Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
ANIRBAN MITRA Artist Statement
Artist Statement
An Explanation of the images
The images of my paintings represent collage or co-existence of different realities. They reflect multiple existences having multiple meanings which have been brought about by juxtaposition of ready made images or signs taken from popular culture. I am dealing with popular semiotics from the popular culture where the signs are potentially able to emanate infinite possibilities of signified(s). It has immense signification power, signs which are potential enough to emit a whole lot of possible signifiers. I am using a language which is very edgy, that is picking things up from a world which is replete with hundreds of meanings and I am reworking on them again in a way which also has many meanings.
I look back at the artistic styles and canonical masterpieces of early artists such as the Pop artists and their ‘appropriation’ (or borrowing) of popular imagery from comic strips, advertisements and the mass media in general. My works show traits of post modernism which concentrates on the way images and symbols (‘signifiers’) shift or lose their meaning when put in different contexts (‘appropriated’) revealing (‘deconstructing’) the process by which meaning is constructed. Images have been combined from various sources, juxtaposing and overlapping cartoons, news photographs, technical drafting, famous paintings and movie stills.
The images reveal non-narrative play of detached signifiers where the relationship between the two images is left unclear. Does one erase or cancel another? Do they comment one on each other? Do they replicate the effect of vision in the world today; where (as, for instance, on televisions that allow you to watch two channels at once) things may have no relationship to each other at all?
In my work there is a denial of any frozen meaning. They have a tendency of not to resolve the problem between one interesting fragment and another fragment and lead them to a convincing whole, on the contrary I keep them side by side to emit better result. These paintings give us a feeling as if everything has been unassembled where you look at bits and pieces: a flash of colour here, a reference to graffiti or cartooning there, a passage of paint elsewhere. These paintings are made without “any preconception” and are composed directly on canvas without preparatory drawings, where there is use of reference, quotations and pastiche. These works abjure any claim to spontaneity and directness of expression, making use instead of pastiche and discontinuity.
There is a rejection of modernism’s grand narratives of artistic direction, erasing the boundaries between high and low forms of art and disrupting genre’s conventions with collision, collage and fragmentation. Instead of grand narratives I have used local narratives in my painting. Meta narrative is a story about a story, encompassing and explaining other ‘little stories’ within totalizing schemas. In the grand narratives there is a tendency to dismiss the naturally existing chaos and disorder of the universe. So the grand theories or the grand, universal narratives are replaced with small, local narratives on specific local context as well as the diversity of human experience. They argue for the existence of a “multiplicity of theoretical standpoints” rather than grand all-encompassing theories.
Signs themselves have multiple readings but my viewers are expecting a singular kind of reading. Is it possible? If it is possible, then there is a contradiction in this possibility. This is a very interesting contradiction, a very interesting aspect which I am dealing in my work. ‘Contradiction’ is a major subject in my art where I am addressing this ‘contradiction’. I am not starting from a multiple reading and leading it to a more singular, deliberate reading. Instead I am de-contextualizing the popular signs and working out an intended reading, a manufactured, a produced and a reworked meaning.
I have also used ‘cliché’ and worked upon them in a definite context and endowed them with a meaningful existence. In my works I am isolating the signs and then returning them again to a second kind of crowd, without freezing them where the viewer gets involved in generating the meaning. There is no definite issue, no agenda in my work. I am choosing a restless, un-peaceful path full of tension. Choosing things from one kind of a restlessness and tension and placing or throwing them into another restless position.
In these works where there is a fundamental play of signs, I am deliberately avoiding any kind of safe play with these signs. I am respectful to the ‘confusion’ amid which these signs actually exist in real life. This is a confusion these signs exist in. This is the kind of confusion in which these painting has resulted into, where ‘confusion’ is the quality of the painting. ‘Confusion’ is the situation in which we encounter or confront these signs in our daily life.
Through these images it can be understood how we create meaning, we generate meaning, we connect signs and therefore multiplicity is very interesting because it generates interesting ideas, reflecting deeper truths of life. Post modern art considers all stances as unstable and insincere and therefore irony, parody and humor are the only positions that cannot be overturned by critique or revision.
ANIRBAN MITRA.
Friday, August 13, 2010
.png)
.png)
Thursday, August 12, 2010
ANIRBAN MITRA AT Animamix Biennial 2009-2010, MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART,TAIPEI, 2010, TAIWAN
Exhibition Highlights
Animamix Biennial 2009-2010
Artistic Director:More about the Exhibition
Victoria Lu
When Victoria Lu curated "Fiction.Love" in 2004 at MoCA Taipei, she become aware of a new trend in aesthetics, and in 2006,when she curated a new version of Fiction@Love at MoCA Shanghai she coined atermto describe this new trend: Animamix, combining"animation" and "comics.".
