Art Of The City

Wednesday, June 01, 2005 | 0 comments

Fine photography is let down by superficial writing in a recent study of graphic art, opines

Richard Turner

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Graphicswallah- Graphics in India Apparently inspired by the Victoria and Albert Museum's Cinema India exhibition of film memorabilia in 2002, Keith Lovegrove's sumptuous survey extends to include advertising and street signage in general. Graphicswallah (London: Laurence King Publishing 2003) benefits hugely from the beautiful photography by Andrew Hasson. 180 of Hasson's carefully composed images, taken in Mumbai and throughout Tamil Nadu, bear testimony to the riot of colour on India's streets, much of it created by skilled and imaginative painters. This book is, the author declares, a tribute to those craftsmen.

Lovegrove views his subject from a changing series of points. Assuming no prior knowledge of India on the part of the reader, he begins with a potted history before looking at specific details of the modern scene. He is generally accurate, though facts are sometimes stretched to accommodate exoticism. For example, Lovegrove implies that 800 films are produced in Bollywood per year, whereas you would really have to include regional language films - and a lot of cheap sex and violence flicks - to reach that sort of figure. Likewise, he mentions the Hindustan Ambassador but forgets the Maruti and the depressing trend towards bland Japanese and German designs in Indian motoring. It's all a little out of date and reminiscent of the Lonely Planet tourist guidebook.

The author often fails to engage fully with his subject. There's a description of the atmosphere at hoarding painter Balkrishna Vaidya's Mumbai studio, but little information about the man himself. And, quite amazingly, Lovegrove is granted an audience with MF Husain which produces no direct quotations at all - only the writer's self-indulgent ramble about how unreal it all seems.

At times, Lovegrove is happy to forget all about graphics and discuss social issues such as AIDS and pollution. This is all very well written and very well intentioned but not necessarily relevant. Buy it for the fantastic photographs.

Copyright veena magazine 2004. Used by permission.
This article was first published in the February 2004 issue of veena Indian Arts Review.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005 | permalink | 0 comments

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