When Virginia Woolf wrote about women needing money and a room of their own to pursue their creativity, she was speaking of the time needed for women to create art. But what about the afterlife of art? It would not be wrong to argue that women artists have to fight for a place of their own not just in life but also long after their creative process is done. The world is often woefully blind to feminine talent — historically speaking, women artists have been overlooked, forced to work under male pseudonyms, or been reduced to just being partners of famous male artists. Art galleries have, unfortunately, mirrored such prejudices in the name of catering to public taste. Hearteningly, this has been changing with more exhibitions worldwide focussing on women artists, both from the past and the present.
Of Spaces of Their Own: Women Artists in 20th Century India, held at Akar Prakar recently, was one such show. Some of the artists exhibited — Amrita Sher-Gil, Meera Mukherjee, Reba Hore, for instance — achieved popular recognition that eluded many of their peers. But some of the others whose works were on display have achieved fame for their stellar talent only within artistic circles. Take the case of Kiran Barua: she studied with Ramkinkar Baij and Ossip Zadkine and her ceramic works reveal not only a fascinating intermingling of various idioms but also layers of feminist discourse. There was also one playful linocut of monkeys eating and grooming each other that was as simple as it was lifelike. Sunayani Devi was brought out from the shadow of her brothers, Gaganendranath and Abanindranath Tagore, with watercolours that spot the beauty in the mundane within the domestic sphere. The delicate washes she achieves are no less meritorious than those of her brothers. The influence of Nandalal Bose was evident in the fine-lined, ornate works of his daughter, Gouri Bhanja (picture). The large batik work inspired by alpana traditions was especially stunning. Similarly, M.V. Dhurandhar left a definite mark on the masterful figurations of Ambika Dhurandhar. In this context, it must be asked why the influence of one’s male relatives is seen as something that diminishes the worth of a female artist. After all, some of the most prized pieces of art in the world are the result of such cross-pollination.
Devyani Krishna reduced scenes to pure abstractions of shape and shade that elude definition, yet remain oddly familiar. Her style bears a definite imprint of the deep impact that Tibetan culture had on her. Zarina Hashmi, too, perceives the world in elemental shapes, reducing the idea of man-made borders to a farce. Wall I, a bird’s-eye-view of patches of land, is a poignant reminder that life on either side of the Radcliffe Line is frightfully similar. Meera Mukherjee’s sculpture of an overcrowded bus was as whimsical as it was intricate. In the shapes of each character hanging on for dear life could be discerned subtle eccentricities. Leela Mukherjee’s sculptures, on the other hand, are more primordial and bold, but no less evocative in their characteristics. As vivid were the inscriptions that marked Ira Choudhuri’s pottery, like the tales that were told on Grecian urns. The bronze busts by Kamala Dasgupta were exceptionally realistic, with each wrinkle and fold of the skin telling a story.
Nasreen Mohamedi is not an artist who catches the eye easily: her canvases are sedate in both colour and form. Yet, there is something mesmerising about the way she can achieve visual variations and create the impression of different planes on a flat surface with such few shades. She teaches us to be sensitive to dissimilitude. In stark contrast is the burst of colours in B. Prabha’s depiction of dense flora and the shadows formed by the leaves as well as in the moody and vivid hues characteristic of Reba Hore’s bold pastel works. Many would know the works by Amrita Sher-Gil. But the works at this show presented a rather different side to her, a childish caprice in the watercolours which depict a fairytale world in the woods populated just by women, capturing the essence of this exhibition in the most touching way.