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Dec 20, 1999
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SPECIAL SERIES Jitish Kalat, 23
Painter
SELF-IMPRESSIONIST
He's an impressionist -- literally. An artist who employs a camera and photocopying
machine for his trade. It's usually a photograph of himself, run through a copier to get
an over-inked effect. This is rubbed on to the canvas, where it leaves the required
impression. "Then comes a lot of mixed materials -- binders, textile powders -- so my
paint always looks a little tacky." The paintings themselves have a patched and
peeled feel, very much like the walls of his city, Mumbai.
Kalat, educated at the Sir JJ School of Art,
belongs to the new brat pack of contemporary Indian artists. His images are often guided
by texts and captions. "These are simplistic, dry thoughts," he says
laconically. "I maintain them like a store of canned ideas. They only come alive when
I use them as images." No pretensions here: what you see is what you get.
-Farah
Baria |
