Editorial

It has been an enriching and rewarding journey over the last three months as I sat on my table editing the three issues of Art Etc. news & views dedicated to Protest Art. I have observed much and remembered more, but what excited me most was the way I came across and learnt so many things.

It was such a well rewarding experience to revisit Frida Kahlo, Jane Alexander and the graffiti art of the MENA countries through a new perspective. I have also touched upon the American Object Orange movement, which is a way to protest against the dwindling of heritage buildings in Detroit.....read more

Creative Impulse

Shibu Natesan Speaks on Protest Art

There is a huge gap between Ravi Varma and KCS Paniker in the history of Kerala art. Most Kerala artists studied under KCS Paniker in Madras except for Madhava Menon, K. G. Subramanyan and A Ramachandren (they studied in Santiniketan till the 70s). The kind of art practiced in Madras was very different from that of the progressive artists of Mumbai or the rest of India. The art practice of Madras artists was deeply rooted in Indian philosophy.....read more

Revisited
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Rising Against Rambo: Political Posters Against US Aggression

Art with a political or cultural purpose, be it Agitprop or protest art, remains a mere chimera and is ineffective if it is confined to high art, a domain of the elite. Genuine effective resistance comes from the universalizing of protest. Propaganda and posters become focal points or the teleological locus for such discontent and assist in converting discontent into resistance....read more
 

 Feature

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Transient Imageries and Protests (?)

Art, a phenomena which would have never been defined, to label it under any form is marring its versatility. The new media practices in India, also considered 'cutting edge' art, can be a protest in its own way to the traditional art practices. The art practices and their evolution have never been linear, what differentiates these practices from the earlier is the transgression of regular mediums of painting, sculpture and so on. The cutting edge art itself is kind of a protest, liberating from accepted notions of art. The similar practices in India mark diminutive outcomings in contemporary. It is imperative to study these with an open mind, without any prior perceptions withheld........read more

Ceative Impulse
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 The Inner Voice

Protest art in a contemporary sense calls for the use of art as a medium to project and express an innate idea which is eventually bound to create a shift in the understanding of the public. It, in many ways, is a silent form of portraying a thought without the adaptation of extreme means  simply put, art takes the place of a spokesman for the artist, juxtaposed with the artist's personal style. Modern protest art rose to high focus especially in the sixties, when art found space beyond galleries and museums and positioned themselves in places freely accessible to the public. In India, although the use of art (to protest) has been rather gradual......read more

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Buddha to Brecht: The Unceasing Idiom of Protest

Though David Diop (1927-1960), the writer of this iconic poem, didn't coin the term Negritude, it embodies both Black ideology and the protest of the 20th century most succinctly. It's not just race pride that the poet wishes to highlight, though he certainly does that, particularly in the last stanza, calling attention to “that young and sturdy tree” among “white and faded flowers” that “puts ......read more

Collectible
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Cartier: "Les Must de Cartier"

Heralded by the regnant Prince of Wales, Edward VII as a 'Joaillier des Rois, Roi des Joaillier', the proud and distinguished history of the Cartier aesthetics is as resplendent and extravagant as the literal translation of these famous words. Translating to 'Jeweller of the Kings, King of Jewellers', the Cartier line of watches, jewellery and luxury accessories have enthralled royalty and hoi-polloi alike, and has been celebrated all across...read more

Collector's Corner
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Delfina Entrecanales - 25 Years to Build a Legend

There are not many people like Delfina Entrecanales in the art world. Rich, discreet, energetic, publicity shy and at 85 years old Delfina can proudly say she is the grandmother of many an artists. Her legend started in 1988 when she opened a few artists' studios in London. Not to rent them......read more 

Market Monitor
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Asia Week at New York

It is significant what the news agency AFP predicted before the recently concluded Asia Week art sales in New York, between March 17 and March 24. “New York art dealers might need to pull out marker pens and add zeros to their price tags during Asia Week sales starting this week in auction houses and galleries across the city. Once a backwater of the international....read more