Jagannath Panda
(1970)
Untitled
Born into a family of priests in a small Orissa village, Jagannath Panda has lived in the cities of Vadodara, Fukuoka and London while studying painting, and later settled in New Delhi, India’s political capital, and one of its most rapidly expanding cities. Drawing heavily from these personal and diametrically opposed experiences of traditional rural life and the uneasy urbanization of large cities, Panda’s body of work speaks of the...
Born into a family of priests in a small Orissa village, Jagannath Panda has lived in the cities of Vadodara, Fukuoka and London while studying painting, and later settled in New Delhi, India’s political capital, and one of its most rapidly expanding cities. Drawing heavily from these personal and diametrically opposed experiences of traditional rural life and the uneasy urbanization of large cities, Panda’s body of work speaks of the dichotomies and contradictions of day-to-day life in developing nations, and the divides between town and city, nature and settlement, and traditional and contemporary that they illuminate.
“Panda’s encounters have allowed him to develop a layered aesthetic which combines visual considerations (such as notions of beauty and visual pleasure) and social-psychological commentaries. Panda’s motifs often allude to the underlying forces that drive the social mechanism…once decoded [his works] unravel the dichotomies the artist continues to grapple with, between the dictates contained within his dogmatic religious upbringing and his developed and learned critical conscience. An assortment of images addresses sophisticated themes of frustrated desires, unanswered questions, socio-economic injustices and inequalities” (Deeksha Nath, Private/Corporate IV: A Dialogue exhibition catalogue, DaimlerChrysler AG, Berlin, 2007, p. 49).
In the present lot, the artist negotiates the ‘neo-colonization’ of land that is a part of urban expansion, resulting in the alienation and disaffection of all its residents, human and animal. What appears to be an idyllic forest scene, with two large, golden deer butting heads in front of a watering hole, actually has sinister undertones. On closer examination, the viewer can make out small trucks in the distance, calmly clearing the landscape for redevelopment, leaving only tree stumps in their wake. In hindsight, the birds and animals appear agitated, caught in a maze of branches and leaves, trying to defend the last of their natural habitat.
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Lot
62
of
85
SUMMER AUCTION 2009
10-11 JUNE 2009
Estimate
Rs 15,00,000 - 18,00,000
$31,915 - 38,300
Winning Bid
Rs 15,72,625
$33,460
(Inclusive of Buyer's Premium)
ARTWORK DETAILS
Jagannath Panda
Untitled
Signed and dated in English (lower right and verso)
2008
Acrylic and fabric on canvas
72 x 120 in (182.9 x 304.8 cm)
(Triptych)
Category: Painting
Style: Figurative
ARTWORK SIZE:
Height of Figure: 6'