Important Notice

Lot 44

 

Quick Zoom

Born into a family of priests in a coastal town in Orissa, Jagannath Panda has lived in the cities of Vadodara, Fukuoka and London, and later settled in New Delhi, India's political capital, and one of its most rapidly expanding cities. Drawing heavily from these personal and diametrically opposed experiences of traditional rural life and the uneasy urbanization of large cities, Panda's body of work speaks of the dichotomies and contradictions... Born into a family of priests in a coastal town in Orissa, Jagannath Panda has lived in the cities of Vadodara, Fukuoka and London, and later settled in New Delhi, India's political capital, and one of its most rapidly expanding cities. Drawing heavily from these personal and diametrically opposed experiences of traditional rural life and the uneasy urbanization of large cities, Panda's body of work speaks of the dichotomies and contradictions of day-to-day life in developing nations, and the divides between town and city, nature and settlement, and traditional and contemporary that they illuminate.

In the present lot, a five-foot spherical sculpture, the artist returns to a form he explored early in his career in works such as Sphere (2002), which won him critical acclaim at the Royal College of Art in London. At first, this globe appears to be a gilded, decorative object of pleasure, much like an oversized Christmas tree ornament. However, as its title suggests, there is more to this installation than initially meets the eye. Crawling all over the finely veined and brocaded surface is a multitude of tiny insects. A web of hybrid creatures also criss-crosses the exterior of the sphere, hinting at the nature of feral animals which, once domesticated, have reverted to their wild ways.

"Panda's encounters have allowed him to develop a layered aesthetic which combines visual considerations (such as notions of beauty and visual pleasure) and social-psychological commentaries. Panda's motifs often allude to the underlying forces that drive the social mechanism…once decoded [his works] unravel the dichotomies the artist continues to grapple with, between the dictates contained within his dogmatic religious upbringing and his developed and learned critical conscience. An assortment of images addresses sophisticated themes of frustrated desires, unanswered questions, socio-economic injustices and inequalities" (Deeksha Nath, Private/Corporate IV: A Dialogue, DaimlerChrysler AG exhibition catalogue, 2007, p. 49).

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