Important Notice

Part of a suite of double sided works created for a site specific exhibition in the imposing Durbar Hall of Laxmi Vilas Palace in Baroda, the present lot comprises a large watercolour and charcoal painting on paper as well as an embroidered mattress of the same size. Initially displayed as a floor standing work, the two parts of this painting stood back-to-back along with several other similar pieces in an almost- closed rectangular formation,... Part of a suite of double sided works created for a site specific exhibition in the imposing Durbar Hall of Laxmi Vilas Palace in Baroda, the present lot comprises a large watercolour and charcoal painting on paper as well as an embroidered mattress of the same size. Initially displayed as a floor standing work, the two parts of this painting stood back-to-back along with several other similar pieces in an almost- closed rectangular formation, surrounding a sea of mirror-shards. The viewer was thus first confronted with the decorative mattress, and then, following a process of exploration, discovered the paintings on the other side.

As Nancy Adajania notes, the installation in Baroda was "…reminiscent of the testudo formation of the imperial Roman armies; the infantry platoon enclosing itself within a tortoise-like shell of shields. Anju's shields are exquisite gold, beige, umber, grey, blue and red tapestries that bear embroidered quasi- heraldic motifs rendered by a karigar's velveteen hand…As we approach them, we realise that we can look between the tapestries. Looking through the gaps in the formation, our curious eyes are chilled by a lake of broken glass, the ruins of history that eludes reconstruction. In these glacial shards are reflected fragments of the charcoal drawings that the shields hide from direct view…In the process of negotiating the installation, we become far more active as meaning-makers. As viewers confronted with volatile fragments and disconnected episodes, we tend, naturally, to make meaning from our perplexity. We linger in the gaps between tapestries, we go round the installation, dizzy moths attracted to a circling row of flames" ("In the Cold Country of the Mind", Throne of Frost: Anju Dodiya, Bodhi Art exhibition catalogue, 2007, p 16, 17).

Titled Fortress, the present lot responds to Dodiya's longstanding artistic concerns, but also connects them with the opulence of the palatial environment it was originally displayed in. The pixelated fencers on the blue-grey mattress suggest both violence and valour, two ideas that the artist closely associates with her own creative process. The watercolour, smudged and darkened with charcoal, is dominated by an empty royal robe with unusually extended sleeves, separating the floating head of artist from a dream-like scene where she embraces her partner. Dark stone walls, perhaps belonging to the eponymous fortress, emphasize the dichotomies on the surface, resolutely dividing reality from fantasy, present from past and future, and waking from sleep.

Read More
Artist Profile
Other works of this artist in: this auction  |  entire site