Important Notice

T.V. Santhosh's canvases, with their inverted, solarized images and conspicuous palette of acid-green and purple, take on the"…relentless presence of violence and injustice in history. His canvases confront the hard-hitting subjects of war and terrorism seeking to question the influence of politics and media on these global issues, most notably their representation and manipulation of the events" (Anne Fleetwood and Conor Macklin, False... T.V. Santhosh's canvases, with their inverted, solarized images and conspicuous palette of acid-green and purple, take on the"…relentless presence of violence and injustice in history. His canvases confront the hard-hitting subjects of war and terrorism seeking to question the influence of politics and media on these global issues, most notably their representation and manipulation of the events" (Anne Fleetwood and Conor Macklin, False Promises, Grosvenor Gallery and the Guild exhibition catalogue, 2005, unpaginated).

In addition to the media derived images that he adopts and manipulates, Santhosh's palette and technique also sharpen the focus of his canvases on globalized violence, technology, extremism and irrationality. "…Santhosh treats the barrage of mediatic flows with the lightness and luminosity of watercolour while working in oil, a deft achievement. This watercolour effect forms an appropriate vehicle for the political import of his work. The blurred spectral figures emerge from a pool of chroma and light defying the simple Manichean world view which divides people into those who believe and those who don't, those who have a right to live and those who should be annihilated. Santhosh counters the extremeness of sharp-edged ideologies with a blur of reasonable doubt. As a device the blur serves to neutralise mass religiosity of all shades" (Nancy Adajania, "No Alibis for the Image", T.V. Santhosh: Unresolved Stories, The Guild, Mumbai, 2008, p. 10).

The present lot, first in a series of large canvases titled Scars of an Ancient Error, addresses the consequences of war and atrocity, in particular the collateral damage they continue to cause to innocent bystanders. Santhosh also seems intrigued by the detachment with which we view and consume the news of such violence, distributed perfunctorily by media outlets around the globe. Culling an image from the news media, the artist questions the validity of the cold, scientific lens through which we filter such information. The subject of the painting is listening to music as she examines a skull through a magnifying glass. Though she works diligently, with the accuracy and efficiency that her job requires, Santhosh seems to ask whether she ever pauses to wonder about the person to whom the skull once belonged, and the way in which its pate and jaw were damaged. The artist seems to suggest that we, the unquestioning and perhaps irresponsible consumers of images flashed on television screen, resemble this lab worker, automatically processing violence as just another item of news, rather than stopping to consider the loss and bereavement it results in.

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