For Asia NOW 2024, Modesti Perdriolle presents a selection of works of Indian artist T.Venkanna.

“Over the years, Venkanna has developed his own peculiar, robust iconography. There is an emphasis on opening up an informed dialogue about birth, death and procreation, which are the fundamentals of all beings on earth, in much of his work. These are his prisms for understanding society and humanity. On the one hand, he shows us fear, anxiety and acts of violence; on the other, there is lush beauty, harmony with nature and a sense of wonder. One element subverts the other, pushing the viewer to think along broader lines. A direct, linear understanding of his work would offer a limited perspective. The aim of the sexually explicit and often violent imagery isn’t titillation; it is rather to open discussions about gender inequality, discriminatory societal norms, sexual preferences, fertility, environment, human nature, animal instincts and the play of power.

Venkanna says, “Life is not as happy as one thinks. There is a fear of life. There is darkness in all of us.” As a 43-year old male artist, Venkanna doesn’t shy away from addressing gender vulnerabilities. In the events and encounters he depicts, there is often an awkwardness but there is also an audaciousness in equal measure. Behind what may be construed as a semi-pornographic visual register of images lies art that speaks to a shifting self and its mythic pasts.” Jasmine Shah Varma.