First and foremost, thank you so much for graciously accepting and appreciating our first Newsletter, January, 2009. We are here out with the second newsletter that is different from being a simple announcement of events to a more conceptually oriented writings.

As we promised that our newsletter will attempt to build sound rapport between our valuable addressee, the work of art and the art world as such. This time we are dedicating our Spring Issue to understand the presence of body as ‘motif’ in art. The theme got its impetus from the current show- Body as Vessel, curated by Geeti Sen, in the Art Alive Gallerythroughout the month of April. This Exhibition explores transformation in values and perception of the body over the past twenty-five years, in different mediums of the etching, gouache, acrylic, wire mesh and mixed media. It encompasses the journey that began in the 1980s, moving on to radical subversion of the body as vessel since 2000. The participating artists are- ANUPAM SUD, GOGI SAROJ PAL, MITHU SEN, PUNEET KAUSHIK and SHAMBHAVI SINGH.

Body, as the curator discusses is ‘rich in resources if we can ‘see’ beyond its surface qualities. The body is sacred as much as it is sensuous, earthy and erotic – that is the paradox!’ The paradox is further explored in the concept note by Geeti Sen, where she draws our attention towards development of body in the works of the participating artists. Further, a body can be very interestingly used to address social and political realities. If we look at bodies “as something worn”, it is imbued with signification of culture, identity, gender and sexuality. There is a panel discussion with the artists in Body and View in which they present their understanding and share experiences about role of identity, gender and sexuality in representation of body in art. The panel looks at different ways in which body is expressed and explored by different artists with very different approach and experiences.

The two sections we introduced, to expand our knowledge base in history of art, have two very interesting parallel of stories from the Indian and the Western tradition looking at body in art in a drastically different way. One seeks to consolidate tradition and the other challenges it. Did you know? Have two stories: one narrates the magical tale of origin of painting in Ancient Indian tradition, relevance of body and how the good viewer was distinguished from the ordinary while the second segment discusses five styles and the works responding to that style by the contemporary Indian artists. Fact or Fiction? Discuss Etant Donnes of Duchamp, an artist who influenced the post World War I, western art tradition. His works were not intended to be appreciated by the eye but to be for the service of the mind.

Hope you read through it and offer us your valuable suggestions, observations, opinions or comments.