Lot 386: ATUL DODIYA (B. 1959)

ATUL DODIYA (B. 1959)
Karuna
signed, inscribed, titled and dated 'ATUL DODIYA 'KARUNA' 2004 - 2006 72" X 48" ENAMEL PAINT AND SYNTHETIC VARNISH ON LAMINATE AND SIGNED' (on the reverse)
enamel paint, synthetic varnish and acrylic expoxy on laminate
71½ x 48 in. (181.6 x 122 cm.)
Executed in 2004 - 2006

New Delhi, Vadehra Art Gallery, Saptapadi: Scenes From Marriage (Regardless), March 2007
Mumbai, Museum Gallery, Saptapadi: Scenes From Marriage (Regardless), 2007
Bern, Kunstmuseum, Horn Please: Narratives in Contemporary Indian Art, September 2007 - January 2008
Tokyo, Mori Art Museum, Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art, November 2008 - March 2009
Vienna, ESSL Museum, Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art, September - November 2009

Atul Dodiya, Saptapadi: Scenes from Marriage (Regardless), exhibition catalogue, Vadehra Art Gallery, 2007, p. 34 (illustrated)

Atul Dodiya's allegorical collages fuse fragments of art historical masterpieces with moments of pop culture, current events and his own autobiography. Regarded as one of the leading artists of his generation, Dodiya has become a widely recognized figurehead in South Asian contemporary art influencing many of the country's burgeoning younger artists. A resident of Mumbai, this series of paintings include imagery from Mumbai's film industry Bollywood and Indian cinema. Beginning his career with a straightforward and cleverly deadpan realist style, Dodiya moved away from the literal in the mid-90s towards the fragmented and multilayered techniques which now dominate his oeuvre. Capitalizing on the post-modern tendency towards ironic juxtaposition, Dodiya uses the vocabulary of western contemporary art creating a unique and potent pictorial language.