Animamix is defined by these four major characteristics:
§ All the various and abundant forms of Animamix in popular culture are centered on the worship of youth and the pursuit of an idealized youthful beauty.
§ The bizarre and ever-changing narrative texts in Animamix art imbue the images with a strong narrative character, which themselves form a visual language.
§ The colorful lights derived from the electronic media create a totally new and unique visual experience of art with colored lights. .
§ Animamix involves the use of great human, material and financial resources interacting and cooperating across different sectors.
The Animamix artists of the 21st century are not just the people who are engaged in creating animation and comics products; rather,Animamix artists are found in all the fields of the creative industry. Unlike the pop artists of the previous century who simply appropriated visual symbols from comics and animation, 21st century Animamix artists are a new generation of Neo-Aestheticswho are already completely submersed in the aesthetics of Animamix. The multifarious styles of Animamix art actually are the very archetype of artistic creation. In other words, Animamix art has become the most important source of inspiration for the global art scene in the 21st century.
Looking back at modern art, which only emerged at the end of the 19th century, it developed at the beginning of the last century entirely in the abstract style. Even in modern literary works, where language forms the main narrative, deconstruction of words frequently occurredplaying around with semantics or abstract deconstructionswhich made it difficult for readers to quickly grasp the meaning. In the digitized environment of the 21st century, literary narrative has changed, becoming more diverse and more interesting. More and more information is being transmitted via pictorial language to convey and communicate ideas. The anthropomorphic characters found in cartoons, animation and comics, coupled with the narrative of the story line, together become an exaggerated form of distortions, which will become the new mainstream characterizing visual aesthetics in this century just as abstract art led the way in the aesthetics of the 20th century.
Animamix art does not refer simply to animation or comics alone. Its derivative products are so abundant in variety and large in number, extending even to items related to people's livelihoods and to food, clothing, home and transport, that almost nothing is excluded. The value of the output of the Animamix industry is not just in the artworks themselves, but rather in the totality of the combined or multiplying cultural forces of an era. The production and marketing of Animamix art will become a most important link in the creative industry worldwide. This type of artistic creation is in perfect harmony with popular culture; in this new era, the division between high art and low art no longer exists.
This new type of art records in the virtual world the creative forces of our lives and saves them in the fourth dimension of the electronic and digital worlds.
The inaugural Animamix Biennial was staged at MoCA Shanghai in 2007. This year, the Animamix Biennial is expanding to four venues. It will open at the end of 2009 and continue into 2010, staging at MoCA Taipei, MoCA Shanghai, Today's Art Museum in Beijing, and Guangdong Art Museum in Guangzhou.
Animamix Biennial 2009-2010 is the first major cross-straits international Biennial jointly hosted by four museums. It consists of fourdifferent exhibitions with a book, Animamix: The New Aesthetics of the 21st Century,will be published jointly by the four museums.
Venues:
Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai
December 12, 2009 - January 31, 2010
Curator: PAN Qing
Assistant Curator:Ivy Zhou
Visual Attract & Attack - Animamix Biennial
Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei
December 6, 2009 - January 31, 2010
Curator: Maple LIN Yuchieh
Enliven- In Between Realities and Fiction -Animamix Biennial
Today's Art Museum, Beijing
December 27, 2009 - January 10, 2010
Curator: LIU Chunfeng
Dazzled and Enchanted - New Age Animamix
Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou
January 21, 2010 - February 28, 2010
Curator: HUANG Yun, ZHANG Jiaping
GLENFIDDICH DISTILLERY RESIDENCY PROGRAMME, DUFFTOWN, SCOTLAND 2009
Infinite greenery adorned with quaint stone cottages and
replete with beauteous creatures, within this bucolic landscape
six artists contemplate and create contemporary art. The
juxtaposition of two seemingly paradoxical viewpoints is not
uncommon in the Scottish Highlands, as the coexistence of both
modernization and an unwavering dedication to tradition has
always been an integral factor of the Glenfiddich philosophy.
The establishment of their Artists in Residency programme
in 2002 can be seen as a manifestation of such principles,
embracing the avant-garde through the long-standing institution
of art patronage. Each summer, the programme awards a
select group of artists worldwide the opportunity to live and work
at the distillery, as well as providing each artist with a generous
stipend. This year participants include Arabella Campbell, Blue
Firth, Alex Frost, M.P. Landis,ANIRBAN MITRA, Dathini Mzayiya,
Jun Jieh Wang, and Qi Xing. Offering a virtually uninterrupted
respite from the struggles of being a struggling artist, the
programme is a time to observe, absorb, revitalize, and create
work inspired by new surroundings.
