Important Notice

Subramanyan's "Window series" are to be viewed as more than just a summation of nine panels. The concept of his Rabindralaya mural from 1955 seems to have been subverted-the work had a narrative element to it on closer inspection. The inception of the grid form for the "Windows series" was from the modular repetitiveness of that mural. Recognising the voyeuristic possibilities offered by a structural arrangement of several panels to form a... Subramanyan's "Window series" are to be viewed as more than just a summation of nine panels. The concept of his Rabindralaya mural from 1955 seems to have been subverted-the work had a narrative element to it on closer inspection. The inception of the grid form for the "Windows series" was from the modular repetitiveness of that mural. Recognising the voyeuristic possibilities offered by a structural arrangement of several panels to form a gestalt, this became the central theme of Windows.

Windows II resembles a puzzle in appearance, and on a metaphysical level it forms a mock-narrative of permutations. Each panel is eighteen inches square composed of figurative parts rendered in flattened colours. The implicit suggestion is that the picture turns into "...a kaleidoscopic peep show...he [Subramanyan] made the images strikingly animate, yet tantalisingly unrevealing. Thus, though repeated and serialised so as to suggest a 'cartoon strip narration', the final work is pure visuality..." (R. Siva Kumar, K. G. Subramayan: A Retrospective, New Delhi: National Gallery of Modern Art, 2003, p43).

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