In 1992, we had just finished the ‘State of the Art’ exhibition of digitally aided artworks, with great fanfare. Continuing with the spirit of experimentation, Husain, Abhay, and I were having tremendous fun experimenting with different mediums- torch flame on sholar wood, painting with light in photography, and serigraphs on canvas. We had booked the entire Jehangir Art Gallery with the famous actor Vinod Khanna, who was partnering and planning to showcase the results of these experiments. Just as we got closer to the date, on one of our regular ‘chai meet’, MF, expressed a desire to use the gallery for a very different kind of show, instead of what we had been working on for a year. I was taken aback and slightly disappointed, but his request was like a plea of an excited child, consumed with his new idea -‘Shwetambari’. So it was a show to remember but with nothing to sell, show, or auction! ! He had strung up white sheets on walls and littered the floor with torn newspapers. The moment was historic: the man who helped create the high-priced haute art had nothing to sell. That was his statement, and perhaps India's first celebrity artist’s -Conceptual Art.
Just over 100 years before that, in 1917, French artist, Marcel Duchamp achieved what was perhaps the most brilliant and absurd art event of the 20th century.
Duchamp, submitted an inverted urinal, as an artwork, with a pseudo name, to the “unjuried” Society of Independent Artists’ Salon in New York. The Salon’s claim was that they would accept any work of art, so long as the artist paid the application fee. Subsequently, Duchamp presented an upside-down urinal signed and dated with the appellation “R. Mutt, 1917,” and titled it ‘Fountain’.
The Society’s board, after initial resistance, had to reconcile to exhibit the work and later, few recognized the groundbreaking power of the work and remarked: “Whether Mr Mutt with his own hands made the fountain or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an ordinary article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view—created a new thought for that object.” The ‘Fountain’ became an iconic work for a new direction in Contemporary Art. Decades later, the French artist's rendition of a urinal, sold for $1.85 million at Luxembourg's New York City auction house.
“Even my five-year-old child could have made this.” How often have we overheard this offhand remark at an art exhibition? Despite some people harboring these assumptions, it’s hard to deny that the art world is burgeoning. According to the 2022 UBS Global Art Market Report, the industry is worth a whopping US$65 billion. Never in its history has art been as visible, influential, or accessible as it is today. Not only that, never before have there been more art students, art schools, practicing artists, collectors, or consumers.
Yet there’s no silencing the skepticism that surrounds contemporary art, some of which is valid. Depending on who you speak to, the answer may vary, but one thing is certain: everyone has an opinion about Art. We address everything, the good, the bad, and the questionable.
Speaking of questionable, one such eyebrow-raising moment in art history took place in 2019 when a banana taped onto the wall sold for six figures in US dollars. It is one of the most inviting, instantly recognizable artworks in the recent past, not only has it become the subject of memes, selfies, and ridicule, but started to question Art and its meaning again.
In today's palpitating Art world, artists continually push the boundaries of what's possible. From Marcel Duchamp's audacious 'Fountain,' to experiments like MF Husain's 'Shwetambari', artists are challenging art's traditional norms and Art evolves in surprising ways. With a thriving global art market and new art forms emerging, skepticism about contemporary art persists. However, moments like the eyebrow-raising sale of a taped banana for six figures remind us of art's enduring ability to spark discussions and reshape our perspectives. In a world where everyone has an opinion about Art, diverse viewpoints enrich the art world, prompting us to find the extraordinary in the everyday.
The essence of Conceptual Art seems to celebrate works wherein, thought and insight, where there is a new ‘way of seeing’, or a new context is created, the meaning behind it, is far more important than the skill and craftsmanship of the artwork.
(Sonal Motla is an art curator and Director at Rachna Sansad, working towards issues on art education, craft and design as a visiting faculty with a few educational institutions like NIFT Mumbai, among others. Send your feedback to: sonal25fpj@gmail.com)