Reality
Inspiration had to come via delivery and Internet for artists M.P.
Landis and Anirban Mitra. Due to changing Visa requirements,
each artist had to contribute to the program remotely. Mitra,
who has received awards from Japan“s Nippon Television
Network and recently from the Kolkata Art Foundation,
immersed himself in Scottish culture from his native India.
Concentrating on creating a fusion of both cultures, the artist
started by familiarizing himself with the history of Scotland and
the process of making whisky. In his work titled Blend Part 1,
Mitra embellishes Tartan fabric with Hindu imagery, referring
to the traditional iconography of Scottish and Indian cultures,
respectively. Although Mitra was unable to meet the seven
fellow recipients, Blend Part 1 also refers to the relationships
that develop between artists each year resulting in a “blending“
of ethnicities.
 |
Landis quickly decided to set up a studio in, what the artist
affectionately refers to as, the “highlands“ of Vermont, USA,
which provided a change of scenery from his studio in Brooklyn,
NY. Having worked with Landis over the past two years on
several projects, I am continually impressed by his integrity as
an artist. So committed to his craft, Landis creates one work
a day as part of an ongoing project titled W.D. Series. His
philosophy on art is reminiscent of artists Jean Michel Basquiat
and Joseph Beuys, requiring intellectual or physical interaction
or both from the viewer. Committed to the importance of his
materials, Landis asked for cask hoops to be sent to his studio
from the distillery, with the plan to utilize them in every aspect
of his work. The hoops acted as printing tools, mark makers,
and tracing objects and their appearance added a repetitive
abstract element to the artist“s work during his residency. The
viscous quality of the work is the result of multiple layers, which
Landis explains as, “representing both the multifaceted process
of distilling and the years of aging required to produce a
superior whisky.“ Being well acquainted with the artist“s body of
work, a natural comparison arises between Landis“ commitment
to his technique and that of Glenfiddich to crafting whisky. The
importance of maintaining quality, while present trends favor
mass production, is fundamental to the exceptionality in any
creation, being art or whisky.
Despite a physical absence, the presence of both artists
was still a force amongst those residing at the distillery. The
satirical title of Blue Firth“s piece Every Man“s Right To Roam,
a stone wall and ladder, partially refers to Landis“ and Mitra“s
inability to do so. Firth, along with Programme Curator Andy
Fairgrieve, daringly drove this message home by situating
the piece as an actual obstacle to the artwork of Landis and
Mitra, requiring viewers to symbolically also cross borders and
overcome barriers.
React
For Alex Frost, Dathini Mzayiya, and Qi Xing, the experience of
living amid the rustic terrain of the distillery became a source
of artistic stimulation, each artist distinctively interpreting his
temporary environment. The incongruous reality of living
within rural wilderness, yet accessing the world online, had
an immediate impact on Frost. Based in Glasgow, his work is
often a mèlange of irreverent humor and thoughtful observation,
examining the effects of consumerism on societal status and
vice versa. To achieve this, Frost intentionally uses, what can
be interpreted as, primitive methods and materials to create
artwork often depicting high-tech formats and products, for
example a mosaic revealing a logo for Compact Disc Digital
Audio. Frost describes his childhood as having “inherited two
very different homespun aesthetics from his parents, his mother
was a crafts person and father was into home computing from
the early days.“ Frost“s upbringing embodies the struggle
between the two methods, and I found his explanation of
such, that “craft is too human, and technology is inhuman“
as an interesting catalyst for his work. For the residency, he
continued on such themes with a site specific work titled The
Connoisseurs. Frost focused on the olfactory elements of
the distillation process as a starting point for the work. He
constructed several sculptures meant to resemble giant noses,
all of which were placed atop the pond at the entrance of the
distillery. The Brobdingnagian noses are indeed a reference
to Gulliver“s Travels, and also allude to societal divisions
associated with the sense of smell. Such distinctions include
the practice of “nosing“ a whisky during the tasting process
and, as Frost states, the “sophistication in part due to the
delicate nature of the smell sense.“ Furthermore, the piece
explores the implications of taste, which can be defined as an
action, sensory, or an opinion, based on refinement. Although
the piece is a multi-faceted exploration into Frost“s artistic
repertoire, he intended for the installation to be equally about
pure enjoyment for the viewer. Watching the reactions of staff
and visitors discovering the surrealistic vision of the floating
proboscises, the success of Frost“s installation was quickly
confirmed.
