It was with mixed anticipation that the opening of Saatchi’s ‘The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today‘ kicked off. On the one hand, the excitement at the replacement of the extended ‘Abstract America’ show but on the other – contemporary Indian art? Wasn’t Delhi ‘the new art hotspot’ some time ago now? Indeed as the contemporary art world ground to a halt some eighteen months ago the new Indian art market had barely got off the ground.
Saatchi has returned the spotlight to the subcontinent supporting both emerging and established names. With 24 artists, ‘of Indian origin’ involved, the whopping great space has been used cleverly and curatorially the exhibition looks stunning – evenly spaced with enough room for each piece to breathe on its own. Some quite literally – a stack of nine mattresses were inflating up and down on top of a rickety hospital bed – without toppling just about – all in the name of ‘social utilitarianism.’
The pieces were hugely varied in tone and style perhaps at the detriment of the show altogether. Lacking in uniformity or any coherent narrative theme, chaos reigns. It is this paradox of dark and light of optimism and pessimism that stands clear. With works seeped in political commentary from the violent terrors of the past to present day immigration problems, everything is covered. It is this rather simplistic, obvious perhaps, tackling of such a vastly complex continent that requires deep, contemplative thought to be fully appreciated, that the show loses its way a little. Lumped together you’ve got East-West tension, rising consumerism versus manual labour, global-local problems – it’s as though they’ve tried to jostle all these things up together without really getting under the skin of any of them. As an artist who I met at the reception commented, ‘they lack enigma.’
However in terms of wow factor it’s all there – naturally Subodh Gupta’s brilliant stainless steel cooking utensil creations, Jitish Kallat’s sculpture ‘Eruda’ is truly captivating, Tate Triennial star Shezad Dawood’s plinths are stunning and look out for some startling taxidermy pieces by the lesser known Huma Mulji. It’s all on a plate.
The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today is on at the Saatchi Gallery until 7th May. For more details, visit www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk.
