Contemporary Art In India

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Contemporary Art in India
The history of contemporary Indian art over the last century has been one of dynamic evolution. The first `contemporary' Indian artists lived and worked within the highly politicized cultural environment of pre- and post independence India. They introduced themselves as modern and secular. While some Indian artists of the time were politically oriented, many others were involved with formal issues. Some revived indigenous traditions, others turned for inspiration to European influences. Certain tensions inform the works of all contemporary Indian artists, particularly those who were pioneers in the field. There are three basic issues they have had to resolve:
I) how to express their Indian ethos
II) how to relate to international art idioms, and
III) how to evolve an original `voice'.
As KG Subramanyan points out, this has resulted in the last hundred years, in constantly fluctuating approaches by artists to their media. The Western Academic style introduced in colonial times into the curriculum of Indian art colleges - where it is still taught - was first challenged by artists of the Bengal School who made it their objective to promote an understanding of the language of traditional art forms. Subsequently, rejection of traditional stereotypes and a turning towards Western models was followed in turn by attempts to present indigenous themes through not-so-indigenous methods. Then, a return to old themes and styles, and their mingling with foreign elements in order to create a large 'oriental idiom', activated a reaction towards 'global Olympia ' with attempts to hybridize native and foreign features. So it continued as if 'it were a game in which two antipodal cultures were wrestling with each other'. Today Indian art is confidently coming of age. Every form of stylistic expression in the visual arts, from naturalism to abstract

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