Lot 140: Elixir

Justin Ponmany (B. 1974)
Elixir
stencilled 'justin ponmany' (on reverse of each); titled 'Elixir' (top reverse of each)
hologram and acrylic on canvas--diptych
75 x 96in. (190.5 x 244cm.)

Justin Ponmany finds subject matter in the detritus, gutters and alleyways of life in Mumbai. Concerned with the brute Darwinian quality of life in a megalopolis, Ponmany composes his paintings based on photographs of people and places that he either extracts from the media or crafts himself. His tools are often industrial; the artist infects his surfaces with plastic, resin, printer's ink, salt and holograms to create his stylistic effects. In this work, Ponmany glorifies the electronic language of e-mails, text messages, and chat rooms focusing on the babble of icons and symbols which make their way from our keyboards onto our screens. Creating rows of text, which at first glance seem like cohesive sentences, the characters quickly dissolve into strings of digital gibberish. Ponmany states, "My work is spurred on by the sudden moment of truth, when everything else around collapses, only the threadbare nakedness of the weaving remains" (Poddar, p. 81). Thus, his slick holographic media which reflects light, dancing as one moves across the image, has been worn away in parts revealing holes and decay in the shiny new facde. ( Private/Corporate IV: Works from the Lekha and Anupam Poddar , New Delhi, and DaimlerChrysler Collections: A Dialogue , Berlin, January - June 2007).