Pandemic-themed art gains recognition

A wooden sculpture, titled Turn Around by Neeraj Gupta, President of the Delhi Art Society, has been nominated for the 9th Gwangju Design Biennale, South Korea (September 1-October 31). Made from oil paint on wood, the art object highlights the impact of the pandemic in accordance with the biennale’s theme, d-Revolution. Gupta as a public art specialist, works on a wide range of subjects — from folk traditions in Indian art to global environmental concerns.

Talking about his nominated piece, he says, “Through the material, colour and texture of the artwork, I tried to bring to fore Indian aesthetics, keeping in mind the biennale’s theme.” The three vertical figures showcase culture, philosophy and political situation as also hope, healing and health, while the horizontal figure is indicative of total transformation that has come about post pandemic.

Gupta explains that a turn around means a huge change, a revolution capable of transforming the whole society, culture, philosophy, and technology much more than political systems. And that though these may vary widely in terms of methods, duration and motivating ideology, the end results are the same — a major change in culture, economy and the socio-political situation.

“This pandemic caused a global turn around. The way of living has completely changed. As the sculpture shows, the vertical has become the horizontal. More and more people are talking about hope, healing and health like never before, which shows that life’s philosophy is changing. And this will change the polity in a big way. This change is slow, but when you look back after a period of time, you realise that these are total changes, as if the things have been turned upside down,” Gupta signs off.