It is quite well-known that Hanuman, the mythological monkey god flies but does he ride a space mobile? Well, at the on-going India Art Fair he does. And, giving him company at the venue are 'Gandhis' on cola bottles and shop shutters lending a pop avatar to the Mahatama's image.
Through his bold colours and eye-catchy mixed media design on metal signs, Thai artist Pakpoom Silaphan has brought art legends like Dali, Warhol and Frida Kahlo as well as the icon on non-violence Mahatma Gandhi on to a graphic canvas with a subterranean commentary on the structure and imageries of capitalism.
So, while Gandhi stands in triplicate on a cola bottles titled, 'Triple Gandhi on Pepsi' and 'Gandhi on Coke Bottle', iconic Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali finds a throne in 'Dali sits on Enjoy Coke'.
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Silaphan also pays a graphic homage to the Mexican painter Kahlo in the work titled 'Frida sits on Double Pepsi' and makes a bold sweep of "juxtaposing art and commerce and their intertwining relationship."
Represented at the Fair by London-based Scream Gallery the artist's adaptation of a non-violence icon into a pop icon certainly turned heads at the Fair, which came to a close today.
"Gandhi is an icon, with or without any art form but this merging of iconic commercial brands with the iconic legends certainly makes for a great pop art reminiscent of Warhol's earlier works," Ananjay Bhushan, a gallery-owner himself and a visitor at the Fair said.
And, the inspiration and tribute can certainly be seen, as the image of Warhol against a beverage brand titled 'Warhol on Pepsi' stands out but somewhat dwarfed by Dali's majestic posture.
Gandhi's odyssey at the fair, however, doesn't end here as his image jumps from Mahatama to that of his student and Barrister days as a black-tie suit-wearing Gandhi rolls out on a steel shutter.
Presented by city-based Vadehra Art Gallery, the 'Untitled' work by Atul Dodiya renowned for his 'shutter art', also bears images of other Indian freedom fighters and European thinkers on its top beam inviting a mix of curious stares and careful contemplation.
But Gandhi isn't the only one enjoying an 'artistic makeover' as god Hanuman dons a space-suit riding a
spacemobile over an ultra-futuristic city imagined by a young artist Anant Mishra who makes his debut at the fair.
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