Jagannath Panda’s work on display — The Structure of Arid Terrain
The very title of the exhibition “Crystal Cities” is a giveaway but artist Jagannath Panda still manages to swing a surprise at his solo at Vadehra Art Gallery in Delhi. Though there are the multi-storied structures and references to delicate relationships that one conjures through its title, Panda’s exhibits are more deep-rooted, based on his own experiences and observations. So the very first work that one encounters is Wonderland, a maze of gigantic buildings with the numerous elements that often dot urban spaces — from a chimney belching clouds of smoke to a lone ship and the crows as onlookers. The Gurgaon-based artist compares the composition to his experience of setting up a home in Delhi in the mid-90s.
“This was a city that offered opportunities to artists. It was fast-paced but gradually one learns to find their way,” says Panda, adding, “Many people migrate to big cities to fulfill their dreams but even though they are equipped with all modern amenities, there is a darker side.”
The display takes forward this thought process, presenting a multi-layered narrative where most works are connected. Using simple objects and metaphors, Panda explores concerns regarding urbanisation, dislocation and socio-political and economic inequalities. Son of a temple priest in Odisha, he has been a close spectator to these disparities. “When I first came to Delhi, I shifted several homes during the first few years and stayed in crammed spaces,” recalls Panda, 47, who had moved to the Capital after pursuing his masters at MS University, Baroda, at the behest of art historian and artist Dinanath Pathy. Though an Inlaks scholarship allowed him to pursue Masters at the Royal College of Art, London, in 2000, domestic success only came after his oil-on-canvas City Breeds, with a gigantic egg, sold at the 2005 Saffronart auction for Rs 11.8 lakh.
The ongoing exhibition comes six years after his much-acclaimed solo at Nature Morte, “Metropolis of Mirage”. During the interim period, apart from participating in numerous group shows, he presented a solo in London in 2015 and San Francisco in 2012, and an exhibition at his alma mater in Baroda in 2012. “It was special; I met old friends and teachers,” he says. He turns to the display to reveal how that, too, chronicles his personal life over the last couple of years. The pieces of cloth with metallic sheen pasted on canvases, for instance, represent the precious stones in the iron mines that Panda was informed about during a workshop he was conducting in Barbil, Odisha, around five years ago. “I was thinking what happens to the metal that is mined and how it completely transforms,” he says.
The series ‘Dweller of Metropolis’ comprises a set of installations where Panda presents scenes within homes and outside in wooden frames. “Home means different things to different individuals. Then, there is a world outside,” says the artist. Inhabiting the frames are varied objects as well as photographs — from a child dressed as Durga at a school function, to viewers gazing at Gulammohammed Sheikh’s outdoor installation at the 2014 Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Panda also documents the dying dokra art of Odisha in a photograph from his Gurgaon home, where some old dokra works are lined on a shelf. “Few years ago, I visited Sadeibarini in Odisha, where dokra is made, and asked for some old works. Very few vendors had them; most of them have turned to more contemporary depictions,” says Panda.
There is another metaphor from his home state. Panda introduces us to the Brahminy Kite, a bird usually found near Lake Chilka. Molded in fibreglass, its bust is supported by two wooden legs, and below is a model of a city. Panda calls it The Custodian of Untold Truth. It has as its partner The Profiteer, a crow with hook-like arms that carry a suitcase, with a piece of tiger-printed cloth hanging. “It represents a human being who was once mighty like the bird, but greed overpowered him and he is now decaying,” says Panda. The animal represents human traits, much like the artist’s previous works that are often populated by peacocks, rhinoceros, deer and owls, all displaced from their natural surroundings. Together, they comprise “Crystal” cities.
