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Lot Essay
Jitish Kallat’s interdisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture, video and photography. A graduate of the Sir J.J. School of Art, Kallat has established himself as one of the leading contemporary artists practicing in India today. Living and working in the pluralistic urban environment of Mumbai, Kallat draws upon the visual cultures of the city to represent multiplicity in the daily existence of Mumbaikars. Kallat’s vivid figurative paintings serve as both a celebration of the city as well as a political critique of socioeconomic divides across the nation. In Untitled (The Unbearable Lightness of Being), Kallat uses symbolism to evoke themes of globalization, urbanization and modernity. In a 2013 conversation with Kallat, he discussed this painting, reflecting on his thought process while creating the work:
Mumbai, the city of your birth and where you live, along with the Victoria Terminus (CST) have inspired you from very early on. In this painting too, we see a Gargoyle from CST grasping at the edge of the painting from its mouth. How do you see the city and its elements connect to the broader concerns addressed in your works?
Jitish Kallat (JK): Our lived experiences are shaped by the stories we carry within ourselves, and thus every moment of our existence is hyperlinked to countless others. Our eyes make innumerable calculations every moment to help us navigate the world, at the same time they harvest residual meaning when we look at something a little longer. The Victoria Terminus has been one such site for me. I've entered and exited its doors several times as a passenger but if I simply stand at the door a million people pass by, animating its porches with energy and meaning.
The gargoyles that have lined the facade of the Terminus for 120 years clasp my paintings in their mouths like utterances. I'm also interested in the co-existence of bronze and canvas in a single piece of work. A city such as Mumbai where I live is a dense manifestation of every life theme; existing within it as an artist is like having a studio within an auditorium where the play of life runs to a full house every day.
The four men in this painting seem almost unaware of each other's presence though they are seated on the same bench. Why is that so? Is this an attempt to make the viewers question their surroundings?
JK: The painting began with a photograph I took and their being seated on the same bench is perhaps a chance, momentary convergence of four different journeys.
There is a playful element in this work as the zippers in the painting open (or close) to reveal a parallel landscape. What are these symbolic of?
JK: The zipper, both as part of a garment or bag, and perhaps also evoking a crisscrossing railway track has recurred through some of my work. At one level it allows me to open up the picture plane, which is a parallel world unto itself, to paint an overcast sky and let the zipper uncover the raw canvas below.
Is there an intentionally a religious symbolism with crucifix and halo in the painting?
JK: I wasn't really thinking of the cruciform in any religious manner; one image leads to the other while working on a picture. In this instance, the hand positions of the four, seated figures resonate within the speech bubble, casting shadows of faces even as the silhouette of a cityscape descends in the form of black drips.
Mumbai, the city of your birth and where you live, along with the Victoria Terminus (CST) have inspired you from very early on. In this painting too, we see a Gargoyle from CST grasping at the edge of the painting from its mouth. How do you see the city and its elements connect to the broader concerns addressed in your works?
Jitish Kallat (JK): Our lived experiences are shaped by the stories we carry within ourselves, and thus every moment of our existence is hyperlinked to countless others. Our eyes make innumerable calculations every moment to help us navigate the world, at the same time they harvest residual meaning when we look at something a little longer. The Victoria Terminus has been one such site for me. I've entered and exited its doors several times as a passenger but if I simply stand at the door a million people pass by, animating its porches with energy and meaning.
The gargoyles that have lined the facade of the Terminus for 120 years clasp my paintings in their mouths like utterances. I'm also interested in the co-existence of bronze and canvas in a single piece of work. A city such as Mumbai where I live is a dense manifestation of every life theme; existing within it as an artist is like having a studio within an auditorium where the play of life runs to a full house every day.
The four men in this painting seem almost unaware of each other's presence though they are seated on the same bench. Why is that so? Is this an attempt to make the viewers question their surroundings?
JK: The painting began with a photograph I took and their being seated on the same bench is perhaps a chance, momentary convergence of four different journeys.
There is a playful element in this work as the zippers in the painting open (or close) to reveal a parallel landscape. What are these symbolic of?
JK: The zipper, both as part of a garment or bag, and perhaps also evoking a crisscrossing railway track has recurred through some of my work. At one level it allows me to open up the picture plane, which is a parallel world unto itself, to paint an overcast sky and let the zipper uncover the raw canvas below.
Is there an intentionally a religious symbolism with crucifix and halo in the painting?
JK: I wasn't really thinking of the cruciform in any religious manner; one image leads to the other while working on a picture. In this instance, the hand positions of the four, seated figures resonate within the speech bubble, casting shadows of faces even as the silhouette of a cityscape descends in the form of black drips.