Review of Mrinali Mukherjee at RA | Berlin Art Link

"Contextual modernism can be understood as a response to modernism; one that considers the particular historical and cultural contexts modernism enters into-in this case, South Asia. It is distinct from other movements, such as the Bengal School, which sought to position itself along nationalist lines and in opposition to British Colonial rule. Collaboration is fundamental to Santiniketan's teachings, whether among the artists themselves or with what we would consider the "natural environment" that surrounds them."

"Another feature of the school's ethos is experimentation, which is reflected both in form and style. It is difficult to describe the rich and divergent facets: some works are abstract, others appeal to traditional or Indigenous Indian styles and a minority feel somewhat familiarly modernist. Benode Behari Mukherjee's collages, created when his eyesight had deteriorated into blindness, bear a resemblance to Matisse's cut-out works. K. G. Subramanyan's 'Untitled (Reclining Woman)' (1980) and 'Birth of Mahavir' (2002) seem to channel Picasso."

"'A Story of South Asian Art' is an exhibition that centers on Mrinalini Mukherjee but encompasses works by other representatives of contextual modernism; the thread that roughly holds this almost century-long journey together. Contextual modernism can be understood as a response to modernism; one that considers the particular historical and cultural contexts modernism enters into-in this case, South Asia. It is distinct from other movements, such as the Bengal School, which sought to position itself along nationalist lines and in opposition to British Colonial rule."

A Story of South Asian Art centers Mrinalini Mukherjee while including peers who represent contextual modernism across almost a century. Contextual modernism responds to modernism by attending to the particular historical and cultural contexts of South Asia. The approach differs from the Bengal School's nationalist opposition to British Colonial rule. Santiniketan's pedagogy emphasizes collaboration and engagement with the natural environment, bringing together ceramics, fibre and fabric works made by peers, parents and educators. Experimentation in form and style yields abstract, traditional, indigenous and modernist-inflected works. Benode Behari Mukherjee's collages recall Matisse's cut-outs, while K. G. Subramanyan's works evoke Picasso.

Read at Berlin Art Link