amitabh

Babalog 5

2012-02-04T06:07:00.000-08:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More artwork

babalog 2,3&4

2012-02-04T06:01:00.000-08:00

Artwork for my imaginary band

61 62

2012-02-04T05:57:00.001-08:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More fuck

Pandoroid : vision 4

2012-02-04T05:56:00.000-08:00

U.V Print on ACP (96"x48")

Pandoroid (detail)

2012-02-04T05:53:00.000-08:00

U.V Print on Stainless Steel (96"x48")

Divya

2011-12-06T00:41:00.001-08:00

Saw 'Shola aur Shabnam' again. And was reminded of Divya Bharti.
This is an attempt to negotiate with that memory.
This is also from the 2.5 body of work.
Shot a cellphone video off the television while watching 'Shola aur Shabnam'.
Grabbed images from quicktime. Treated the images and made the hi-resolution blowups.

2.5 source video.

2011-12-05T12:47:00.001-08:00

2.5

2011-12-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More phone

Film playing on television. Shot off the T.V screen by a cellphone. Printed on inkjet printer. A4 size. Scanned at 1200 dpi. Blown up to 4 feet x 3 feet. Test print on 90 GSM paper

How to

2011-11-03T10:56:00.001-07:00

Scratch Design for Pao

2011-11-03T10:51:00.001-07:00

There's only one way to stop a mad watch.

2011-11-01T01:11:00.000-07:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More alice

Virtue

2011-10-25T04:02:00.000-07:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More airports

Pandoroid Visions : 1,2 &3

2011-09-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

Pandoroid visions are smaller parts/designs of a larger composite panel. These drawings were made as scaffolding for the larger piece.

Projectile Prophecies : Magicians Do Not Exist

2011-09-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

84x60 inches

The Cow ate it up.

2011-06-28T05:42:00.000-07:00

In hindi there is a phrase called ' Gai kha gayi' (The cow ate it up), which is used when things are not found in their place, or are suspected to having been stolen.

Open publication - Free publishing - More comic

The Messiah 1,2,4,8 (work in progress)

2010-12-16T05:50:00.000-08:00

Down the Rabbit Hole

2010-09-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

Projectile Prophecies

2010-08-27T04:23:00.000-07:00

Size : 8 feet x 10 feet

Amusement Park

2010-06-02T03:30:00.000-07:00

Amusement Park (Single images)

2010-06-02T03:27:00.000-07:00

Amusement Park (Single images)

2010-06-02T03:19:00.000-07:00

Amusement Park (Single images)

2010-06-02T03:14:00.000-07:00

Tinker Images

2010-06-02T02:21:00.000-07:00

http://www.sarai.net/publications/occasional/tinker-solder-tap

Tinker Images

2010-06-02T02:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.sarai.net/publications/occasional/tinker-solder-tap

Tinker Images

2010-06-02T02:03:00.000-07:00

http://www.sarai.net/publications/occasional/tinker-solder-tap

Tinker Images

2010-06-02T01:48:00.000-07:00

Tinker Images

2010-06-02T01:39:00.003-07:00

Tinker Images

2010-06-02T01:14:00.000-07:00

Delhi Diary- III

2007-08-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

The door opens and a strange smell trapezes in,
Swinging from one beam to the other, the smell hits my nose.
I walk away and try to escape it, but in vain.
Not inclined to make a judgment so soon, I was only aware that it followed me.

" Why?" I wanted to ask, "To what purpose?"

I kept quiet and waited for it to start a dialog.

Nothing.

And then I remembered that smells have no identity, no personality, no conscience.

I laughed.

The smell whispered back, " Who follows whom?".

Delhi Diary- II

2007-08-12T20:52:00.000-07:00

I sit on the steps and
stare
at
the
lizards
on
the
wall.

With sharp bursts, one of them moves.
Lethargia masks their deadly intent.
A moth flickers close by.
The head darts.
A miss.
The moth flies on.
I snigger.
The lizard doesn't get the joke.
The moth teases again.
The head darts.
The moth disappears.
Another lizard darts its head from the hinges of the door.
They stare at each other.
I turn my head.

An instant passes and I look back.
The lizard goes on another hunt.
A dart. Bullseye.
Burp.

