Important Notice

Jagannath Panda's works typically feature contrasting elements highlighting the clash of the natural world with the one inhabited by humans, or of the concept of home with migration. These are visible in the present lot, a symmetrical rendition of a partially revealed bookshelf - a symbol of ownership and belonging - infested with ants that traverse the surface of the painting in lines reminiscent of a map. On the lower edge of the painting, the... Jagannath Panda's works typically feature contrasting elements highlighting the clash of the natural world with the one inhabited by humans, or of the concept of home with migration. These are visible in the present lot, a symmetrical rendition of a partially revealed bookshelf - a symbol of ownership and belonging - infested with ants that traverse the surface of the painting in lines reminiscent of a map. On the lower edge of the painting, the artist embeds an iconic image of Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Mountbatten, perhaps a reminder of the end of colonial rule over India, and the consequent partition of two countries that led to mass displacement, violence and migration.

Panda is concerned with shared experiences and anxieties, and has "... steadily constructed a language of alienation that is contained paradoxically within images of settlement, in small or large format, he works through the positioning of opposites, of the enforcing of structures, and the evacuation of life forms, of mythic cycles and contemporary time, of value and its imminent loss." (Gayatri Sinha, Recent Works by Jagannath Panda, London: Saffronart and Berkeley Square Gallery, 2006)

Panda holds degrees in Sculpture from Bhubhaneshwar, Vadodara and London, and this is evident in the three-dimensionality of his paintings. He is also influenced by the textiles and patterns found in Odisha, where he was born and lived before settling in New Delhi. His work has been widely exhibited, and he is the recipient of the Lalit Kala Akademi Award and the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society Award.

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