Varunika Saraf b. 1981
Portents II, 2020
Watercolour on Wasli backed with cotton textile
88 x 100 in
223.5 x 254 cm
(size to be confirmed by Chemould Frames)
223.5 x 254 cm
(size to be confirmed by Chemould Frames)
Copyright The Artist
This painting engages with 'apocalyptic manuscripts” particularly the Augsburg Wunderzeichenbuch, or the Book of Miraculous Signs. Since antiquity, we have been obsessed with interpretations and revelations. Strange and wondrous phenomena,...
This painting engages with "apocalyptic manuscripts” particularly the Augsburg Wunderzeichenbuch, or the Book of Miraculous Signs. Since antiquity, we have been obsessed with interpretations and revelations. Strange and wondrous phenomena, particularly celestial apparitions and other singular meteorological occurrences have been interpreted as signs from the divine or as harbingers of doom. They have played an important role in the way we prophesise, process phenomena, fear as well as political and social upheavals. Drawing inspiration from Griselda Pollock’s work that highlights the importance of invoking memory which “agitates the present to warn us of the continuing threat, not only of genocide but of the experimental elaboration of a system of total domination and systemic dehumanization” (Griselda Pollock & Max Silverman, Concentrationary Imaginaries, 2015), I use 16thcentury iconography of miraculous and apocalyptic visions to engage with the signs that have appeared in the recent years to shed light on the present.
Exhibitions
Exhibited at Critical Constellations: An Exhibition Featuring FICA Grantees, Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi, 2019.
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