It moves around restlessly. The black eyes have no glint. It's pathetic. Bordering funny.

Another moth.
Another meal.
No challenge.
Just Survival.

Delhi Diary- I

2007-08-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

Minutes Trickle down from the crack on the pink wall,

The corner's take the proportion of a dozen Milky
Way's,

And from the depth's of the red in the air,
I yawn and stumble across the room.

The air is a shirt made of pure black velvet,
And from it's torn corners I breathe,
The fan screeches hysterically,
" I want to be far away from here "

, I reply.

I take my words back for the fear of being heard by the spirits that reside in my room.

"Tee- Hee"

I mumble, and gulp on some heavy, tasteless, warm water.

I baby step back into my room, and turn the sweat soaked pillow to it's drier side.

-My body hit's the bed-

I try and remember the chamber that I was in the labyrinth of my dreams.

Temple sleeping next to man.

2007-03-15T01:55:00.000-07:00

sidscape

2007-03-15T01:44:00.000-07:00

Gobascape.

2007-03-15T01:39:00.000-07:00

Portraits-I

2007-03-15T01:36:00.000-07:00

Portraits-II

2007-03-15T01:34:00.000-07:00

Babaphobia- II

2007-03-15T01:26:00.000-07:00

Title borrowed from a work in progress by Hemant Srikumar.

Babaphobia- I

2007-03-15T01:20:00.000-07:00

I am borrowing the title from a work in progress by Hemant Srikumar.

The Sarai Mural : Dilemma of the Techno Hero

2007-01-04T04:19:00.000-08:00

The Dilemma of the Techno Hero references popular comic book culture in
India. It emerges from my ongoing research on, and documentation
of a collection of popular comic books at Sarai.
Raj Comics have been in existence since 1986 and have published more than a thousand comics ever since. It started out as an action adventure series borrowing heavily from its western counterparts and the superheroes created by them. As these comics progressed, it got filled in with many religious undertones and mythical plots. The role of the superhero also changed from a local vigilante to the protector of the universe. With the technological evolution around, the world in the comic books too changed with technology and gadgets an underlying element in the plot development. I was also aware of the visual evolution in the vocabulary of the comic book and the project began as an attempt to build a narrative that would be an intersection of the following tangents- the idea of the superhero, the visual language of the comic books and remixing tropes and narrative fragments from a large body of comic book material that reflect an obsession with computers, mobile phones and surveillance technologies.

The mural has been made behind the Sarai Cafeteria and was made keeping in mind ‘Sensor-Census-Censored ‘ , an international colloquium on Information Society, held from 30th November- 2nd December.

(Panel 6) The Sarai Mural : Dilemma of the Techno Hero

2007-01-04T04:16:00.000-08:00

Panel 6
Size: Radius 4.5 ft.
Acrylic

(Panel 5) The Sarai Mural : Dilemma of the Techno Hero

2007-01-04T04:14:00.000-08:00

Panel 5
Size: 6 ft.X 3 ft.
Acrylic

(Panel 4) The Sarai Mural : Dilemma of the Techno Hero

2007-01-04T04:12:00.000-08:00

Panel 4
Size: 12ft. X 3ft.
Acrylic

(Panel 4) The Sarai Mural : Dilemma of the Techno Hero

2007-01-04T04:06:00.000-08:00

Panel 4
Size: 12ft. x 3 ft.
Acrylic

(Panel3) The Sarai Mural: Dilemma of the Techno Hero

2007-01-04T04:03:00.000-08:00

Size: 3feet X 8 feet

Acrylic

(Panel 2) The Sarai Mural: DIlemma of the Techno Hero

2007-01-04T03:58:00.000-08:00

Size: 9 feet x 7 feet
Acrylic

(Panel1) The Sarai Mural : Dilemma of the Techno Hero

2007-01-04T03:47:00.000-08:00

Panel 1
Acrylic and Laminated Laser Print

(Panel 1) The Sarai Mural : Dilemma of the Techno Hero

2007-01-04T03:41:00.000-08:00

Panel 1
Acrylic and laminated Laser Prints

(Panel 1) The Sarai Mural: Dilemma of the Techno Hero

2007-01-04T03:33:00.000-08:00

Panel 1. (Divided in four parts)
36 feet X 3 feet
Acylic and Laminated Laser Prints.

