DNA presents different views on the growing importance of art catalogues. Veteran artist Anjolie Ela Menon says, “The art critical discourse has become almost more important than art itself. The need for young artists to rely on this discourse of a well-written, often unintelligible critique is the growing trend. Something we didn’t have.”
She adds, “In our times we had criticism post the event. After the exhibition, the next morning critics would appear on the page and we would look forward to it. Now the critique is the one that accompanies the catalogue. And the artist is already thrusting his view point apart from his work. And this is the big difference between them (the younger artists) and us.”
Meanwhile, gallerist Vibhu Raj Kapoor believes that newspapers have stopped reviewing art works. The catalogue essays are the medium of informing people about art. He says, “Catalogue sand the write-ups in the same is the way to educate and inform people about art, this is how we have to do it as no media is carrying art critiques anymore.”
Even artist Lalitha Lajmi believes that the absence of art reviews in newspapers have led the critics to take up catalogue work. She opines, “Some of the critics that we have are well-informed about art. They do give an in-depth insight into the art work.” She continues, “Nevertheless, I do believe that not many people read the catalogue. In most
cases, it is the signature that matters. And this is my personal observation.”
Artist Krishen Khanna adds a different perspective to the debate. “It totally depends on who the critic is and what the critique is. If it’s all praise that says the artist is a jolly-good-fellow it’s a waste of time.” He adds, “If the artist feels the need that he needs to add voice to his art works, he should do it himself. If the renowned critique has written a legitimate introduction in the catalogue it is accepted. Though, I must say that we have very few critics in India who are good, the rest have no idea about the history of Indian art or even the history of art of any other country.”
And last but not the least, respected art critic Ranjit Hoskote presents his point of view. He explains, “A good catalogue essay doesn’t spoon feed viewers with information on what to expect when they enter an exhibition. Rather, its purpose is to contextualise the work of the artist, to develop an account of the artist’s work in relation to its formative contexts, and to reflect on some of the possible interpretations of the work. The catalogue essay is a gesture of invitation extended towards the viewer, a prompt to experience — not a summary or menu of the artist’s intentions.”
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