First published on 23rd May 2024
Among the various events that have marked the ongoing centenary celebrations of the well-known Indian modernist is the exhibition, One Hundred Years and Counting: Re-Scripting KG Subramanyan, curated by Nancy Adajania for Emami Art, Kolkata. The show is an ambitious, research-based survey that revisits the master artist in his most authentic self and with ceaseless relevance. Subramanyan’s modernism was not grounded in the tenets of European modernism, but rather driven by the Petrarchan modernist attitude of pedagogical self-fashioning. A man of letters, he kept reinventing his aesthetic and political sensibilities throughout his life. Adajania captures this as she innovatively selects and brings together a comprehensive display of Subramanyan’s lifelong work, including his sketches, paintings, sculptures, illustrations, toys, and writings, each of which reveals his in-depth knowledge of global contexts, while being deeply rooted in his own culture and tradition. She also reflects on how he honed his art as a craft, and the role he played as an institution builder, emphasizing that artists must educate and cultivate their talent.
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