Lot 104: - Reena Saini Kallat

Signed, dated and inscribed 'Reena S Kallat 06 BIRDS OF STEEL - 12 (diptych) oil, acrylic & carbon on canvas' on reverse Oil, acrylic and carbon on canvas

panel: 50.8 by 101.5 cm. (20 by 40 in.) each

Reena Saini Kallat, Rainbow of refuse, Bodhi Art Gallery, 2006, pp. 23, 31.

Bodhi Art Gallery, Mumbai

PROPERTY OF A EUROPEAN COLLECTOR
Birds of Steel 12 is part of a series of diptychs that juxtapose the image of fighter planes of various periods with Indian Heraldic motifs from the colonial period. Heraldry was one of the manifestations of colonial power manufactured by the British to maintain a visible sense of heirarchy amongst native rulers. These symbols of power were just that, symbolic, the true power being retained in the hands of the British military. Reena Kallat thus uses the heraldic symbols as part of an ongoing enquiry into the relationship India had with Britain during and after Independence and the unknown balance of power between India and the rest of the world in the future. 'The juxtaposition between martial aircraft streaking through an ever nocturnal sky and the symbolic code of heraldry is sharpened when we note the abstract calligraphy of demons swirling dangerously close to the coat of arms. Armorial bearings are the codified expression of power. But how do we decipher power that remains raw and beyond the range of symbols: power that is not articulated through codes or by positions of precedence at a Durbar, but manifests itself through inchoate, as yet uncodified forms?' (Nancy Adajania, Belonging is a Necklace of Exclusions, Introductory Essay for Reena Kallat's Solo Show, Bodhi Art, September 2006)