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Lot 92

 

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A talented draughtsman, Anju Dodiya frequently uses the self-image to reference the struggles involved in the process of developing and deconstructing ideas and images and, more specifically, the complexity and violence of her own creative process. According to Kamala Kapoor, the artist’s use of her own image transcends simple self-portraiture. In her large-format watercolours, “…Dodiya manipulates technique and subject matter to a deeper logic:... A talented draughtsman, Anju Dodiya frequently uses the self-image to reference the struggles involved in the process of developing and deconstructing ideas and images and, more specifically, the complexity and violence of her own creative process. According to Kamala Kapoor, the artist’s use of her own image transcends simple self-portraiture. In her large-format watercolours, “…Dodiya manipulates technique and subject matter to a deeper logic: the articulation of the artist’s dilemma in contemporary times. Whether she indulges in a bit of post-Modernist cannibalism, bypasses all exclusionary categories and juxtaposes the distant past with a present that usurps it… the inherent drama in these works invariably bespeaks her real interest: the stat of the artist poised mid-point between the irreducible subjectivity of her allegorical narratives and the intellectual beckoning of nonsensual, conceptual elements that pervade today’s art world” (“Holding the Mountain”, Anju Dodiya: Recent Paintings, Gallery Chemould exhibition catalogue, 1996, not paginated).

In illustrating these highly personal narratives, the artist often draws on her vast archive of mythological and art historical references, ranging from Victorian medical texts and Japanese woodblock prints to the work of contemporary artists and fashion designers and images from the popular press. The present lot, an epic yet personal battle-scene from a series of works titled Face-off (After Kuniyoshi), extends Dodiya’s engagement with the popular and heroic images from the Japanese Ukiyo-e school of painting and printmaking. This series of works on paper refers specifically to the artist Kuniyoshi’s woodblock prints of samurai and their way of life, which offered Dodiya “…a good metaphor to convey the life of the artist as someone dedicated to sacrifice, discipline, pain, tradition or service, like that of the Japanese warriors, the samurai; who ultimately, one could say, glorified love and death” (Enrique Juncosa, Face-off (After Kuniyoshi), Galerie Daniel Templon exhibition catalogue, 2010, not paginated).

Here, the artist paints herself in a studio setting, fighting tooth-and-nail with a spotted monster with multiple tentacles to reach her canvas and create her art. Armed only with a brush, she seems to be facing a losing battle, but rushes forward nonetheless. An empty bed and another prone, blanketed figure in the background underscore the importance that the artist has always placed on sleep and dreams in her work, and also the comfort she sacrifices to her creative process.

Enrique Juncosa offers a broader reading of this suite of works, suggesting that these studio battle scenes go beyond the personal to reference larger phenomena and trends in the art world. “The fact that the artist may be defeated refers ironically to the fact that today, and for quite a while now, many other artists are using conceptual and technological means, influenced by years of dominance of art criticism and theory which insists that painting is no longer relevant” (Ibid.).

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