Lot 89: JUSTIN PONMANY

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE DUTCH COLLECTION B. 1974 UNTITLED Dated and inscribed 'Justin Ponmany / 'untitled' 2006' on reverse Acrylic and holographic pigment on canvas, diptych 190 by 264 cm. (74 3/4 by 103 7/8 in.) Painted in 2006

New York, Bose Pacia, Who's Keeping Score?, March-April 2007

Bose Pacia, New York, 2007

Justin Ponmany’s present work is a study of stark opposites that defy facile explication. The dichotomies of urban and rural, class, and educational divides are the backdrop from which this series of holographic works emanate. While the diptych, which is presented in the form of an open book or codex, gives the viewer multiple vantage points to view the flickering images, the futuristic silvery sheen of the painting with obfuscating diagrams contrast heavily with the subject matter that Ponmany aims to represent: the life of a migrant within the urban fabric of the city. The artist uses the aadhaar system (a 12-digit unique number that serves as the basis for identification in India, much like the US Social Security card) as source material. Is the artist taking a dystopian view of society which reduces humanity to anonymous statistics or is he commenting on the peripatetic and lonely life of the labourer far from home?