Body matters

Artist Vivan Sundaram

What: Veteran installation artist Vivan Sundaram brings Postmortem (after Gagawaka) to the city. Sundaram's artworks have dealt with a wide spectrum of issues ranging from the personal to the political. This exhibition acts as a continuation of the discourse he triggered in his previous exhibition Gagawaka: Making Strange, which focussed on sculptural garments (made of miscellaneous discarded materials, ranging from a sanitary napkin to paper cups). Here, the body occupies the centre and is investigated through various perspectives. The body is cut in various postures, disjointed and arranged in multifarious manners to evoke a gamut of reactions from the audience.

Artist Vivan Sundaram with his installations showcased as part of the exhibition Postmodern (after Gagawaka). Pics/Shadab Khan

How: The Delhi-based artist shares that Postmortem is the body cut up in different ways and is a critique of the previous exhibition. In Gagawaka: Making Strange, the garment was foregrounded by the body but with the garment removed, the body or the structure is looked at from medical, educational and sculptural points of view. There are different parts of the body inserted in the mannequins, and the 71-year-old artist exemplifies it as a site of violence and sexuality. The mannequins are also placed within different frames such as an operation table and a basic ply board bench. The influence of Dadaism and surrealism is clearly visible here.

Where: The exhibition, Postmortem (after Gagawaka) will be displayed accompanied with two video channels and audio by German composer Bettina Wenzel and Ish S. of Delhi-based, Electronic outfit Sound Reasons.

Till: January 3, 2015, 11 am to 7 pm (Sundays closed)
At: Chemould Prescott Road, Queens Mansion, G Talwatkar Marg, Fort.
Call: 22000211