Author Description

Through conversations with 30 artists from four generations, Yashodhara Dalmia maps the social, cultural, and historical matrix of art and art creation in India spread over the last 60 years. Spanning four generations of diverse art practices, the two volumes chronicle the journey of Indian art--from the initial years of art creation as it took root in a newly independent country, through the struggle of modern Indian art to establish itself in the face of conservative Indian sensibilities, to the digitization of art in recent times.Accompanied by more than 200 illustrations of art works, in these freewheeling interactions--spread over the last two decades--the artists talk about their ideas and experiences, work processes, and their relationships with each other and with society at large. As the artists dwell on critical issues to do with the social perception of art, influences in Indian art, traditional versus modern sensibilities, and dislocations and convergences, they open windows to the historic perambulations of the layered journey of modern and contemporary Indian art.