Important Notice

Jagannath Panda often uses animals to demonstrate the effects of urbanisation, alienation and environmental degradation. In the present lot, a larger?than? life peacock presides over the scene, towering above a multi?storied building. The Indian national bird is beautifully detailed, rendered in shades of indigo, green and earth tones, and the national emblem is visible behind it. Panda’s symbolism— which includes a smoky grey sky, likely... Jagannath Panda often uses animals to demonstrate the effects of urbanisation, alienation and environmental degradation. In the present lot, a larger?than? life peacock presides over the scene, towering above a multi?storied building. The Indian national bird is beautifully detailed, rendered in shades of indigo, green and earth tones, and the national emblem is visible behind it. Panda’s symbolism— which includes a smoky grey sky, likely recalling the polluted air in Gurgaon where he lives and works, and images of people and property in state of destruction in the background—is perhaps a comment on the price of urban development. “In Panda’s paintings, the animal as cohabitor of space has served as an interlocutor for violent change.” (Gayatri Sinha, Jagannath Panda, London: Berkeley Square Gallery in association with Saffronart, 2006, pp. 6?7) By rendering the bird in oversized proportions, Panda presents it as the awkward sole survivor in a dystopian environment.

The position and gaze of the overarching peacock also alludes to the increasing lack of privacy in urban life. “I am talking about futuristic cities where we are constantly under surveillance, being watched over by these cameras and drones. We lose the sense of privacy and while these structures are being made, mindless construction is playing havoc with the ecology.” (The artist quoted in Shilpa R, “The world of dark realities,” The Hindu, 29 August 2017, online) Through these varied elements, the artist presents both a vision and a warning for an increasingly precarious future.

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