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Serving Art-Surface To Origin

Uma Nair

The close of the art season nationwide gives one time to ruminate and reflect over catalogues and books that have won international acclaim. Of course there are catalogues and catalogues. There are those that scream out loud and proclaim to be the best and come in as a last leg after the hype and hubris and tamasha and those that come quietly in the mail. The show stopper for the first part of the art season of  2008 has been Bangkok based  Gallery Soulflower's brilliant conception and curation embodied in a book entitled: ‘From Surface to Origin: Journeys Through Recent Art From India and Thailand.’

In a departure of sorts this brings together artists from India and Thailand.`The true role of a young gallery is to nurture and serve the art world; even if it means sacrificing profits,' says Babu Xavier from Kerala whose quixotic landscape graces the masthead of the website. In terms of design this masthead is quaint and ripples creating. But coming to the catalogue, it was a feast for the senses.

The artists in this quaint curation by the famed curator ,Dr.Brian Curtin are Pinaree Sanpitak, Biju Joze, George Martin PG , Nipan Oranniwesna, Be Takerng Pattanopas and Benitha Perciyal K.

`We announce our first major exhibition of both Thai and Indian contemporary artists 'says Natasha Director of the gallery in Bangkok . This book featuring some of the most high profile artists from both countries has just been launched in conjunction and it heralds exciting trends in book making and designing.

Dr.Brian Curtin is the curator of the exhibition and editor of the book. While the title arouses one's curiosity, the book is a treasure house for its exploration and its ability to question the process for visual art. The pages move from depth to didactic discoveries. Unique is the manner in which they have embraced   the practice of preliminary studies through to autobiographical self-reflection and the means of creative development, in an artist's oeuvre.

According to the curator Brian Curtin, `This showcase brings the viewer on a journey through the physical, emotional and conceptual trajectories of contemporary art production. To look should be to examine,' says Curtin. The book seeks  to move beyond appearances into the material and immaterial
substance of the object, be it painting, photography or sculpture. Central to this engagement is an
understanding of the artist: their training, personal preoccupations, approaches and cultural background. The last exhibition curated by Brian Curtin was ‘Here, There
and Now’ straddling young contemporaries like ArunKumar HG, Tushar Joag, Vineet Kacker, Puspamala N, Justin Ponmany, Prajakta Potnis, Sharmila Samant, Gigi Scaria, Mithu Sen and
Kumar Kanti Sen heralded the onset of Indian art in Bangkok. Perhaps in many ways a gallery with a difference and a distinctive vision that goes beyond commercial greed.
 
Their next show is called `The Ethics of Encounter'-it stages a relationship between Thailand and India in terms of a seemingly simple but nevertheless complex claim: one should not expect an 'other' to perform the way one expects. The question "Who am I?" in terms of cultural and national identity becomes heightened when one is faced with who we think we are not. However, rather than addressing issues of 'Thai-ness' and 'Indian-ness', curator Pandit Chanrochanakit with critic Brian Curtin seek to present this particular encounter as a means of challenging and subverting broader expectations of cultural and national differences. Questions of translation, transference and transformation may be extrapolated to the contemporary contexts of globalisation and internationalism. How do we define what is different from 'us' in the current era?

The Ethics of Encounter showcases a variety of media and methods, from video and painting to performance and relational aesthetics. In keeping with Gallery Soulflower's concern to engage the best of contemporary art in the region, the artists included range from the internationally celebrated to the locally lauded and the emergent.