Oh my god...!!!

2006-07-09T03:40:00.000-07:00

Size - 7 feet x 4 feet
Medium - Oil ,Enamel and Plaster of Paris(PoP).

Hallowed be my name ..

2006-07-09T03:28:00.000-07:00

Size - 6 feet x 4 feet
Medium - Oil,Acrylic and Enamel.

Survivor

2006-07-09T03:23:00.000-07:00

Size - 6 feet x 4 feet
Medium - Oil on Canvas

Picture of Dorian Gray -II

2006-07-09T03:21:00.000-07:00

Size - 3 feet x 1feet 9'
Medium - Oil on Canvas

Picture of Dorian Gray .

2006-07-09T03:15:00.000-07:00

Size - 4 feet x 4 feet
Medium - Oil on Canvas

Are you lonesome tonight ...

2006-07-08T06:11:00.000-07:00

David And Goliath.

2006-07-08T05:44:00.000-07:00

David and Goliath.

2006-07-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

"You are not able to go to war against the Philistines. You (David) are just a boy, and Goliath is a man of war."
Samuel 17:33

Size - 6 feet x 4 feet
Medium - Oil and enamel on canvas

Bol.

2006-07-07T06:11:00.000-07:00

Bol ki lab aazaad hain tere

Bol zabaaz ab tak teri hai

Teraa sutwaa jism hai teraa
Bol ki jaan ab tak teri hai
Dekh ke aahangar kii dukaan mein
Tund hain shole surkh hai aahan
Khulane lage quffalon ke dahaane
Phailaa har ek zanjiir kaa daaman
Bol ye thoda waqt bahut hai
Jism-o-zabaan kii maut se pahale
Bol ki sach zindaa hai ab tak
Bol jo kuchh kahane hai kah le

"Speak, for your lips are free .
Speak , for this tongue is still yours .
Speak, for this body is still yours.
Speak, since it is still your life.
See that how in a blacksmith's shop ,the flame burns wild and the iron glows red;
The locks open their jaws,And the link of every chain begins to break.
Speak, for this brief time is enough ,before the death of the body and the tongue:
Speak, because the truth is still alive. ....Speak, speak, whatever you must ."

Meidum - Oil on oil sheet

Size - Imperial oil sheet .

Bottle Of Pickle.

2006-07-07T02:50:00.000-07:00

Size - 5 feet x 2feet 6'
Medium - Oil & Enamel on Canvas

Self Study

2006-07-07T02:18:00.000-07:00

Size - 6 feet x 4 feet
Medium - Oil & Enamel on Canvas

Ram in a Disco.

2006-07-06T23:29:00.000-07:00

Size - 6 feet x 4 feet

Medium - Oil on Canvas

Hey Pops !!!

2006-07-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

Size - Imperial Oil Sheet
Medium - Oil & Enamel

Kindly paste your snap here .

2006-07-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

Size - 5 feet x 3 feet
Medium - Oil & Enamel on Canvas

Lady on a Flower

2006-07-06T14:12:00.000-07:00

Size - 5 feet 9' x 3 feet
Medium - Oil & Enamel on Canvas

Shri Jim

2006-07-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

Size - Imperial Oil Sheet
Medium - Oil & Enamel.

Versace Laxmi.

2006-07-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

Size - Imperial Oil Sheet
Medium - Oil & Enamel.

Purpose of Art.

2006-07-05T04:46:00.000-07:00

The purpose of art ideally is self expression . The expression of reality the way one perceives it . The only variable here is our perception . The way we view the world and thing around us is continuously changing . My attempt right now is to trace my own change or shift . At one level this exercise will help me to gauge the pace of evolution / change . On the other , it might help me to give my expression a sense of direction and purpose . There is an innate sense of harmony that all forms of expression aspire to . The difference takes place due to the variance in competence . The intention ,whether we know of it or not , is always the same .That of harmony . So the viewer too , when looking at a work of art , is searching for the same .
How faithfully the artist can depict that harmony on his perception and competence . I believe that a very concrete and sure knowledge of ones intent is crucial . What does one want to express ? Once this principal question is answered we can get to the HOW part of it .
The process of creation can be spontaneous and natural . This is not a contradiction to what I had said earlier . Competence at the level of understanding the intent is still crucial . Omce this is clear the execution is only a natural process.
Any act of expression is not something that can be forced . Once you FEEL an emotion , expressing it is the most automated and innate thing . For example , if you hate someone , you dont have to try too hard ( infact you dont have to try at all) for them to know about it . They just know .
This puts another question forward . What is the importance of skill?
The way I see it , every act of expression is done within certain parametres , and is also understood within the same . These parametres are a system and lets call this system a language . So for any artist to express . total control over the language is very important . This control is skill. Through practice and hard work , this skill could be made an innate part of the artist . Till , for him , its second nature.

