ANYONE ON THE STREET CAN NOW PROTEST AGAINST ANYTHING

ANYONE ON THE STREET CAN NOW PROTEST AGAINST ANYTHING

Artist Anjolie Ela Menon needs no introduction — her body of work, spanning six decades, does all the talking. She spoke to BT about her work, creative freedom and more. Excerpts from an interview…

Which school of art would you say you belong to? That’s the whole thing — I do not belong to any school of art, but there were many schools that followed me. Every time I innovated, a whole lot of young artists would copy that. New genres that I had created — be it working with computers, painted objects or furniture, retrieving junk from the markets or my window series (a series of paintings in which windows played a pivotal role), many artists copied them. So, I created schools but never copied.
What do you have to say about an artist’s creative freedom? In the name of politics and decency, artists have had to face protests. Where do you think one should draw the line? I don’t think any line has to be drawn. Once you start drawing lines, creative impulse will die. It is very sad, especially because anyone on the street can now protest against anything. For many years, I defended (MF) Husain at many forums and I would often ask them (protesters), ‘Have you seen his paintings?’ Not one hand would go up. It was a huge political gimmick and now, all kind of fundamentalists are trying to stop music, theatre, films and art. I think one of the greatest gifts of a republic is the freedom of expression. Artists have to put their foot down.
Do you think Indian art has a promising future? Art has become commodified. It is very much linked to money and the market is facing a recession. But I think the art market will boom once more. Unfortunately, the boom that took place a few years ago was not because of the collectors, but the investors. The investors stacked paintings, hoping to make a fast buck — all those works are hitting the market now. The market is in a bad shape and many galleries, especially those abroad which were showcasing Indian art, are closing down. But I think there is a great future for Indian art.
What is your advice for upcoming artists? Well, they should think twice about choosing art as a profession. Many of them have to go back to teaching or find other means of (financial) support because the market is bad. If there is real talent, an artist will survive even if he struggles for a few years. But artists also have to be driven. It’s not a vocation, it’s a calling.

Anjolie Ela Menon