22 November, 2010
1 Shanthiroad studio, Bangalore
Participanting Artists
Arnab, Indu , Nishanth, Shiva
The most predominant motif of this show is Body-gender and politics an aesthetic and stance that emerge from representing the overbearing reality of existence.
The body, transformation, become a significant vehicle to enact the identities of the self.
The works in this exhibition focuses on issues that relate to the changing identities. The imagery is related to the liberal values of humanism, to include and respect desires and identities. The models and photographers believe in connecting and communicating with the body.
They are also exploring many absurd actions and metamorphosis of humans in the drama of life and the representation of sexuality. They portray the essential emotions of humans and explore the gesture, stance, masquerade and desire of individuals.
There is great level of openness when sexuality is seen in the religious context of myth, but in mainstream heterosexual reality we see another context. These artists have taken significant instances of a critical engagement with secular imagery of using the body. The personal has become political; and the lived experience of reality is engaged in creating a dialog in a narrative context. The body and gender is a preoccupation, and the subject becomes an object of our gaze, scrutiny and contemplation. It makes us aware of the process of objectification.
The perennial voyeur that lurks in every human is the artist's muse. Curiosity is the key that unlocks the world of earthly delights. The nocturnal animal instinct is on the prowl and the artist/photographers peels the many layers of reality to unravel the mysteries of body politics. The windows of the world open up to take us to journey beyond reality in a series of studio portraits of transgenders. The desire to be transformed by the magic of make-up and high end photo shoots series.
It is about the theatre of life with all its paradoxes, it is a slice of the reality we witnesses. The project also gives the freedom to individuals who wish to be photographed in specific ways and locations from the comfort of the home and the street.
The representation of the images is up-front; the protagonists are constructed to confront the viewer. The synoptic situations are taut and dramatic. They are enacted against a backdrop of an urban setting, favourite haunts, bohemian attitudes.
The transformation of the body is the dominant sentiment and we the protagonist asserting their identities. The photographers have created series of photo shoots that address issues about -Body and representation-gender, sexuality and the politics of gaze. This show celebrates diversity of human desire and sexuality.
Text by Suresh Jayram.