THE ART OF EXPRESSION
ART AND FASHION COME TOGETHER IN A FASCINATING DISPLAY AT THE FIFTH EDITION OF THE INDIA TODAY ART AWARDS
Art and fashion come together in a fascinating display at the fifth edition of the 2020 India Today Art Awards
Speaking at the fifth edition of the annual India Today Art Awards, Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-chief of the India Today Group, talked about the importance of art as a safe space to express dissent and as a medium that holds up a mirror to the society. “The world over, as the shadow of political uncertainty, climate change, citizenship issues and the economic slowdown lengthens, the world of art does what it does best—pour all that angst on to a canvas or channel it into an installation, video or perforyou mance. After all, when all else fails, still have art to escape to,” he said.
Organised in association with Engage L’amante and The India Story, the event, held on February 4 at Delhi’s Oberoi Hotel, not only honoured those from the art fraternity who have made a difference with their work, but also explored how art and fashion draw inspiration from each other and, together, steer artistic and political narratives.
Apart from Aroon Purie, the jury that shortlisted artists under 10 award categories, comprised Rekha Purie, chairperson, Vasant Valley School; Amin Jaffer, chief curator, Al Thani Collection and former international director, Asian Art, Christie’s; restaurateur and writer Aman Nath; Priya Paul, chairperson, Apeejay Surrendra
“In a world where freedom of thought, speech and action are increasingly becoming tenuous, art remains a safe space to express dissent”
AROON PURIE, Chairman and Editor-in-chief, India Today Group
Park Hotels; and Madhu Neotia, initiator and managing trustee, Neotia Arts Trust.
The ‘Solo Exhibition of the Year’ award went to the celebrated Faridpur painter Jogen Chowdhury, while the ‘Performance Artist of the Year’ award went to Delhi-based artist Mithu Sen for her powerful performance piece ‘(Un)Mansplaining’ during the opening week of the Venice Biennale 2019. “I dedicate my award to all the women who have empowered me, starting with my mother and sister and to all the women, from Sabarimala to Shaheen Bagh,” said Sen.
Modern contemporary artist Ayesha Singh, who won the ‘Emerging Artist of the Year’ award for her solo exhibition It Was Never Concrete, chose to speak about the need to preserve the diversity of the Indian society, while on stage to receive the honour. “At a time of widespread puritan rhetoric, I would like to take this moment to really urge us all to stand up and protect our multicultural fabric,” said the 29-year-old.
Martand Khosla, on the other hand, won the ‘New Media Artist
of the Year’ award for his solo show, 1:2500 (One is to Twenty-Five Hundred), which explored the idea of a city from different perspectives through drawings, sketches and installations. “As a practising architect, there were moments when I would get enraged with the labour inequality in cities. My art emerged as a result of this eight years ago. This whole personal journey has evolved into something where I can speak about the injustices in the world and I’m grateful that I have two avenues to do so,” said Khosla.
The Public Art Initiative category went to the India Art Pavilion Our Time for a Future Caring at the Venice Biennale, and the Lifetime Achievement Award in Art’ to A. Ramachandran, who has made a seminal social contribution as a painter, sculptor, graphic artist, designer and an art educationist in the past five decades. Octogenarian Arpita Singh, one of the most influential women artists in the country, received the Retrospective Exhibition of the Year award for Submergence In the Midst of Here and there, a retrospective of six decades of her work at Delhi’s Kiran Nadar Museum of Art.
The Artistic Collaboration of the Year award was picked up by the duo Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra, while Atul Dodiya took the Artist of the Year for his exhibition Seven Minutes of Blackmail, a stunning collection of 36 paintings inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s film Blackmail.
The evening ended with a stunning show that melded art and fashion, featuring creations by leading Indian designers inspired by specific artists or artworks. The designers who participated were Amit Aggarwal, Gaurav Gupta, Suneet Varma, Rahul Mishra, Payal Khandwala, Suket Dhir, Kiran Uttam Ghosh, Pankaj
and Nidhi, Shivan and Narresh, and Samant Chauhan.
While Amit Aggarwal blended the surreal style of Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama’s illustrated version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with his futuristic design, Gaurav Gupta’s embellished gown with a ruffled skirt inspired by Russian artist Ivan Aivazovsky’s work ‘Between the Waves’, highlighted the designer’s avant garde style—the intricacies and hues of the gown symbolic of the nature of the angry waves. Suket Dhir, on the other hand, took inspiration from Mexican engineer and architect Luis Barragán to create an ensemble.
Ending the show on a high note was Suneet Varma, whose interpretation of the iconic painting ‘Nascita di Venere (Birth of Venus)’, by Sandro Botticelli, came in the form of a ruffled saree with a metallic bustier. Speaking to us, Varma discussed the symbiotic nature of fashion and art, “You’re not to take the literal sense of art and convert it to clothing. It is nice to be inspired by art and create something that has a resonance with art, whether it’s through colour, texture or accessories.” ■
“I want to be reborn as an artist, be married to my wife again and collect the same award twice in my next lifetime”
—A. Ramachandran, artist