It all started with the three monkeys. Over 2007 and 2008, contemporary artist Subodh Gupta created an installation with three 6ft-tall sculptures made from antique steel and copper utensils. He called them Gandhi’s Three Monkeys at his solo show titled Still, Steal, Steel at New York’s Jack Shainman Gallery in spring 2008. But unlike Gandhi’s familiar mascots—the three primates who cover their ears, mouth and eyes to guard against evil—these figures are geared to shield themselves from the mechanics of war. Of the three large human heads, one wears eyeshades, one wears a gas mask and the third, a helmet.
Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary, 2 October, is celebrated worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence. By turning his mascots into a testament of violence, Gupta creates ironic art that compels one to rethink the premise of war and peace.
The Spinning Hero and Zero by Simanta Baruah was sold by Easel Gallery at the India Art Summit in August for Rs5 lakh
While Gandhi has always inspired artists, there has been a rapid rise in artworks influenced by him in recent years. Delhi-based curator Vidya Shivadas from the Vadehra Art Gallery offers an insight: Gandhi attracts artists because he was essentially a great artist himself.
“Artists pick certain tropes and give them new meanings and that’s really what Gandhi did himself. For instance, the salt-making Dandi march was not just an act, it was a deeply symbolic gesture because references to salt making go across cultures. It is even mentioned in the Bible. Gandhi’s bare feet, his khadi…the man was all about symbols,” says Shivadas.
Shivadas points out that certain Indian artists, such as Atul Dodiya, have employed Gandhi as a recurring motif throughout their careers.
Lately, however, several young artists have turned Gandhi into a tour de force. One reason for this could be that trends are a weighty factor in the contemporary art world and Gupta, who has risen to international acclaim over the last decade, is a trendsetter. Another could simply be that the issues emerging artists, such as Debanjan Roy and Balaji Ponna from Rabindra Bharati University in Santiniketan, wish to point to—mindless modernization and capitalism—are best highlighted when juxtaposed against the man who stands for quite the contrary.