Page 150 - Contemporary Indian Art

Lot No. 118

Thukral & Tagra
b. 1976 & b. 1979

UNTITLED
72 x 72 in (183 x 183 cm)
Oil on canvas

` 10,00,000 – 15,00,000 | $ 12,346 - 18,519

Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra have
collaborated since the turn of the
millennium to create highly immersive
and interactive environments meant
to push the boundaries of art. The
visual syntax of their work has evolved
over the years and has become rooted
in several socio-political aspects
of Indian culture. It explores and challenges. Inviting the viewers to
reflects on the changing aspirations act as protagonists through their
of the middle class with tropes of playful and interactive creations, their
migration to a foreign land and the artistic approach seeks to challenge
repercussion of a materially consumed the status quo while at the same
contemporary India. With humorous time providing a sense of nostalgia.
and playful visual compositions, the
artists have also expressed their Blurring the line between Fine Art
concerns on the essence of an Indian and Popular Culture, the versatile
identity, whether articulated by practice by the artist duo spans a
Indians themselves or that which is range of mediums, including painting,
extrapolated by the rest of the world. sculpture, installations, interactive
games, video, performance, and
Drawing on their personal history and design. Characterised by vibrant
memories, works by Thukral and Tagra imagery and exuberant colours, their
also concern the issues of their native paintings position everyday objects
state of Punjab, including the agrarian like cameras, and alarm clocks in a
distress of the farming community human-like form. The setting of
by using ‘games’ and ‘sports’ as a flora and fauna amid which they are
metaphor to depict their resilience suspended makes them look like a part
and endurance in the face of extreme of nature.