South African artist, Dathini Mzayiya, has stated that his work
“is inspired by everyday life experience, family and friends, work
environments, social gatherings and the cultures of communities
and its complexities.“ As part of this methodology, it is essential
for Mzayiya to acclimate himself to his surroundings. During
our interview, we shared experiences at the distillery and found
that we had both encountered a benevolent Highland cow
located near his cottage. We may have slightly romanticized
the experience, but for Mzayiya, the notion of owning land
and livestock resonates deeply, as it does for many in the
South African community. For Mzayiya, a hard working farmer
became an archetypal figure, representing the pride and stability
associated with owning and cultivating land. Mzayiya“s
admiration for Scottish farmers became the centerpiece of his
stunning large-scale oil painting. The work could be viewed
as a traditional landscape, in the spirit of John Constable,
except the artist reverses the established perspective. Instead
of the viewer looking out onto the vast splendor of nature,
the artist situates the farmer and livestock in close proximity,
appearing as if they are going to walk off the canvas. Mzayiya
furthers his manipulation of the conventional composition by
replacing a subdued color palette of greens and browns with
blazing oranges applied with fierce brushstrokes. The work
stands as a radical update to the classic landscape, and a
visual commentary on agrarian history perceived from an often
overlooked point of view.
Periodically, while I walked through the grounds at Glenfiddich,
the image of a mischievous bunny would stare back at me.
When I met Beijing-based artist Qi Xing, I noticed that he shared
a similar look in his eyes. Revealing his slightly subversive
nature through his work, I realized later in my trip that some of
the bunnies were actually smoking cigarettes. Although Xing
is early into his career as a painter, he is already a master
at color and composition. His representational paintings
convey an idiosyncratic narrative filled with excitement and
energy. Bold reds and whimsical images, such as rainbows
and exotic animals, bring his paintings to life with an almost
cinematic quality. The ambiguity of his characters brings to
mind films by Chinese director Wong Kar Wai. For his work
during the residency, Xing had originally planned to paint
Scottish landscapes. Upon arrival, he decided not to pursue
the project, feeling that a painting could not improve on what
is already present in nature. Xing soon found inspiration in
the plentiful rabbits residing at the distillery. The artist“s use of
animal imagery in his work adds both peculiarity and a gateway
to a fantasy world. Certainly, the equally adorable and curious
bunnies scattered through the grounds of Glenfiddich added
a fanciful element to the already fairy tale-like landscape. In
what could be viewed as a quiet rebellion against political
correctness, Xing dedicated his work to fellow smokers “whom
the images of rabbits can bring a sense of relaxation and
happiness.“
Research
For artists Arabella Campbell, Blue Firth, and Jun-Jieh Wang,
the meticulous cultivation of an idea is the defining character
of their work. Each artist“s chosen medium is a vehicle for
expressing his/ her unique concept; for Campbell this can take
form in the study of white paint, Firth utilizes local materials, and
Wang manipulates film and video to convey his vision.
The subtle uniqueness in a shade of white paint identifies each
contemporary art gallery, existing simultaneously as a detail
of absurdity and utmost importance. Such inconspicuous
minutia defines existence, and the work of Canadian artist
Arabella Campbell. Yve-Alain Bois defined Robert Ryman“s
work as “a return to the basics of basics,“1 a fitting description
of Campbell“s oeuvre, clearly influenced by artists including
Ryman and Sol LeWitt. Campbell is intrigued by the
abstruseness of, as she describes, “things taken for granted.“
Her observations of such are revealed through various methods
and mediums. The simplicity in Campbell“s work is truly
sublime. Her commitment to perfection seems effortless. The
subjects of her photographs convey such, as in a precisely
angular photograph of distillery architecture. Multiple triangular
steeples line up accordingly, accenting a straight line of sage
grass. Campbell captures the beauty of stillness, specifically
in buildings without apparent inhabitants, much like that of
Edward Hopper, although Campbell rejects nostalgia. Her work
is overtly contemporary with Minimalist sentiment, exemplified
by clean lines and bright hints of color. Campbell“s continuing
project for Glenfiddich concerns researching and visiting Hans-
Henrik Hansen, the foremost collector of Glenfiddich whisky,
in which she will create a portrait of him. Although Campbell“s
work during the programme ranges considerably, all are
intended to, as she states, “lead us to reflect on a work of art“
and “take us beyond the limits of perception.“
From the window seat of her cottage, Blue Firth conscientiously
observes the daily tourists to the distillery, studying their
interaction with a new environment, or as the artist explains,
“the borders, frontiers and limits in which visitors... and locals
have to navigate.“ Firth, born in Nottingham and currently
studying at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, may be as
anomalous in life as in art. Positively charming and gracious,
Firth“s works often places her in complete control, ardently
orchestrating viewers“ participation and in turn their trust in
her concept. Even in the actual creation of a piece, the artist
frequently employs local craftsmen to collaborate, as in the
construction of the aforementioned Every Man“s Right To
Roam. As I watched her diligently dust the ladder steps of
the work, it became clear Firth understands the importance
of preparation and presentation. It is also logical that her
previous work has included large-scale productions that are
a combination of performance pieces and happenings. The
driving force behind much of her work is an interest in the
esoteric nature of history. Firth is particularly fascinated with
the blurring of facts and fiction along with, as she describes, “a
hauntalogical feeling“ that the past and traditions leave behind.
