Lot 56: Birds of Steel

Reena Saini Kallat (b. 1973)
Birds of Steel
signed, dated, titled and inscribed 'Reena S. Kallat '06 Birds of Steel - 15 (diptych) right panel' (on reverse of right panel); signed and inscribed 'Reena Saini Kallat 2006 (diptych) left panel' (on reverse of left panel)
acrylic, oil and carbon on canvas
20 x 80 in. (51.8 x 203 cm.) diptych
Painted in 2006

Mumbai, Bodhi Art, Rainbow of Refuse, September 2006
Singapore, Bodhi Art, Rainbow of Refuse, October 2006

Rainbow of Refuse, exhibition catalogue, Bodhi Art, Mumbai, 2006

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 17.5% on the buyer's premium.
Birds of Steel is a collection of 15 paintings. Each right half of the diptychs, carry heraldry emblems or the coat of arms from fifteen erstwhile princely states of the colonial era. The emblems, representing Baroda, Bhopal, Mysore, Udaipur, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Cambay and Bombay amongst others. Interestingly these emblems utilise a combination of Hindu, Islamic and Christian iconography.

Framed in the left half of the painting is a segment of the sky. The romantic idea associated with the skies as being boundless, limitless is here marred by the threatening image of several airplanes. The planes, whether used for administrative purposes, as passenger carriers or as fighter planes, all congest the same space ripping through scattered foliage or black sinister lightening. The elaborate heraldry symbols, seen against black backdrops, are juxtaposed with stylized spills that carry caricaturesque drawings of demons sourced from the Razmnama, the art of war.

Birds of Steel works through narratives of border disputes and invasions via the liberating image of the sky. Ironically the birds that fly here are made of steel. (in conversation with the artist)