K G Subramanyan: The thinking man’s artist

Curated by cultural theorist Nancy Adajania, the showcase marks Subramanyan’s birth centenary year and spans more than seven decades of his practice.

A major research-based, retrospective-scale exhibition of K G Subramanyan (1924-2016) examines the Indian modernist’s works through unusual associations and unpredictable adjacencies. Presented by Emami Art in collaboration with Seagull and the Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University, Baroda, the showcase marks Subramanyan’s birth centenary year and spans more than seven decades of his practice.

Curated by cultural theorist Nancy Adajania, it displays more than 200 works, including iconic reverse paintings on acrylic, his famous marker pen works on paper, gouaches, postcard-size drawings, especially his perceptive impressions of his Chinese travels from the 1980s, his inventive toys, and a significant amount of archival material not seen before, such as handcrafted mock-ups of children’s books, preparatory sketches for murals, and the maquettes for his powerful The War of the Relics (2013).

“The centenary of an artist as wide-ranging in his concerns and expressions as K G Subramanyan offers us an opportunity to reflect on less evident aspects of his oeuvre that may have eluded sustained critical attention,” said Adajania, who presents this seminal artist, pedagogue, crafts activist and policy thinker through a shift of focus.

The exhibition looks at what is universally regarded as his political work, such as his powerful terracottas commemorating the 1971 Bangladesh War and the biting critique of the 1975-1977 Emergency in his children’s book, The Talking Face. “While these works enshrine singular reactions to political events, it would be instructive to locate them within what I regard as his continuous process of political philosophising, a major part of which was carried out through what might too glibly be seen as minor genres: primarily through the children’s books that he produced over an extended period, but also his phantasmagorical toys,” explained Adajania.

Widely recognised as one of the most versatile and prolific modern artists, Subramanyan was also a great writer, thinker and pedagogue who studied art at Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan under Nandalal Bose, Benodebehari Mukherjee and Ramkinkar Baij, and at the Slade School of Art, London. “Although he hails from Kerala and spent most of his teaching life in western India, Subramanyan was Bengal’s own artist. He studied at Santiniketan, and the practices and ideas of the place were always with him,” said Richa Agarwal, CEO, Emami Art. Widely revered for his profound erudition and wit, he was a versatile and multifaceted artist who made the most original contribution to modern art practices in India after Independence, creating a powerful languagethat was highly eclectic.

Mani-da, as he was fondly called, seamlessly blended the elements of modernism with folk expression in his works that spanned paintings, murals, sculptures, prints, set designs and toys. His art was featured in over 50 solo exhibitions, and received many prestigious awards.

“In his work, he engaged both manifestly and in subtle ways with the legacies of Gandhi, Tagore and Nehru. Today, all these figures have either been neutralised as icons emptied of content or vilified as bearers of historical errors. The past is being weaponised in the political and cultural battle over who belongs and who does not. In such a state of permanent emergency, it becomes vital to revisit the practice of an artist-activist like Subramanyan — who taught us to address the past as critical agents, rather than as puppets of stifling traditions,” said Adajania.

Continued relevance

This wide-ranging and critical survey, the largest in eastern India after his death, situates and re-assesses the artist in the larger cultural scenario of postcolonial India’s unfolding modernism and affirms the continuing relevance of his practice. “While presenting Subramanyan’s memorable reverse paintings on acrylic, marker pen on paper and intimate postcard-size drawings, we will also be focusing on his work process through a considerable amount of archival material.

For instance, the display of mock-ups of his children’s book, When Hanu Becomes Hanuman, handcrafted by the artist, as well as his preparatory sketches for the murals with textual and visual marginalia that reveal his ideological affinity for the Gandhian notion of an idealised village. This show will avoid the pitfalls of hagiography, by pointing up the contradictions and ambivalences in his evolving political stance. Within this context, Subramanyan’s ambivalent take on female agency and sexuality will also be engaged with throughout the show in a critical spirit,” added Adajania.

Subramanyan remained dedicated to teaching until his retirement in 1989, following which he was appointed as a professor emeritus at Visva-Bharati. “Besides being an artist, he was a fine writer, poet and translator; his books, including the ones he wrote and illustrated for children, have been widely read and appreciated. I believe that artists, art lovers and students will all enjoy the exhibition,” concluded Agarwal.

‘One Hundred Years and Counting: Re-Scripting KG Subramanyam’ is on view at Emami Art, Kolkata till 21 June 2024.