Interested in the common man and his place within the fabric of society, Khakhar's paintings often portray the absurd and sometimes sinister nature of social conventions. "An iconoclast in more ways than one, he has not only turned around aesthetic conventions in art, but also those of so called social propriety." (p. 17, Kamala Kapoor, "A Subversive Rasa", Bhupen Khakhar: Retrospective, Exhibition Catalogue, 2003)
In...
Interested in the common man and his place within the fabric of society, Khakhar's paintings often portray the absurd and sometimes sinister nature of social conventions. "An iconoclast in more ways than one, he has not only turned around aesthetic conventions in art, but also those of so called social propriety." (p. 17, Kamala Kapoor, "A Subversive Rasa", Bhupen Khakhar: Retrospective, Exhibition Catalogue, 2003)
In the 1980s, Khakhar paintings became increasingly explicit in their handling of sexual themes and the Untitled work can be read as an extension of this artistic tendency. The transparent, iridescent colors conjure up a Shiva temple. But it is the social aspects of the place of worship that are of interest to Khakhar, rather than its potential for spiritual revelation. The painting explores society's contradictory attitude to the free expression of sexuality, a subject Khakhar revisits again and again. As fierce looking soldiers and semi-nude Sadhus guard the linga-shrine; the artist sets up a paradox. The Shiva-linga is worshipped, but it is also heavily protected by institutional structures. So the artist explores how the valorization of sexual symbols co-exists with its opposite tendency; i.e. with the repression of sexuality in public life