When Walls Come Falling Down: Left Political Art Timeline, 1989-2000

Source The Huffington Post by G. Roger Denson
Magiciens de la Terre tried to build on this new approach. The biggest change being that global diversity had come to largely replace the esteem of universality as a criterion for comparing and exhibiting art from different regions and periods in time. Globalism, in contrast to universalism, became seen as compelling cooperation and exchange from multiple sources (cultures, epochs, and geographies) without imposing any one as primary; it is the composition or network potentially encompassing all diversity without imposing unity or a singular or summarizing principle on it.
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Her Passage to India

Source The Indian Express by Pallavi Pundir
In the late ’40s, when a 20-year-old Rebecca Horn was working with glass fibre without a mask in her sculpture class, she fell sick and had to be admitted to a hospital. It took her a year to recover completely. However, as she lay on the hospital bed, she realised that she was surrounded by what she calls “material”. “I had my two hands intact and I would sit in the bed and draw,” said the artist, who was at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) on Thursday morning, overseeing preparations for her debut exhibition in India.
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Indian campaigner trying to protect, promote tribal art

Source The National by Eric Randolph
"Modern India has come to hate the tribal," he said. "Initially, the government promises to protect them, then they break their promises and when the tribals fight back, the government feels justified to launch a war against them and grab their land." Bulu Imam is referring to the conflict with Maoist rebels, who have increasingly associated themselves with tribal communities over the past three decades, entrenching themselves in the forests of central and eastern India. "The tribals are not Maoists. They are not asking for the property of the state as the Maoists do," said Mr Imam. "The tribal just wants to hold on to his property and be left alone."
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Bonjour India !

Source Le Figaro par Claire Bommelaer
C'est dans les jardins de l'ambassade de France que le Tout-Delhi a pu voir, en avant-première, le film The Artist . Dans la foulée, le film aux cinq oscars a obtenu un bon succès dans les salles indiennes, avec trois millions de spectateurs - soit autant qu'en France. «Aujourd'hui, la classe moyenne indienne représente 320 millions de personnes. Elle aspire à autre chose, est ouverte sur le monde, voyage. La France doit essayer de répondre à cette énorme curiosité», explique François Richier, ambassadeur de France en Inde, qui va réitérer l'opération avant-première avec Intouchables , un film au titre prédestiné.
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Artists, thinkers outraged over crackdown on gay lensman's work

Source Prokerala News
Progressive artists and members of the intelligentsia have expressed outrage over the forcible closure earlier this week of an exhibition of gay photographs by noted lensman Sunil Gupta at the Alliance Francaise in the capital as part of the Francophonie Week. In a signed statement, Ram Rahman, Geeta Kapur, Vivan Sundaram and Indira Chandrasekhar of the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust said they were "shocked to learn that the exhibition of photographs by Sunil Gupta was shut down shortly and they wanted the Alliance Francaise to publicly clarify if they were ordered to shut down the exhibition”.
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Put Your Art Where Your Mouth Is

Source Tehelka par Aradhna Wal
Is art functional or just for art’s sake? The camp lines are redrawn in Mumbai on 5 April, with the opening of the Art for Humanity exhibition. Teesta Setalvad brings together 74 contemporary Indian artists, in the fund raising collaboration by her foundation, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP). Short on money for her many causes, Setalvad struck upon art as a solution. “The obstacles we face are mainly political. In artists we found natural allies. People unafraid to ideologically challenge the powers that be”, says the 50-year-old activist. “Communalism is like racism. It’s a fight against the demons within us. Not everyone is strong enough to face them. Artists are.”
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Trafficking mafia killed rape victim's mother

Source The Times of India by Suchandana Gupta
This is more than a story about trafficking of women. It is also a disturbing glimpse at the not-so-shining India where marginalised groups like tribals are exploited in all forms. More than six decades after India's independence, their situation should have been much better. It's not. We have stopped affirmation action for them with reservations. That's not sufficient. Unless there is strong deterrent action in cases of this kind, the mindset that views the marginalised as lesser citizens will continue to thrive. And that would be a severe indictment of us as a nation, because a civilised society is really judged by how it treats the underprivileged.
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Ten Expert Tips For Investing in the Art Market

