Shows & Fairs

Once Upon A Time In Black & White

08, Sep 2017 to 04, Oct 2017
Once upon a time the world was all colour. From the intense blues, reds and deep tones of old South Indian temples and numerous ancient historic monuments across the world, we moved to an era of black and white- an era of early television, photography and yet, soon again to colour enhancements in both. Today, experimentation with colour pictures into black and white or sepia are often an indulgence in popular culture, the stark beauty of which, continues to be irresistible.

Essentially achromatic colours, black & white are dramatic by virtue of being opposites. Stripped of the sensuousness, and at another level, the superfluousness of colour; works in bare-naked black and white expose the primal starkness of black through the sorcery of light. This show explores the visual engagements brought about by their association in the works of over 20 contemporary Indian artists. Enduring images of the old terracotta doorways of Char Bangla, delicate terracotta works, compositions in monochromatic hues and installations that are held together by tensegrity are as much a dialogue between contrasting colours as between strength and fragility.