Atul Dodiya Meditation (with open eyes) 2011
Discover Dodiya’s tribute to artists and cultural figures who have inspired him
Atul Dodiya has assembled a range of portraits and objects which relate to his upbringing and artistic development. They are arranged in glass cabinets that resemble museum showcases but also recall personal displays of souvenirs and sentimental items that are particularly common in Indian homes. The cabinets also act as shrines, celebrating the lives of these inspirational figures.
The portraits on the upper level include artists Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Bourgeois, Gerhard Richter, Joseph Beuys, Paul Klee and Pablo Picasso, as well as poet Rabindranath Tagore. There is a detail from Henri Rousseau’s painting Portrait of a Child and an image of actors Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan from the Bollywood film Anand 1971.
The objects range from the sacred to the everyday. Copies of artworks by other artists as well as those made by Dodiya sit next to photographs, miniature figurines, and incarnations of the Hindu god Vishnu. There are quotations from American painter Jasper Johns, Bengali poet Sunil Gangopadhyay and French writer André Gide.
Two of the cabinets include tributes to the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian. These relate to Dodiya’s first direct encounter with Mondrian’s paintings during a visit to Tate Modern in 2001. He noticed the cracks on the surface of the paintings, a detail not visible in printed reproductions. The cracked surface reminded him of the damaged landscape of his native state of Gujarat in India, where a major earthquake had just taken place.
Mondrian’s painting Composition B (No.II) with Red is displayed here alongside Dodiya’s work.
Tate Modern
Natalie Bell Building Level 2 East
Free
Geta Bratescu, Hands (For the Eye, the Hand of My Body Draws My Portrait) 1977
Hands (For the Eye, the Hand of My Body Draws My Portrait) 1977 is a black and white silent film lasting 7 minutes and 30 seconds. The work exists in an edition of 5, of which this copy is number 2, and 2 artist’s proofs. It was originally shot on 8mm film and transferred to DVD more recently. The camera was operated by fellow Romanian artist Ion Grigorescu (born 1945), with whom Bratescu frequently collaborated. In the film the artist’s hands, filmed from her eye level, are performing various movements and activities above her drawing board. The sequence starts with her playing with different objects on the desk, holding a cigarette, removing a wedding ring. The artist subsequently switches to drawing lines on her palms with a black marker and finally tracing the contours of both her hands on a piece of paper.
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artworks in Atul Dodiya
Geta Bratescu, Medeic Callisthenic Moves 1980–1
Medeic Callisthetic Moves 1980–1 is a set of six embroideries on bleached linen; each one is 600 by 500 millimetres. They are always shown as a group in an order specified by the artist, who refers to them as ‘drawings’. Originally, the works were displayed attached directly to the wall, but they are now glazed. The pastel coloured pattern on each one was done with the use of a sewing machine. An abstract oval form is repeated in the centre of each of the embroideries and is an emblematic portrait of the Greek mythical character Medea, who gives the work its title. Medea was the daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Known for her qualities as a sorceress, Medea helped the adventurer Jason obtain the golden fleece from her father, killing her own brother as she aided Jason and his Argonauts to flee. Although he had promised to marry her, Jason later deserted her.
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artworks in Atul Dodiya
Art in this room
Geta Bratescu
Hands (For the Eye, the Hand of My Body Draws My Portrait)
1977
Geta Bratescu
Medeic Callisthenic Moves
1980–1
