Lot 132: Montage I

Shibu Natesan (B. 1966)
Montage I
signed, dated and titled 'SHIBU NATESAN - 1999 OIL ON CANVAS "MONTAGE - 1"' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
48 x 60in. (121.9 x 152.4cm.)
Painted in 1999

Mumbai, The Human Factor , Guild Art Gallery, October 2001

Combining a flattened perspective with jeweled colors and a style that straddles Photorealism and Surrealism, Shibu Natesan conjures dream-like images from fragments of memories and popular culture that are multi-layered, personally symbolic and enigmatic. This particular work was conceived after Natesan finished his residency at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam where his style evolved from a largely monochromatic palette. The glistening laborers bathing in their lunghi reflect an everyday reality along the South Indian coastline but contrast starkly with the empty landscape save for the bounding kangaroos. Not native to India, the placement of these animals force a double-take from the internal and external viewers of the work.