The talk / presentation traces the evolution of contemporary art from Western modern art, and how the shift in patronage from the Church and aristocracy to an open art market structure shaped the various styles of modern art. It views the development of modern art in India and its search for a postcolonial identity as an amalgam of Western and colonial influences, and indigenous traditions.
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Learning to Think, Antony Gormley, Installation (Photo courtesy of KNMA and the artist's website)
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It distinguishes contemporary art from modern art by highlighting the nature and characteristics of contemporary art in terms of diversity, interdisciplinarity, scale, and the continually expanding media such as installation, performance, kinetic art, video, digital technologies, and AI. The talk / presentation traces the evolution of contemporary art from Western modern art, and how the shift in patronage from the Church and aristocracy to an open art market structure shaped the various styles of modern art. It views the development of modern art in India and its search for a postcolonial identity as an amalgam of Western and colonial influences, and indigenous traditions. It distinguishes contemporary art from modern art by highlighting the nature and characteristics of contemporary art in terms of diversity, interdisciplinarity, scale, and the continually expanding media such as installation, performance, kinetic art, video, digital technologies, and AI. Through examples, it discusses the tectonic shift from modernism wherein the appreciation of the art object was for its formalist aesthetics to concept-driven practices in contemporary art, its engagement with social and political concerns, and how it is challenging the very definition of art. The presentation argues how contemporary art, owing to the changing nature of the art market, may be losing its edge and radicalism, and becoming more exclusive and elitist, more so in India. The presentation concludes by suggesting a set of criteria to distinguish between good contemporary art and mediocre work.
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Ranjan Kaul is a contemporary visual artist, art writer-critic, curator, and published author. Socially aware, his art centres around humanitarian concerns. Working with multiple mediums and forms of expression – painting, sculpture, printmaking, mixed media, performance art – he weaves imagined stories that portray the contemporary socio-political order. Kaul has held six solo art exhibitions and participated in over a dozen group art shows as an invited artist in New Delhi, Kolkata, Kochi, and Moscow. His artworks are in private collections in India, USA, UK, UAE, and Hong Kong.
Kaul received formal training in painting under the guidance of a few senior artists. He is a BTech from IIT Kanpur and did postgraduate studies in product design at IIT Bombay; he subsequently completed an MA in English literature from the University of Delhi. He had a long stint in book publishing and held various senior editorial and managerial positions; his last as Managing Director of Oxford University Press India. He pursued his creative interests alongside his publishing career, before transitioning to becoming a full-time professional artist in 2015.
Kaul has authored several critical reviews and articles on contemporary art, including in the international journal Contributions to Indian Sociology. He is the editor and co-founder of the art blog www.artamour.in. He also writes fiction – his published works include a novel, Through the Forest, Darkly (Hachette), and a collection of short stories, Silent Realities (Niyogi Books).
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Admin office: 196, T.T.K. Road, Alwarpet, Chennai - 600018
Campus: 5655, Central ExpressWay, Sri City, Andhra Pradesh - 517464
www.krea.edu.in
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