N S Harsha
(1969)
Mama My Kite is Still Flying (Charming Nation)
"I am not sure if an artist can consciously work out a balance between tradition and modernity." - N S HARSHACharming Nation that N S Harsha created between 2004 and 2006, the present lot is a commentary on how traditional tropes of Indian culture are at odds with rapid globalisation. Harsha composed each painting in this series as a scene in a play being enacted on stage,..."I am not sure if an artist can consciously work out a balance between tradition and modernity." - N S HARSHACharming Nation that N S Harsha created between 2004 and 2006, the present lot is a commentary on how traditional tropes of Indian culture are at odds with rapid globalisation. Harsha composed each painting in this series as a scene in a play being enacted on stage, highlighting the theatrical nature of a citizen watching the unfolding of national history. The present lot is composed with the strategic placement of two children in school uniform, and objects including an Indian flag, a Gandhian charkha , a kite and a fighter jet. The symbolism and referencing are clear, and through this painting, Harsha offers a wry commentary on the realities of India's cultural life and political affairs. Produced during a time when Harsha travelled frequently, the present lot is an "outcome of repeated exposure to foreign lands, interspersed with being back home, so that home and abroad come into a more pronounced juxtaposition. The artist presents aspects of Indian national life, its peculiarities, its intractable problems, its strange conjunctions, its enchantments and its comedy like a series of instructive scenarios, lessons that must be understood and dealt with by the next generation of Indians..." (gallerychemould.com , online)
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Lot
22
of
47
CONTEMPORARY INDIAN ART: A SELECTION FROM THE AMAYA COLLECTION
Estimate
Rs 15,00,000 - 20,00,000
Winning Bid
Rs 18,00,000
ARTWORK DETAILS
N S Harsha Mama My Kite is Still Flying (Charming Nation)
Signed and dated 'Harsha 06' (upper right and on the reverse)
EXHIBITEDCharming Nation: Paintings by N S Harsha , Bangalore: Max Mueller Bhavan, 2006; Mumbai: Gallery Chemould, 8 December 2006 - 7 January 2007 New Narratives: Contemporary Art from India , Chicago: Chicago Cultural Center, 21 July - 23 September 2007; Salina: Salina Art Center, 5 January - 16 March 2008; New Brunswick: Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, 12 April - 31 July 2008India Moderna , Valencia: Institut Valencia d'Art Modern (IVAM), 11 December 2008 - 15 February 2009N. S. Harsha: Charming Journey , Tokyo: Mori Art Museum, 4 February - 11 June 2017New Narratives: Contemporary Art from India, Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing, 2007, p. 73 (illustrated)India Moderna , Valencia: Casa Asia - Institut Valencia d'Art Modern (IVAM), 2008 (illustrated)N. S. Harsha: Charming Journey , Tokyo: Mori Art Museum, 2017, p. 87 (illustrated)
Category: Painting
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