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Celebrating a true artist

The DAG Modern Art Gallery is paying a tribute to Altaf Mohamedi by showcasing some of his best works

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The opening of A Retrospective, DAG Modern’s exhibition on the artist Altaf Mohamedi, coincided with his 75th birth anniversary. His works are strong and evocative of his belief in the politics of power and corruption, the marginalisation of the proletariat, and haunted by the spectre of death. Shruti Parthasarthy, Executive Editor, DAG Modern, reveals that the retrospective has been a long-term project for the gallery. “He didn’t paint as much as a number of artists of his generation did. He didn’t show as much, and priced his work low and those are interesting positions to take as an artist,” she says.

Shruti says that he had a rare and significant brand of sensitivity, a core of empathy and reflection vital for an artist. Ask her what she thinks his response would have been to the threat to artistic freedom now, and she says that Altaf had already been doing that in his works. “From what he writes and what comes in his art, is a position which he would have taken today. That it seems really frightening where it’s going and needs to be opposed. But also, the idea of freedom is entrenched into art. Altaf was political and vocal. He might have been more vocal and pronounced and direct now, as now there is an urgent need to address these issues,” she adds.

Along with the exhibition, there is also a collation of essays by Nancy Adajania and Sanjoy Kumar Mallik; interviews by Navjot Altaf (Altaf’s wife) of those who knew the artist well: Jitish Kallat, Vivan Sundaram, Anand Patwardhan, Mariam Dossal and Narendra Panjwani; and Zasha Colah’s interview with Navjot who unravels known and unknown facets of the artist’s life, work and milieu. A separate book of Altaf’s diary writings, edited by his daughter Sasha Altaf will be coming out soon.

Extracts from Altaf: A retrospective

Jitish Kallat, artist
To me, actually, the part of Altaf that remains most interesting and relevant and (which) I’m drawn to is the private Altaf — someone who is reflecting on his own experience of life and his own experience of ill-health and darkness and, perhaps, even on family and individuals in his lived environment. I like the Altaf who spent hours in the Irani restaurant and returned to his studio and reflected on what happened around him. I think that’s what he did on returning from England, when he had somewhat resolved the self-doubt that one’s own discomfort with inequity that we see all around us cannot be fixed in one go through the making of art, but perhaps the making of art is itself one manner in which we come closer to the deeper realities of life, and through one’s own encounter with those realities of life one maybe able to bring a change primarily in oneself. That shifting of register from painting as pamphlet to painting as a space for self-reflection becomes a transition for Altaf, and in that transition he is able to find himself, find meaning, and his art becomes that much more relevant then.

Anand Patwardhan, filmmaker
When I was reading about Altaf, I knew the acute dilemmas he faced. At one point, he questioned his need to be an artist/painter in this world when others were doing much more direct political work. I can understand that question, especially for visual artists/painters. I found painting to be limited, because with canvas what you can do to communicate in such a big way when we are trying to bring about large-scale political change?

Vivan Sundaram, artist
Altaf was not a narrative painter, he engaged deeply with the human condition in that manner. A re-evaluation of his work, when it is shown now, will reveal the complexity of his mind; the kind of work he did would have a meaning and urgency that wasn’t just for effect or to make something saleable.

The exhibition will be on display till November 4, 2017 at DAG Modern Art Gallery, Fort.

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