Articles

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‘Have We Moved Away from What’s Hotter than Curry Yet?’

Meenakshi Thirukode, the US-based art writer and curator, elaborates upon the concepts that have gone into the show, ‘Have We Moved Away from What’s Hotter than Curry Yet?’ curated by her at Gallery OED and OED Basement, Kochi. The show has works by Anindita Dutta, Chitra Ganesh, Jaishri Abichandani, Nidhi Jalan and Varun Curesetji.

The project I propose is based on how our perceptions are molded within current societal systems and its influence on how we understand art. Viewers always bring their pre-conditioned notions to their experience and engagement with a work of art. To this extent in today’s consumerist society there is that constant need to “package” oneself - in other words, building Brand Identity. If we go back in history, one of the most significant turning points came at the turn of the 19th century. Owing to the Industrial Revolution, the idea of commoditisation and mass production dominated the functioning of society. Today, this system has shaped society into one that functions on inventing and reinventing ‘commodities’ such that it defines the individual, the collective and eventually entire nations. Everything from what we wear, where we live, what we
buy, what we eat, defines how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us.

In other words, having a certain image hasn’t been as important as it is in current times. When I proposed Brand Theory as a critical framework to understand contemporary art in India, I talked of how art inevitably is subjected to the workings of such image building. Art becomes a ‘commodity,’ a ‘lifestyle product’ in a growing economy where there’s a larger amount of disposable income, that needs to be packaged, marketed and sold using various USPs be it through creating a persona of the artist to tagging it based on ethnic and geographic connections.

In India, most of the public, aided by what is projected in the media, associates the success of an art work and an artist to the prices set at auctions. Not only is this the mass perception but new collectors seem to come in looking for works not to ‘see’ and engage and develop an eye but the concerns are more about financial appreciation three years down the line. Come to think of it but ‘titles’ have always defined who we are, especially in the psyche of the Indian mind. Individuals constantly package themselves and the degree of success is measured based on this mentality.

Working at a Christies or Sotheby’s will give you more credibility in the minds of the Indian mass than if you worked for a gallery that not too many would have heard of yet because of limited ‘marketing.’

(Meenakshi Thirukode is a US based art writer and curator. She holds a Bachelors in Art History from Stella Maris College for Women, Chennai, Post Diploma in Marketing and Advertising from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore, A Masters degree in Modern Arts, Connoisseurship and the History of Art Market from Christie’s Education, New York).