assignment on when was modernism in indian art ?
shivani sanghai
WHEN WAS MODERNISM IN INDIAN ART ?
IN THIS ESSAY THE AUTHOR , GEETA KAPUR TAKES UP RAYMOND WILLIAMS DEBATE ON "WHEN WAS MODERNISM" AND FURTHER SPEAKS ABOUT THE WHOLE NOTION OF MODERNISM BEING DEFINED DIFFRENTLY IN THE WEST THAN THAT IN INDIA . SHE SAYS IT IS NECESSARY TO "REPERIODIZE THE MODERN IN TERMS OF OWN HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE OF MODERNIZATION AND MARK OUR MODERNISMS SO THAT WE MAY ENTER THE POSTMODERN AT LEAST POTENTIALLY ON OUR TERMS."
HOWEVER INDIAN MODERNISM DIFFERS FROM WEST SOCIALLY, POLITICALLY AND HISTORICALLY WHILE THE WEST IS LEAST INTERESTED IN THIS DIACHRONICITY(SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL) AND OPPOSES IT IN THE NAME OF "NEW". GEETA KAPUR'S ARGUMENT IS BASED ON HOW THE PROCESS OF MODERNIZATION HAS EVOLVED FROM THE POST INDEPENCDENCE ERA WITH VARIOUS POLITICAL COMMUNITIES SUPPORTING THE IDEA OF MODERNISM WHILE SOME HAVING OTHER ISSUES AS THEIR PRIORITIES.
INDIAN ARTISTS HAVE TURNED MODERN IN THE POST MODERN AGE "IN THE SENSE OF BEING ABLE TO CONFRONT THE NEW WITHOUT FLYING TO THE DEFENCE OF TRADITION .......". HER DEFINITION IN THIS ESSAY FOR "WHEN" IS BASICALLY THE TIME PERIOD WHERE INDIA ACTUALLY STARTED RECOGNISING ITS LOST IDENTITY , COLLECTIVELY IN RELATION TO OTHER MODERNISED SOCIETIES OF THE WEST.
IN INDIA , MODERN COMPRISES THE INDIGENOUS AND THE AVANTGARDE WHICH HAS BEEN A TWO WAY PROCESS WHERE THERE HAS ALSO BEEN AN EXTENSIVE USE OF PRIMITIVE TECHNIQUES, ARTISANAL SKILLS, ICONOGRAPHIC REFERENCES, EC.
HOWEVER THE HISTORY OF THE MODERN IN INDIAN ART HAS BEEN CHANGING RADICALLY FROM THE 1930'S – 1980'S WHERE THEY HAVE MOVED ON FROM THE SKEPTICAL POSITION TO A MUCH COMPLEX ENGAGEMENT AND GOT INTO MORE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF COMPLEXITY. THIS WAS ACHIEVED IN VARIOUS WAYS BY DIFFERENT ARTISTS USING DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES SUCH AS FOLK ICONICITY, URBAN COMMDIFICATION , REALISM , ETC. WHICH FURTHER FORMULATED THE WHOLE NOTION OF MODERNISM. THUS OVER A TIME PERIOD THERE CAME ABOUT A NUMBER OF DIVERGENCE IN INDIAN ART WHICH RESPONDED TO INFORMAL AESTHETIC WHICH THEN GAVE RISE TO NARRATIVE ART AND EXUBERANT FORMS OF ABSTRACTION BY VARIOUS ARTISTS WHO MADE A GREAT CONTRIBUTION IN CREATING AN IRONIC SYMBOLISM.
HOWEVER THIS WAS NOT ONLY LIMITED TO ART BUT ALSO BY THE 1970S FILMMAKERS STARTED CREATING MAGICAL REALISMWHICH HAD A NARRATIVE MOTIVATING DESIRE. THUS INDIAN IDENTITY WAS DEPICTED WITH A FABULOUS AS WELL AS AN INNOVATIVE NARRATION REPRESENTED AS A PICTORIAL NARRATION IN CONTEMPORARY INDIAN ART OF THE 1970S AND 1980S. DURING 1980S THERE WERE SOME OF THE WOMEN ARTISTS WHO MADE A NUMBER OF FIGURITIVE PAINTINGS WHICH LAID GREAT EMPHASIS ON GENDER INTERVENTIONS AND SUBJECTIVITY THAT WAS EXISTING IN THE SOCIETY .
THUS WE CAN SEE THAT MODERNITY NOT ONLY GOT ITS DEFINITION FROM PAINTINGS BUT THEATRE AND CINEMA PLAYED A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE AS IT PICTURED MODERNITY AND EXISTING SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN A FAR MORE REALISTIC MANNER .
THEREFORE THE AUTHOR RIGHTLY SAYS " ART LANGUAGE AFFIRMS ITS MULTIVALENCE, OPENING UP THE IDEOLOGY OF MODERNISM TO CREATING A POSSIBILITY OF ALTERNATIVE REALITIES."