



An exhibition explores how collaboration shaped Indian art
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The first public walkthrough of Epochal: The Period of Pioneers, a joint exhibition by Chatterjee & Lal and DAG in Mumbai, was packed to the rafters last month. Around 250 people turned up on a hot Saturday afternoon to see this showcase of modernists such as K.S. Kulkarni, Benode Behari Mukherjee, J.
Swaminathan, B. Prabha, and A.A. Raiba.
Epochal establishes oftoverlooked connections between artistic practices and the sociopolitical landscape of the times.It took Mortimer Chatterjee, curator of the exhibition and director of Chatterjee & Lal, one-and-a-half years to put together this project spanning 118 paintings from 1877 to the late 1980s. The focus, however, is on works created immediately after independence—1948 to the 1960s. “Rather than presenting artistic practices in isolation, the exhibition foregrounds relationships across geographies, mediums and ideas that informed their (modernists’) work,” says Ashish Anand, CEO and managing director of DAG.
By bringing together these intersecting trajectories, the exhibition offers a more layered understanding of modern Indian art, highlighting how collaboration was central during this period.The exhibition features rare textile works and drawings by artist K.G. Subramanyan, created during his stint at the Weavers’ Service Centre, Mumbai, between 1959-61. These are mostly textile works with hemp.
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