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lot 34

lot 34

Baiju Parthan

Untitled

acrylic on canvas
12.25 x 12.25 in. (31 x 31 cm.)
painted in 2005

Winning Bid: $ 4,000

Estimate: US$ 4,000 - 6,000

Lot Closed

Lot Details

Signed and dated 'Baiju Parthan 05' (upper right)
Further dated and signed 'March 19th 2005 / Baiju Parthan 2005' (on the reverse)

PROVENANCE
Art for Concern, The Annual Charity Auction, Mumbai
Artiana / Lot 18 / Sale 1901 / Art Beyond Borders / Dubai / 28-31 March 2019
Private collection, Dubai

LOT ESSAY
Baiju Parthan is a contemporary painter and one of the early exponents of new media art and mediatic-realism in the Indian art scene. His artistic "vocabulary consists of arcane symbols, found imagery, as well as contemporary photographic and computer-generated imagery that are woven together to create artworks which reveal a dense multi-layered phenomenological landscape" (Baiju Parthan: Ray Trace, Art Musings, Mumbai, exhibition catalogue, May 2018, not paginated).

The pear shown here and referred to as the engineered fruit in Parthan's other works is a signature motif that he's been using for years. The "perfect fruit" attained through hybridization and genetic modification is a symbolism of society's idea of perfection.

Using symbols to amplify ideas, Baiju acknowledges the complexities of the world while embracing different views. He has combined his painterly concerns with his explorations of cyberspace to produce a series of abstract and richly textured works that also serve as a thought-provoking social commentary on the continually shifting worldviews and socio-political trends.

Baiju Parthan

(b. 1956)
Born in Kottayam, Kerala, Parthan began as an engineer but was drawn into the world of art in 1974. He completed his Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts (Painting), from the Goa College of Art, Goa in 1983. He has had a number of solo and group exhibitions, including ‘Recursor’, Gallery OED, Kochi, in 2012; ‘Milljunction: Paintings and Photo works by Baiju Parthan’, Aicon Gallery, New York, in 2010; ‘Liquid Memory + Rant’, New Media Installation at Vedehra Art Gallery, New Delhi in 2007; ‘Looking Glass: The Existence of Difference’, Twenty Indian Contemporary Artists presented by Religare Arts Initiative, New Delhi in collaboration with American Center; British Council; Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi in 2010; ‘Dislocation: Millijunction Part 2’, Aicon Gallery, London in 2011; ‘Pause: A Collection’, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai in 2011; ‘Melange’, The Harrington Street Arts Center, Kolkata in 2011; ‘Adbhutam: Rasa in Indian Art’, Center of International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata in 2011; ‘Reprise 2011’, Aicon Gallery, New York in 2011-2012; ‘Recursor’, Gallery OED Kochi, in 2012, among many others. Parthan has also received many awards, including the “Goa Lalit Kala Academy Award for Artist of the Year,” Goa, in 1981.