Source Forbes by Abigail R. Esman
Think of the New York couple, Dorothy and Herbert Vogel – he a postal worker, she a librarian, who scrimped and saved to buy small works by emerging Minimalists in the 1960s and 70s, paying just a few hundred dollars for each — and whose collection is now worth hundreds of millions of dollars – though they refuse to sell a single thing.
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Work by master Indian artist Bagta breaks auction world record at Bonhams

Source Art Daily
Bonhams announced a stellar performance of a very important, previously unrecorded work by the master Indian artist Bagta (fl. 1761-1814) in the March 19 Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art auction NY. This remarkable work and cover lot to the sale sold for six times the high estimate claiming $302,500 (pre-sale estimate $30,000 - 50,000). Edward Wilkinson, Bonhams department specialist, states about the sale, "It was truly incredible to witness the sale of this work come to fruition. Bringing in a lot of this caliber has proven to be not only a highlight of my career but also a highlight for Bonhams and for this 2012 Asia Week." This portrait of the imposing figure of Rawat Gokal Das celebrating 'holi' with his consorts was consigned by a collector who bought the piece two decades ago for a modest a $125. Dated 1808 and measuring 16 x 22 inches this work is a rare representation of Bagta's larger scale depiction.
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See Keith Haring's Early Artwork From the Brooklyn Museum Retrospective

Source Art Info by Alanna Martinez
The show is a testament to the artist’s dedicated career, which bridged underground activism, connected a massive network of artists, and helped define a period in the history of New York’s vibrant bohemian culture.
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BB initials : Bombay Baroda

Pour un passionné de l'art moderne et contemporain indiens ces deux dernières années étaient particulièrement difficiles tant les catalogues de vente, de Londres à New York (sans parler de la disparition de Paris !) s'appauvrissaient graduellement à l'instar du dernier catalogue de Sotheby's NY renouant avec la médiocrité du début des années 2000. Heureusement le dernier catalogue d'Osian's nous sort de cet engrenage. Loin du nombrilisme bling bling auquel nous avait habitué le fondateur de cette récente maison de vente, ce catalogue permet de découvrir l'art indien dans la diversité constituante de sa singularité.
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Moving on from Jangarh: Gond art comes into its own

The Sunday Guardian by Aditi Uberoi
Gond art, for centuries, has adorned the walls of the Pardhan Gond tribe homes in Central India. However, over the last two to three years, interest in the art has escalated among city-dwellers and foreign collectors, with its growing accessibility, vibrancy and affordability. The credit for popularising the art form, formalising many of its styles and its transformation on canvas, is always attributed to the father of Gond Art, Jangarh Shyam. His mysterious death in Japan left his admirers bereaved but during his lifetime, he gave help and guidance to many of his tribe whose only livelihood is painting. Artist Arpana Caur, one of the first collectors of tribal art in India, reminisces of the time she met Jangarh. "Even though he was already quite famous when I met him, his manner was always that of a sweet village boy. He would have been so happy to see his tribe do so well now."
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Brazilian Art Exhibition Builds Bridges to India

Source Divanee by Hanifa Haris
From BRIC to Bollywood, a new bridge in the relationship between Brazil and India has marked a new era for the countries. Índia Lado a Lado (India Side by Side), a contemporary art exhibition of Indian artists traveling through Brazil, reflects this bond. The countries have long been tied through their shared colonial histories. The first bilateral treaties between India and Brazil arose in the 16th and 18th centuries, while both were colonies of Portugal, resulting in an exchange of flora, fauna, food, customs and clothing. This exhibition explores the modern relationship between the countries.
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Robert Combas dans la démesure

Source Le Quotidien de l'Art par Damien Sausset
Plus de 600 œuvres réunies, un musée entièTreHmEenAt RoTccuDpAéI, LY NEWS un atelier où l’artiste réalise en direct de nouvelles œuvres... Cette rétrospective dédiée à Robert Combas à Lyon se singularise par une certaine démesure, véritable surenchère visuelle et auditive assez jouissive. Jouissive, cette exposition l’est indéniablement. Que l’on adore ou déteste l’outrance plastique de Combas, on ne peut qu’être saisi, capturé, emporté par cette démonstration de force. Une première leçon se dégage immédiatement : l’art de Combas est bien plus riche qu’on ne peut se l’imaginer. Son style que l’on pensait figé, jouant continuellement la saturation, est rythmé par d’incessantes ruptures.
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L'art ne s'est jamais si bien vendu

