Lot 107: ANJU DODIYA (b. India 1964)

The Duel signed 'Anju' on reverse watercolour on paper 27 3/4 x 41 in. (70.5 x 104.2 cm) NOTES Anju Dodiya's work deals with the artist's quest to constantly re-invent herself, often "she teases and coaxes the image into birth, displaying her different selves before the viewer with wit, humour and ironic finesse". (Nancy Adajania, Anju Dodiya, Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai, 1999, p. 1.) There is a certain iconography that repeats itself in her work, as she is constantly reworking the canvas often using the same objects and symbols in an attempt to create the perfect image. While the background may remain the same, it is her own role within the canvas that is constantly changing; ranging from more aggressive positions as we see here, to far more passive roles. "In her single-minded quest for the perfect image, Anju resembles the bhaktas who repeatedly invoke the presence of God in their own life-situations, pushing themselves to the edge of experience, tasting the flavour of God everywhere: through their quarrels, their flirtations with danger, their rage, their serenity." (op. cit) She is both the creator and the subject of her constantly evolving canvas.