributions of those times and
genres that have helped us to arrive at the present
context of creative art practices.
PROF.
RAJEEV LOCHAN
Director
National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
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