Source Art Market Insight
Tandis que les vieilles économies souffrent, la croissance s'accélère du côté des BRICS. Les cinq membres des BRICS, Brésil, Russie, Inde, Chine et Afrique du Sud, ont bénéficié d'une croissance beaucoup plus forte que les pays développés et le formidable assaut chinois a profondément modifié la structure géographique du marché de l'art selon thierry Ehrmann, PDG et fondateur d'Artprice, leader mondial de l'information sur le marché de l'Art. De plus, à Singapour, Pékin et Hong Kong, les politiques ont conscience de l'énorme potentiel économique que représente l'art pour leur état ou pour leur ville et les gouvernements soutiennent fermement les grands évènements culturels, dont les salons d'art contemporain. Outre la croissance de 49 % du volume d'affaires pour la vente aux enchères d'œuvres d'art en Chine, d'autres pays asiatiques sont particulièrement dynamiques : c'est le cas de Singapour (+22 %) ou de l'Indonésie (+39 %) par exemple.
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Art sales at their best

Source Art Market Insight
While old economies are struggling, growth is accelerating in the BRICS countries. The five BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South-Africa have been enjoying much stronger economic expansion than the developed countries and China’s growth in particular has profoundly modified the geographical structure of the global art market according to thierry Ehrmann, the founder and CEO of Artprice, the world leader in art market information. Moreover, in Singapore, Beijing and Hong Kong, politicians are aware of the enormous economic potential of art for their state or their city, and their governments strongly support major cultural events including Contemporary Art fairs. In addition to the 49% growth in auction revenue from artworks in China, a number of other Asian countries have also posted particularly dynamic growth, such as Singapore (+22%) and Indonesia (+39%).
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Bhopal pollue les Jeux de Londres

Source Le Monde
Des militants et des victimes de l'accident de Bhopal, qui se battent depuis des années pour obtenir davantage de compensations financières, ont déposé une pétition ayant recueilli 20 000 signatures auprès de l'ambassade britannique à New Delhi pour demander le retrait de Dow Chemical de la liste des sponsors des Jeux olympiques de Londres. "L'ambassadeur nous a dit que le LOCOG (comité d'organisation des JO de Londres) n'a rien à voir avec le gouvernement britannique. Mais les Jeux ne peuvent avoir lieu sans le consentement du gouvernement", a déclaré une militante, Rachna Dhingra.
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Retour sur l'India Art Fair

Source AF Magazine par Aruna Adiceam
Les ventes d’œuvres d’artistes étrangers se sont considérablement renforcées par rapport à l’année 2011, une nouvelle clientèle a émergé (collectionneurs plus jeunes et plus nombreux) et de nombreuses ventes d’artistes étrangers importants sont à signaler : galerie Hauser & Wirth – “Love”, de Martin Creed ; galerie Other Criteriaa – Damien Hirst ; Galerie Tasveer Gallery – Karen Knorr, galerie Lisson Gallery – Rashid Rana et enfin galerie Continua avec une installation de Daniel Buren. La présence de collectionneurs du monde entier (New York, Indonésie, Australie, Brésil, Chine, Afrique du Sud, Grèce, Italie Moyen-Orient et Israël), ainsi que les maisons de ventes Sotheby’s et Christie’s étaient très visibles durant les 5 jours de la Foire (participation aux tables-rondes etc). 26 musées internationaux étaient représentés y compris La tate Modern, le Guggenheim, le San Jose Museum of Art, MOMA , le Singapore Art Museum et le centre Pompidou représenté par la commissaire de l’exposition Paris Delhi Bombay, Sophie Duplaix, invitée du poste. En ce qui concerne les galeries françaises, Baudoin Lebon et Béatrice Binoche, présents l’année dernière, sont revenus en 2012 avec un bilan contrasté et des promesses de ventes à venir. Hervé Perdriolle (spécialisé en art tribal) quant à lui, a partagé son stand avec une grande galerie de Bombay “Maskara” et a vendu la moitié des œuvres de son stand.
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Modern artist SH Raza turns 90 today

