Speaker: Arshiya Lokhandwala, in conversation with Baiju Parthan, Monali Meher and Shilpa Gupta

This talk hopes to explore the new language within art practice being evolved in India today. As all three artists emerge from Mumbai, a megalopolis, it would be interesting to see how the urbanised landscape has emerged and shaped their work. We will explore the impact of globalisation, within the context of media, technology, and music, which have influenced the artist’s practice in the exhibition.  After a brief overview of Mumbai within the context of Indian Art, each of the artist’s work will be discussed in detail, highlighting some of their concerns and their relationship with the city.

Monali Meher whose engagement with the theme of temporality reveals the usage of feminine sensibilities. Her performances are always constructed around the immediate environments such as architectural spaces, lighting and material available within the surroundings.  Baiju Parthan explores the possibilities of interactivity in an art experience.  His works are a comment on the current internet culture where an artistic experience can be extended by the number of choices given to the viewer.  The hyper-linked virtual space of the computer seems of fore ground his concerns and break away from the convention of passive viewing. Shilpa Gupta on the other hand engages the viewer through the provocative and interrogative dimensions of conceptual art.  While asking the audience to participate in her work Shilpa often questions the whole theoretical framework of an art object.  Working within the irony of the feminist critique, she engages with the idea of womanhood as seen through consumerism and fetishism of an object, making it a site of pleasure and desire in an urban environment.

Arshiya Lokhandwala is curator of the Lakeeren Contemporary Art Gallery, Mumbai.

www.lakeeren.com