Nitin Mukul - Chandelier

Nitin Mukul

In some nations these days, revolt in the name of democracy seems to erupt almost daily while in others complacency is breeding blissful collapse. Volatile shifts in the balance of power seem inevitable. Over-consumption is taking a tangible toll. The media's reductive narratives and sweeping generalizations regarding large swathes of the globe are no longer plausible. New patterns seem to be emerging at a pace more rapid than ever, in terms of technology, nature, policy and social upheaval. Cultural practitioners are also reflecting this multiplicity of voices.  Enter 'Fission'. 'Fusion' as a term often used to describe the melding of different cultures whether in music, or food, seems a bit tiresome and worn out, a marketing gimmick somewhat analogous to assimilation or multiculturalism, where a self-proclaimed mainstream advocates for tolerance of the "Other," according to it's own convenience and within the bounds of what it deems tasteful. What's more interesting to me is 'fission' - when things split apart, reorganize and regenerate, smudging and splintering neatly kept categories and conventional wisdom in the process. The results are not necessarily hybrids, but inauthentic hyper-local and interdisciplinary manifestations resulting from willful or imposed dislocation. Using forms that refer to the worlds constituted by both the social and biological,  I interrogate the parallels, dissonances and grey areas between these alleged poles. The mediums of painting, video and sound allow me to give equal weight to the processes of creation and deterioration,  calling attention to the malleability of fact and the impermanence and fragility of what's around us. Nitin Mukul is a visual artist living and working in Delhi and New York City. He was included in the landmark exhibition of South Asian art 'Edge of Desire/Fatal Love' at The Queens Museum of Art in NYC in 2005. His work has been reviewed in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time Out, Asian Art News and Art India magazine. He has worked as an assistant for the late American minimalist artist Sol Lewitt and was a former Creative Director at the Indocenter of Art & Culture in NYC. He has shown with Nature Morte Gallery in Delhi and The Guild (Mumbai/New York). His work was recently included in Art Asia Miami 2009, Hong Kong Art Fair 2009, Scope Art Basel 2009. He has curated exhibitions at P.S. 122 and Aicon Gallery in NYC and at Arts•I Gallery in Delhi.