Androgeny and Art

[Guest guest]

Engendering a new art form

 

by Shreevatsa Nevatia

 

December 4, 2005

The Hindustan Times

(HindustanTimes.com)

 

Gender experiments are in vogue for a host of visual

artists. Their art, which is often referred to as a feminist

statement, seeks to challenge the stereotypical binary

construction of male and female and draws inspiration

from many a source -- mythology, history or even, the

absurd.

 

Renowned artist Arpana Caur laments, "People usually

slot me as a woman artist and think that the issues that I

will explore will pertain to women. But a lot more has

been featured on my canvas." She refers to her series on

the Buddha, Nanak and Kabir as cases in point.

 

"Women are coming into their own and are playing

masculine roles all the time," she adds. Her most recent

work, The Green Circle, is an embodiment of just this

idea.

 

Part of a larger series that addresses environmental and

gender concerns simultaneously, this work shows Sita

drawing a circle around herself. It is a significant

departure from the mythological text of Ramayana,

where it is Lakshman who draws a line with his arrow

to protect Sita. Caur has also used the image of Sita to

personify the Earth, thereby representing the

subjugation of both the woman and our planet at the

hands of their supposed protector, man.

 

Mythology has also been a point of concern for Sheba

Chhachhi, a Delhi-based artist. Her work, Viraj/Vich: "I

am Purusha", is a reconstructed mythological image.

Chhachhi believes that "even the narration of

androgyny in mythology is from a very male

perspective." For instance, the story of Vishnu

transforming himself into Mohini is very popular but

there seems to be no account of a female deity

appropriating masculinity.

 

Chhachhi found various textual references where the

goddess Devi says, "I am Purusha", but did not find any

iconography to support this claim. Her work is an effort

to fill this void. The image tells the story of Viraj/Vich,

the first human who arose out of the dividing primeval

water. Some say that Viraj is male, while others believe

it was a female that arose from the waters. Rather than

taking sides, Chhachhi has infused her work with

multiple layers to show that "masculinity or femininity

are continuously changing."

 

The work of Abir Karmarkar is perhaps a perfect

demonstration of masculinity and femininity being fluid

constructs. He has painted himself as a woman in a

series of portraits. The images show an ambiguously

androgynous figure with a male face and a female body.

He says, "The boundaries between what is masculine

and feminine are really very blurred. It all depends on

who you want to be at what time."