Double Consciousness complements India: New Installations by adding the voices of South Asian artists living in North America. Their experience of South Asia, however direct, is mediated, informed by memory, travel, and the media, and their vision confuses our sense of accuracy and authenticity in an increasingly constructed image world. In fact, these artists are not defined only by South Asia, as their work reflects their heritage and their current experiences individually and as artists within an international context. Their work exhibits a double consciousness both conceptually and aesthetically, once again showing that artists cannot be limited by arbitrary boundaries.
A sense of place is important for each artist, but place for them means more than just geography. Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, Shelly Bahl, Sarika Goulatia, and Saira Wasim investigate one’s place in the world as it is affected by politics, popular culture, and common stereotypes/assumptions. Zarina reveals that a home constitutes more than four walls and a roof and that ephemeral memories and emotions travel with us, always coloring our current space. Allan de Souza’s constructed landscapes and cityscapes unlock power politics embedded in land and share a sense of mapping with Zarina’s cities and countries. Samina Mansuri and Sumakshi Singh actually map the physical reality of the galleries, forcing us to look the place with fresh eyes. All add nuances to our understanding of place.
-Vicky A. Clark
Curator of Double Consciousness | |