Art is what art is not

2006-07-05T03:05:00.000-07:00

Fresh out of an art academy, I braced myself to take a place in the already existing pantheon of " artists " and was ready to go through the motions in the art field. From what I gathered about the field, I learnt that exhibiting in gallery spaces, putting your work up for sale and then the eventual dependence on whether your work sells or not was the general pattern that any practicing artist was meant to follow. My interaction with the potential buyers and the whole experience that I had during this time compelled me to ask some questions about this process. Is the gallery actually the ultimate space for viewer ship? If so, then why was there the same kind of crowd in any exhibit that I had gone to? Does a good work of art always sell? What is the relationship between money and art? Behind all of this of course, was the question artists and thinkers have been struggling with for generations before me: what is art?

Seeking answers, I found out that the gallery/exhibition hall is actually an exclusive space. By exclusive I mean that it was a stagnant breeding ground for the same kind of people, with the same kinds of opinions and a process whose outcome was the same – usually monetary. The art community was a close knit group, and whatever talk of ‘fresh’ work happened , always happened within that network . Art was only 'popular' if acknowledged by a small exclusive ‘art community’. I found a sense of cynicism creeping into how I saw my future as a practicing artist; I could not make the necessary impact, could not reach out to the number of people that I would have wanted to. My expression would die probably in some storage space, in some gallery… and that's if I was lucky.

There seemed to be some sort of an invisible barrier between what I held as popular and the exhibitory space. The ‘person on the street’, lets say a middle class ‘9 to 5' type, or a rickshaw driver, were completely unaware of what artists were doing. This exclusivity led to a certain amount of myth building around the practice of art. Art and artists began to acquire a lofty stature, further deepening the distinction between the artist and the non-artist. And so, if I were to talk to my father (an engineer) about 'art ', he would just shrug it off by saying that this was something of which he knows nothing. But if art lies in expression, and expression is universal, then what is there to know or not know? What is the exclusivity in art all about?

To understand and further question the existing practice of art I outlined a project for myself. I want to take "works of art " outside the gallery. The logic being, that if the people won’t come to the gallery, let the gallery go to the people. We already live in a time where we are being literally bombarded with images. Be it the television, or the hoarding board in the streets, the way a taxi is painted or a bus is. There are visuals everywhere. So what relegates them to not being works of art? And if I put, lets say, a 'painting' outside on a hoarding board, what will make that a work of art ? The same goes for an installation put outside in direct contact with people, what do we call it then?

One of the things that I had planned in this project was to rent a house in a densely populated urban area. The house was to be painted inside and out and then a series of installations and sculptures were to be assembled in and around the house, basically transforming the entire house into a 'work of art'. Emphasis would be paid on the visual that one would create, so as to attract the people inside. The idea being again to increase the interaction between art and people, and to make it more accessible to the public domain.

For as long as one can remember, art ( painting in particular) has been at the mercy of a patron. It has been the domain of the rich and a signifier of affluence. But as the times have been changing, the role of art in human life has been changing as well. The basic meaning of art has been changing. My project is essentially aimed at exploring what art means in the contemporary sense. If I were to be a bit ambitious, I would say that maybe it also intends to bridge the gap between the 'common man ' and art . But to do that we must understand what art is first.

I am aware that a lot of work has already been done in this school of thought. Public art is not a new word. Even in India, many people have gone out and tried to create a basic awareness about art practices through their work. Trains have been painted, hoarding boards been used as a canvas (although only in select outlets) and performance art practiced and seen. But its how you do it that makes every work of art different. And to not do something simply because its 'been done earlier ' would in one sense be the end of the process of creation.