Source IBN by Sushant Mehta
It takes an attendant and a wheel chair to get Syed Haidar Raza close to his canvas but the artist continues to create magic on canvas even as he celebrates his 90th birthday. Raza says, "Health is not an issue. I am still young." Raza, arguably India's costliest modern artist of all time has spent 6 decades in France, where he studied and worked as an artist but the inspiration for his paintings always came from India. The artist is glad to be back home.
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Van Gogh Work Trails Estimate at $1.2 Million India Art Auction

Source Business Week by Pratish Narayanan
The first auction of western art in India by a Mumbai-based company fetched $1.2 million, trailing forecasts, as fewer than half the works found buyers and a Vincent Van Gogh painting sold below its estimated price. “L’Allee aux deux promeneurs” (Lane With Two Figures), an early landscape by the largely self-taught artist, sold for $697,000, failing to meet an estimate of $800,000 to $1 million.
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Keep on Truckin’

Source Tehelka by Shone Sathish Babu
Robert Crumb’s cult began in the flower-power 60s, where his iconic imagery became one of the cornerstones of that era’s movement. He’s the founder of Zap Comix, and created characters such as Fritz the Cat, and remains a controversial figure because of his sexist, often misogynist depiction of women. He’s in Delhi for the 2nd Comic Con India Festival.
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Young at art

Source Business Today by Anumeha Chaturvedi
Mumbai-based architect Ashish Shah, 32, started collecting artworks when he was in school, and has not re-sold any. His house is designed around works by Sudarshan Shetty, S. H. Raza and Shilpa Gupta. Regardless of the motive, there is no doubt that art buyers are getting younger. Consider the statistics from the recent India Art Fair in New Delhi. "Of the sales, about 40 per cent were generated by those investing in art for the first time," says Neha Kirpal, the fair's founder and organiser.
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Des Versets toujours sataniques

Source La Presse par Laura-Julie Perreault
C'est à l'invitation du Festival de littérature de Jaipur, le plus grand d'Asie, que Salman Rushdie devait visiter l'Inde cette semaine. M. Rushdie a participé en 2007 à l'important événement, qui recevait aussi cette année Oprah Winfrey. Il y a deux semaines, des groupes musulmans ont lancé une campagne contre Salman Rushdie, affirmant que les Versets sataniques «insultent le prophète Mahomet et les musulmans». Cette opinion ne fait cependant pas l'unanimité dans l'immense minorité musulmane indienne (plus de 150 millions de personnes). Un des plus éminents théologiens musulmans de l'Inde, Maulana Wahiddudin Khan, a qualifié les menaces contre Rushdie de «non islamiques et d'étrangères à la constitution indienne laïque».
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Two museums show Native American art, then and now

Source The Boston Globe by Sebastian Smee
Two of the most thrilling shows you are likely to see this year, both devoted to Native American art, are showing concurrently in New England. Both are filled with astounding and beautiful things. Both have been mounted at institutions that, boasting long relationships with Native American art, have collected it in depth. Both are underpinned by the expertise and personal voices of Native Americans. And both will take your imagination to places it may never have expected to go.
What is Native American art?
How long have you got? The category’s central paradox - and it’s a bitter one - is that a people whose diverse cultures were subject to centuries of systematic, government-sanctioned destruction over several centuries are now, in the field of culture, expected to conform to definitions of “authenticity’’ that are, for the most part, impossible to meet.
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India to Have Its First Biennale (Fingers Crossed)

Source The Wall Street Journal by Margherita Stancati
If town twinning is still a done thing, a few months down the line someone may want to place a request to twin Venice and Kochi. Consider the following: both are port towns that made their fortunes in the spice trade and both, to different extents, sit on networks of canals. That, by itself, makes for a pretty good match. And soonish, if all goes to plan, Kochi will have its own art biennale, too. The start date has been set: a prophetic 12/12/12. That’s when the city in India’s southern state of Kerala is set to host a three-month long exhibition of Indian and international contemporary art.
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