|
T. V. SANTHOSH
Burning Flags
At Aicon Gallery, London
In collaboration with The Guild, Mumbai
May 14 – June 12, 2010
Aicon Gallery, London is pleased to present ‘Burning Flags’
T .V .Santhosh’s latest oeuvre of works in collaboration with The
Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai, from May 12 to June 12, 2010
Born in Kerala, T.V.Santhosh earned his B.F.A. from Kalabhavan,
Santiniketan and his M.F.A. in Sculpture, from M.S.U, Baroda. A
major presence in the Indian and international art scenes over the
last decade Santhosh has exhibited his work at numerous
international art galleries and museums. Prominent museum shows
include 2009 Dark Materials curated by David Thorp, G S K
Contemporary show, at Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2009; ‘India
Xianzai’ Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China, 2009;
'Passage to India, Parts I and II New Indian Art from the Frank
Cohen Collection', at Initial Access, Wolverhampton, UK, 2008 and
2009; ‘Aftershock, Sainsbury Centre, Contemporary Art
Norwich, England, 2007; and ’Continuity and Transformation’
promoted by Provincia di Milano, Italy, 2007.
The Last Command
Between fits of unhinged manner and hallucinations, he told his
story, mumbling… But most of the time he used to lie there with
wide-open eyes. Unresponsive, sometimes running for cover under a
bed and screaming whenever there was loud noise. When finally he
knew enough to recollect bloody faces of atrocities, he slowly
came out of his daze, but without an identity of a country for
which he submitted his life, without a memory of his wife who was
expecting a baby and even without a name. But he still heard
absurd descriptions spoken of the battles, orders given frequently
and the last commands given, followed by deep silence. He still
knew that something terrible was happening somewhere, yet could
not endure the feeling of being helpless to intervene or stop it
from happening. What he experienced could not be traced to any
place or time, nor was there any question about the reality of the
chain of events, causes, nor its ill driven agendas. When facing
the brutality of war and especially when he felt compelling
evidence of such brutality within himself, images of burning
flesh, mutilated images of wriggling limbs of death…it was all too
real for him and fathomless. That was it! What he mumbled lay
there scattered around like broken glass with sharp edges dripping
blood…
Going through a bedridden soldier’s feverish mumblings who does
not even manage to remember his own name or his country and the
cherished memories of his beloved, one would wonder, is it a
befitting example of a world we are trying to achieve through the
war of nations under the pretext of all kinds of unconvincing
reasons? There are many kinds of wars, some treacherous and some
absurdly blind. Then there is poor man's war and rich nation's
war. A whole lot of world of paradox exists at the thin line
between the resistance and attack. When will this world get rid of
these wars? My learned friend gave me simple answers - that till
there are no more human discriminations, oppressions and crooked
foreign policies. Yes, but why such simple answers are not simple
solutions? Are utopias mere utopias? Is humanity destined to
suffer by brutality of some who want to enjoy the world at the
cost of others until those commands would be followed by a deep
shrill of silence, turning this land a barren wasteland of live
landmines?
My recent works are about how the Media presents the world to us
and how the Media has the power and the means to reconstruct as
well manipulate our understanding of reality. It is about a
strange world vulnerable to manipulation. A world where one brands
someone as one’s enemy loots them and then destroys their nation
and culture - justifying massacre of innocents in the name of
religion and nation, creating a fear psychosis so that one can do
one’s brisk real estate and weapons business. My works are
specifically an investigation into Media generated world itself.
T.V. Santhosh |