Her work has an enigmatic quality that cannot be imitated and
leaves the viewer anxious for more, the way one reacts to
seeing a Matthew Barney or Cai Guo Qiang. Much like such
successful and prominent contemporary artists, Firth“s work
also has the potential to reach beyond the arts community and
attain an even wider audience.
An accomplished artist and curator in his native Taiwan,
Jun-Jieh Wang is revered as an early pioneer in the field of
multimedia arts in his country. Wang utilizes new media,
experimenting with film, video and installations, to create
palpable, visual experiences that explore themes related to
art, death and immortality. For his work at the distillery, Wang
further investigated the last work of Marcel Duchamp titled Etant
donnès, an idea he had been contemplating before his arrival
in Scotland. Depicting a slightly contorted naked woman lying
still within a dreamy landscape, the psychosexual imagery
of Duchamp“s work remains a mystery. Wang resolved not
only to recreate the piece as a moving image, using the lush
greenery of Scotland and the grounds of Glenfiddich as his
setting, but also add subject matter to the piece. In his work
titled Project Rrose: Real Flux, Wang employs actors as
surrogates for the limp woman, creating a love triangle scenario
emblematic of love, fear, and violence. Beyond what is visually
tangible, Wang“s updated adaptation deals with ever-changing
technologies, and Wang asks, “in this cyberspace age, how
do we explore art as a concept for reflecting contemporariness
again?“ As Duchamp questioned the fundamentals of art
through Dada, revolutionizing the perception of art, Wang,
too, attempts to ask what is art, only now, in the complicated
confines of the 21st century. Andre Breton once wrote, “Future
generations can do no less than make a systematic effort to
go back up the stream of Duchamp“s thought and carefully
describe its meanderings in search of the hidden treasure which
was his mind.“2
 |
Having arrived to the programme from New York City, I was
surprised to witness such a strong espirit de corps amongst
the diverse group of artists, culminating in an amalgamation of
ideas, influences and cultures. The fast-paced and competitive
nature of city life does not always allow for such comradeship to
develop easily. Silent was the superficial banter of what opening
did you attend last night, what gallery are you represented by,
did you see that, or meet him, or what have you sold lately?
These thoughts lose importance amidst the panoramic grandeur
of nature. Even more surprising to me was that after fifteen
years of working in galleries and museums in New York, I found
myself more excited about contemporary art in the remote
countryside of the Scottish Highlands. I commend Mr. Peter
Gordon for establishing the Artists in Residency programme,
and continuing this hidden treasure situated within the grounds
of Glenfiddich. What I found there I took back with me.
Kathryn Miriam
Dufftown, Vermont and New York
August - October 2009
Anirban Mitra
Distil. (detail)
44 Individually framed found photographs,
drawings & paintings in acrylic on paper.
Distil. (detail)
44 Individually framed found photographs,
drawings & paintings in acrylic on paper.
Anirban Mitra
Imagining Glenfiddich.
Acrylic on tartan and traditional textile
Anirban Mitra
Distil.
44 Individually framed found photographs, drawings &
paintings in acrylic on paper.
Anirban Mitra
Blend - Part 1.
Acrylic on tartan and traditional textile
Aniriban Mitra
Born 1981 Calcutta India, Anriban obtained a Bachelor & Master Degree
of Fine Art, from Kala Bhavana, Visva. In the early 1990“s he was a
awarded a number of bronze and silver awards in the International
Children“s Art Exhibition organised by the Nippon Television Network,
of Japan. More recently he was also granted an award by the Kolkata
Art Foundation as well as a number of scholarships. His work has
been included in a number of group exhibitions and is represented in
collections held in both Japan and the United States. In his work Anirban
seeks to represent the co-existence of different realities by a juxtaposition
of readymade images or signs taken from popular culture. Through which
he attempts to reveal a play of detached signifiers where the relationship
between two images is left unclear.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)