Lot 1165: CHITTROVANU MAZUMDAR

CHITTROVANU MAZUMDAR
(Born in 1956)
Untitled
signed 'C.Mazumdar; Chittravanu Mazumdar' in English (on reverse)
acrylic on canvas, diptych
151 x 183 cm. (59.2 x 72 in.)
Painted in 2004

New Delhi, India, Bodhi Art, Chittrovanu Mazumdar, December, 2005.

A. Jhaveri, A Guide to 101 Modern & Contemporary Indian Artists, Mumbai, India, 2005, pp. 128 & 129. (illustrated)

Stylistically reminiscent of David Salle and the early combines of Robert Rauschenberg, Mazumdar situates his images on the canvas with a spatial disposition attributed more to collage than painting. However, unlike Rauschenberg who appropriates actual objects and combines them with the painted surface and Salle who creates a fantasy world of randomly juxtaposed images, Mazumdar relies solely on his palette and brush. His m'elange of images are balanced by expressive brushwork and saturated patches of color. The result is a composition which both objectively documents and poignantly comments on the complexities of urban Indian life. This work straddles classification. In one instance it could be an accurate close up of a typical urban metropolis, tattooed with posters and flyers advertising sex, missing persons or real estate. However, it could also be an elaborately calibrated collage of images, pulled straight from the artist's journal, specifically paired to reveal and make sense of the realities of prostitution, sexuality, wealth, desire, beauty, and shame. Here, as often in his other work, Mazumdar uses the human body as a site of discourse. The headless torso in the upper right and drip marks, turned tears, streaming down the face and flooding the otherwise penetrating gaze of the central figure recounts tales of violence, oppression, melancholy and torment. While the menacing grin of the third figure reinforces the naivety and folly of the human condition which suffers the ever tightening and crushing grip of the urban street.