Lot Essay
Atul Dodiya's allegorical collages fuse fragments of art historical masterpieces with moments of pop culture, current events and his own autobiography. Regarded as one of the leading artists of his generation, Dodiya has become a widely recognized figurehead in South Asian contemporary art influencing many of the country's burgeoning younger artists. A resident of Mumbai, this series of paintings include imagery from Mumbai's film industry Bollywood and Indian cinema. Beginning his career with a straightforward and cleverly deadpan realist style, Dodiya moved away from the literal in the mid-90s towards the fragmented and multilayered techniques which now dominate his oeuvre. Capitalizing on the post-modern tendency towards ironic juxtaposition, Dodiya uses the vocabulary of western contemporary art creating a unique and potent pictorial language.