Paris-Delhi-Bombay

With works by over fifty artists from France and India, this encyclopedic exhibition launches the summer program at the Centre Pompidou.

Bringing an Indian summer to Paris, this encyclopedic exhibition has the worthy goal of producing an 'unprecedented collaboration' between the two nations of France and India. Including the work of more than 50 artists, selected from both countries, Paris-Delhi-Bombay clearly sets its sights high: the curators attempt to open a dialogue about the issues affecting contemporary Indian life, from the political to the social, the urban to the agrarian.

Loris Gréaud, The Bragdon Pavilion. Video installation, 2011

The show's premise is ambitious and sprawling, but the physical arrangement of the exhibition attempts to impose a formal logic. Visitors enter into a central chakra area, which acts as an information hub, attempting to provide a whistle-stop 101 of cultural values. The exhibition and works are loosely ordered under such general headings as identity, politics, family life, which spiral off from the centre—there's the obligatory Bollywood corner, of course, and oversized lurid religious iconography a gogo.

Nalini Malani, Remembering Mad Meg. Video & mixed media installation, 2007–2010

Subodh Gupta, <i>Ali Baba,</i> 2011. — Subodh Gupta, *Ali Baba,* 2011.

Paralleling the problem of discussing India itself, the variety and contrast among the huge selection of artists makes it difficult to single out any one to discuss. Subodh Gupta, one of the more widely exhibited figures here, has developed an idiom of Indian kitchen utensils. In Ali Baba, his new installation for the Pompidou, Gupta moves out of the home environment to set up a store of gleaming stainless steel treasure, of which he is the proprietor.

Bharti Kher, <i>Reveal The Secrets That You Seek,</i> 2011. Mirror and wooden frames, bindis. Courtesy of the artist. Made with the support of Galerie Perrotin, Paris — Bharti Kher, *Reveal The Secrets That You Seek,* 2011. Mirror and wooden frames, bindis. Courtesy of the artist. Made with the support of Galerie Perrotin, Paris

Bharti Kher's treatment of antique framed mirrors—aggressively smashed, and painstakingly mended with bindis, the Hindu dot usually worn by married women—is one of her most poignant works using this sacred leitmotif. Meanwhile, the cheeky humour of artist-duo Thukral and Tagra, or 'T&T', belies a serious mission: to use their blend of religious imagery with stylised infographics, to bring a brazen safe-sex message to all—even gentrified—audiences.

All the work here is framed in the context of a commentary on modern India, which can limit the ability of the pieces to work on their own terms.

Thukral & Tagra, <i>Kingdom Come V</i> (Group), 2011 — Thukral & Tagra, *Kingdom Come V* (Group), 2011

Notable contributions from French artists include the razor sharp poetry of Cyprien Gaillard's framed polaroid photographs, and the diagrammatic marvelling of Alain Bublex. Usings techniques of architectural diagramming, Bublex attempts to understand the vernacular and improvised in a studied, scientific manner, at once enacting the essence of ontological difference. A collaboration between Studio Harcourt and Pushpamala N. is also a special moment, yielding incredibly witty interpretations of iconic French art-historical images.

Cyprien Gaillard, <i>Indian Palm Study I,</i> 2011. Collection of 9 Polaroids. Supported by Sprüth Magers, Berlin / Londres, Bugada & Cargnel, Paris and the participation of Centre Pompidou, Paris — Cyprien Gaillard, *Indian Palm Study I,* 2011. Collection of 9 Polaroids. Supported by Sprüth Magers, Berlin / Londres, Bugada & Cargnel, Paris and the participation of Centre Pompidou, Paris

Yet the exhibition as a whole suffers from a lack of discrimination, meaning that sufficient breathing room is not given to artists who would benefit from closer attention. The video installations of Raqs Media Collective and the epic performances of Nikhil Chopra, to name but two examples, demand more than can be given to them in such a broad-based and kaleidoscopic survey. Graphic artist Sarnath Banerjee's fantastical narratives, so intimate in their humorous revelations, are here folded in as one of many angst-ridden attempts at self-inquiry. The selection of artists came down to contemporaneity; perhaps to the detriment of the exhibition, all the work here is framed in the context of a commentary on modern India, which can limit the ability of the pieces to work on their own terms.

Nikhil Chopra <i>Broken White II</i> (performance still) 2011. — Nikhil Chopra *Broken White II* (performance still) 2011.

Director Alain Seban has described the exhibition as a continuation of the Pompidou's city-based exhibitions in the late 1970s: with shows such as Paris-Moscou and Paris-New York, the then-nascent Centre attempted to discover the history of contemporary art and design. Paris-Delhi-Bombay rather tries to imagine art's future, doubtless taking into account the economic and developmental shifts that are synonymous with any contemporary discussion of India. This speculative aim is reflected in the unfocused nature of the exhibition; though occasionally brilliant, Paris-Delhi-Bombay is more comprehensive than it is insightful.
Shumi Bose

Sarnath Banerjee, <i>1943,</i> 2011. Courtesy of the artist. Made with the support of Galerie Perrotin, Paris. — Sarnath Banerjee, *1943,* 2011. Courtesy of the artist. Made with the support of Galerie Perrotin, Paris.

Paris-Delhi-Bombay

With works by over fifty artists from France and India, this encyclopedic exhibition launches the summer program at the Centre Pompidou.

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