Exhibitions

Lot 78

Jitish Kallat
Island Worship

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"My art is more like a researcher's project who uses quotes rather than an essay,with each painting necessitating a bibliography," Jitish Kallat, while defining his art. His obsessive use of the self image in his paintings as the main protagonist makes his works autobiographical. The autobiography addresses personal relations as well as the ones he has with his ancestory, time, death...

He chooses a method that is a very economical, nearly abstract , form of narrative. Images float around the protagonist, like icons on a computer screen, creating a webwork. The sources are "any visual material relevant to me." Images of the print media are photocopied, transferred on to the surface, hence 'real', as against the painted which he considers fictional. The images are like a picture puzzle, which the viewer has to decode and conclude upon. The treatment of the picture plane is like a battered wall, and refers to the duality in his painting.

The use of text, for titles, which are very important to Jitish, infuse the paintings with a sense of humour. An emblematic , which actually began as a joke on his classmates while at the Sir J.J. School of Art, is ironical for him. "It is like copyrighting an artwork which itself has been appropriated from so many histories, people, collaborations .." It acknowledges an acceptance as well as his critique of the modernist concept of authorship in which he revels.

Born in 1974, Jitish Kallat received his Bachelor’s degree in painting from the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai in 1996. His solo shows include 'Public Notice 3' at the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, in 2010; ‘Likewise’ at Arndt and Partner, Berlin, in 2010; ‘The Astronomy of the Subway’ at Haunch of Venison, London, in 2010; ‘Aquasaurus’ at Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney, in 2008; ‘Public Notice 2’ at Bodhi Art, Singapore, in 2008; ‘Skinside Outside’ at Arario Gallery, Seoul, in 2008; ‘Universal Recipient’ at Haunch of Venison, Zurich, in 2008; ‘Unclaimed Baggage’ at Albion, London, in 2007; and ‘Sweatopia’ at Bodhi Art and Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai, in 2007. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions including ‘Monumental’ at Walsh Gallery, Chicago, in 2010-11; 'Now Through a Glass Darkly' at Arario Gallery, New York, in 2010; 'Changing The World' and ‘A Long Way From Home’ at Arndt & Partner, Berlin, in 2010; 'The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today' at the Saatchi Gallery, London, in 2010; 'Bring Me A Lion' at the Hunt Gallery, St. Louis, in 2010; 'All That Is Solid Melts Into Air' at Lakeeren, Mumbai, in 2009-10; 'Indian Summer' at Galerie Christian Hosp, Berlin, in 2009; 'Architectonica' at Seven Art Limited and Gallery Nature Morte, New Delhi, in 2009; and 'India Contemporary' at the GEM Museum of Contemporary Art, the Hague, in 2009. The artist lives and works in Mumbai. -
"My art is more like a researcher's project who uses quotes rather than an essay,with each painting necessitating a bibliography," Jitish Kallat, while defining his art. His obsessive use of the self image in his paintings as the main protagonist makes his works autobiographical. The autobiography addresses personal relations as well as...

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