FLIRTING WITH REALITY

Chintan Upadhaya, born in 1972, creates artistic works that are influenced by the traditional art of rural India, the production techniques of computers, and imbued with the social and cultural questions and concerns of the artist growing up in a traditional society but very much part of a globalized world. Originally wanting to be a scientist, Upadhyay instead chose to be an artist because he felt that art would allow him to examine key issues of modern life, loss of identity, cultural hybridization, genetic engineering, consumerism and commercialization.

He began his art with a key image the Designer Baby, an idealized male baby which allowed him explore issues of identity and alienation in an increasingly homogenized world. Born in rural India, but raised in a modern technologically advanced society, Upadhyay's works reflect the dichotomy he experiences in living in an apparently confusing and mixed up world. His technologically created babies have their skin covered in traditional Indian miniature techniques and iconography, questioning the originality and identity not just of the traditional art but the cloned form of each baby. In the modern world a true or essential identity is impossible to find, as we are increasingly alienated by commoditization and commercialization, and we become detached, alienated and isolated.

One of the key concerns that Upadhyay comments on is cloning. Not just genetic engineering but also the fact that we are all becoming clones as a result of globalization, which is forcing us to lose our cultural traditions and identity as we bow before the altar of commercialization and thus homogenization. Flirting with Reality embodies all of Upadhyay's concerns as the contorted expression on the baby's face tells us that reality is too difficult to accept or deal with. The slightly demonic expression, enhanced by the coat hooks, which resemble devil's horns, on the eyes, tells us that the baby is shocked and horrified when it tries to face reality. It's far better to hang coats over our perception than to see the true state of things.

The figure appears both haunted and hunted as it tries to clone itself in a more happy state. In a contorted cloning effort it produces two more heads and misaligned limbs as it tries to find a happy clone. The body is covered in hunting scenes from the Indian miniature tradition. The hunters with guns and spears are large and sinister, as they stalk their prey both boar and ducks. This work suggests that we too are prey for an increasingly utilitarian and depersonalized world and that we will go through any contortions to reinvent or clone ourselves rather than see reality for what it is a cruel and manipulative world that places no value on our individuality or self-identity. We will in self-delusion try to present a happy face rather than confront the true alienation of modern life.