From India to Venice
A Selection of Works by Indian Artists from an Esteemed European Collection

The following selection of works by artists living and working in India are linked by a mutual theme of exploration into the changing environment in which they are created and the influence of both Eastern and Western culture. Housed in an esteemed European collection, this year Atul Dodiya's and Shilpa Gupta's work has been selected to represent India at the country's second ever appearance on the Western stage of the Venice Biennale.

Krishna Swallowing Forest Fire depicts the story of the god Krishna extinguishing a forest fire by swallowing the flames. Intensely cognisant of history, Dodiya entwines stylistic and iconographic characteristics from the East and West, unifying classical myth and political history to fuse fragments of Western art historical masterpieces in a new interpretation. 'In Indian miniature paintings there are many beautiful images of adventures of Lord Krishna as a saviour from the series 'Bhagwat Puran'. Here in my painting Krishna is swallowing forest fire. At the edge of each flame I have placed the museum magnets of great works of art, which I have been collecting from the various western museums. I often convey my interest in the history of art, juxtaposing the references from the diverse sources and try to give a new meaning to an existing image in my work. In this work, it could be me devouring great masterpieces, so in that sense it's also a self-portrait. I enjoy the amalgamation of diverse time and situation in a single picture plane and often feel that the past no longer remains past and reveals itself in the present. The present easily moves and goes back in time. I am fascinated by the idea of mingling time, life and art and it appears empathetically in my work.' - Atul Dodiya (May 2019).