Atul Dodiya

Real in Realism, October 8 - 28, 2002, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

Acrylic with marble dust on printed fabric with a repeated pattern. Canvas in good overall condition. Colors of original slightly brighter than catalogue illustration.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

'I feel that it is not just India that is in need of Gandhi, but everywhere. There is so much hate, so much intolerance, the terrorism and killings, and Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence is very relevant today. It is not something we just should ignore. Otherwise, we will be doomed, if we keep on being aggressive and aggressively attacking each other.' (Atul Dodiya in an interview with Bryant Rousseau, Artinfo.com, 2006).

For at least a decade Atul Dodiya's concerns have been wide-ranging and explicitly political they were at first inspired by concerns arising from the spate of Hindu-Muslim riots within India, yet cover wider issues of gender, poverty and violence. 'Ultimately, his work is a form of political art, although removed from unanimous visions and didactic discourses.' (Enrique Juncosa, Allegory, Politics and Biography in the work of Atul Dodiya).  In 1997 Atul Dodiya was invited to create a work to celebrate 50 years of India's Independence.  He produced a work titled Lamentation that bemoaned the fate of an India that was not living up to the vision that Gandhi had offered. 'I said, well, fine, we have freedom, and we are all happy, but India still has lots of problems: immense poverty, not great leadership, conflict within the communities and Gandhi fought [to address] all this, you know? The series that resulted was called an Artist of Nonviolence, where I selected some of the events of Gandhi's life, things in which he was involved, like fighting the British.' (Atul Dodiya in an interview with Bryant Rousseau, Artinfo.com, 2006)

After the series on Gandhi, Atul Dodiya's works continued with a political and social bent and included a series called Tearscape that presented images of figures located in an abstract space, the figures were frequently nude and beggar like.  In Tearscape we see the early appearance of Atul's defecating scribe. 'A medieval figure, the scribe reads and writes for us, tells us what is good and bad, gives us a glimpse into how our present will be written out in history. He makes notes in a desperate attempts to make sense of the events unfolding around him, all the while shitting.' (Atul Dodiya, Real in Realism, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2002).  In the current work the defecating scribe reappears and the title 'Man from Kabul' reveals the direct inspiration of the conflict in Afghanistan but his larger concerns remain the same.

In reference to the use of skeletal figures in his works he states.  'I started drawing very free figures, floating, dancing, but showing inside their figures their bones. Obviously, these figures were lean, they were tired, they were hungry, they were almost about to die. By showing the bones and the structure inside, I felt I could show all that agony. But, partly, it was also a visual issue. I have to have some device to make it visually engaging. So I think the bones work both ways. They tell you about the sad aspect of life and the sensuality of the nude figure gets reduced.' (Atul Dodiya in an interview with Bryant Rousseau, Artinfo.com, 2006).

'I thought of a man of bones with just a covering skin squatting under a Kabul sky or a woman with wooden legs sitting on landmines. The upholstery material, with constant design, was used as a canvas for all the works.  I think of it like a metaphor for the earth, having its own patterns and indifferent to the images painted on it.  Finally the one who suffers is the common man/woman, caught in the crossfire of others' making.' (Atul Dodiya, Real in Realism, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2002).