Jitish Kallat
Palindrome / Anagram Painting 8
Artist
Jitish Kallat
(1974, Mumbai), Indian
Original Title
Palindrome / Anagram Painting 8
Date2017-2018
Mediumacrylic gesso, lacquer, charcoal and aquarell pencil on linen
Dimensions 214 × 153 cm
Classificationspaintings
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
DescriptionJitish Kallat is one of the most prominent Indian contemporary artists. His paintings, photographs, drawings, and videos are inspired by the people and environment of his hometown of Mumbai. Since the 1990s, he has documented the hectically transforming reality of India caused by economic liberalization, intense globalization, and the rise of information technology, which have connected the country with the entire world. His partially biographic work explores themes of new cosmopolitanism and consumerist lifestyles in relation to Indian mythology and the foundational figures of Indian independence, Džaváharlál Néhrú and Mahátma Gándí. He also explores questions of subsistence, death, and varied ways of perceiving time. Kallat often uses quotation, referencing elements of pop art and Dadaism as well as Persian miniatures and billboards, which contrast with his hand-crafted aesthetic. The hybrid visual expression of these enigmatically composed motifs oscillates between showing and obscuring, between sophistication and rawness.
Palindrome/Anagram Painting 8 (2017-2018) is from a series in which Kallat thematized time and transience. The series combines various elements of his previous work. It is dominated by abstract painting but simultaneously examines specific questions. This visually chaotic composition brings together individual signs, arbitrarily placed next to each other, which can be deciphered or used as a prompt for free association. Much like a palindrome, this painting can also be read in different directions and from different perspectives. The combination of techniques evokes a feeling of temporally overlapping layers and messages, which can be interpreted as a reflection of generational growth and evolution containing an awareness of the dangers stemming from disrespect to nature and our origins.
Jitish Kallat (*1974, Mumbai) graduated from the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art in Mumbai in 1996. He has exhibited at museums and institutions worldwide including the Tate Modern in London, the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin, the Kunstmuseum Bern, the Serpentine Galleries in London, and the Museum Tinguely in Basel. His works are included in collections of institutions such as the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Saatchi Gallery in London, and the Singapore Art Museum. In 2014, he was the curator and art director of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. In 2017, the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi hosted an exhibition presenting an overview of his work.
Palindrome/Anagram Painting 8 (2017-2018) is from a series in which Kallat thematized time and transience. The series combines various elements of his previous work. It is dominated by abstract painting but simultaneously examines specific questions. This visually chaotic composition brings together individual signs, arbitrarily placed next to each other, which can be deciphered or used as a prompt for free association. Much like a palindrome, this painting can also be read in different directions and from different perspectives. The combination of techniques evokes a feeling of temporally overlapping layers and messages, which can be interpreted as a reflection of generational growth and evolution containing an awareness of the dangers stemming from disrespect to nature and our origins.
Jitish Kallat (*1974, Mumbai) graduated from the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art in Mumbai in 1996. He has exhibited at museums and institutions worldwide including the Tate Modern in London, the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin, the Kunstmuseum Bern, the Serpentine Galleries in London, and the Museum Tinguely in Basel. His works are included in collections of institutions such as the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Saatchi Gallery in London, and the Singapore Art Museum. In 2014, he was the curator and art director of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. In 2017, the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi hosted an exhibition presenting an overview of his work.
