Important Notice

Atul Bhalla's recent body of work, executed in various media ranging from photography to video art to sculptural installation, explores the themes of ecological fragility and balance, and the conservation and destruction of natural resources. In his work, the artist interrogates the phenomenon and the agents of environmental degradation, particularly in relation to water in urban settings. Living and working in New Delhi, with its... Atul Bhalla's recent body of work, executed in various media ranging from photography to video art to sculptural installation, explores the themes of ecological fragility and balance, and the conservation and destruction of natural resources. In his work, the artist interrogates the phenomenon and the agents of environmental degradation, particularly in relation to water in urban settings. Living and working in New Delhi, with its institutionalized water shortages, private water suppliers, and the "lifeless wasteland" of the River Yamuna flowing through it, these issues are hard to ignore.

With these works, Bhalla has "redefined his practice by becoming an agent of change, raising questions about the environmental effects of administrative policies that seem to be driven more and more by private economic agendas rather than public good. He feels our urban spaces and ecosystems no longer seem to belong to us and the social and cultural effects of this are indeed profound for we may soon be living in a world rendered uninhabitable because of human indifference and greed" (Shukla Sawant, "Re-Marking the River: Landscapes by Atul Bhalla" Atul Bhalla, Anant Art Centre exhibition catalogue, Noida, 2007, p. 2).

Atul Bhalla's attempts to explore and understand the politics of water have led the artist to photograph a series of objects that draw, capture or contain water across the city of New Delhi, examining its fluid state in many different contexts. In the present lot, a set of 28 photographs, the artist has chosen to portray the common bamba or hand-pump – a manually powered device used in developing nations as a means of bringing ground water to the surface for consumption. The hand-pump, considered outmoded by modern standards, stands out as a unique piece of technology in the context of Bhalla's photographs of the city. Although almost identical in structure, each of these pumps becomes unique in the environment it occupies. Irony, however, remains a constant across the images – precious water slowly dripping and wasting away in the squalor of the overcrowded city.

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