Details
ASHIM PURKAYASTHA
(Born in 1967)
Wanted 2 (Objects in the Mirror are Closer than they Appear)
signed and dated 'Ashim; 07' (on reverse)
watercolour on paper over mirrored glass
75.8 x 101x 6.4 cm. (30 x 40 x 2½ in.)
Executed in 2007

Exhibited
New Delhi,Bodhi Art , 26 May - 30 June 2007.

Lot Essay

Ashim in his series of works titled Wanted 2 (Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear) (Lot 624) portrays the official images of terrorists that the government issues after they are recreated as sketches based on accounts from eye witnesses. A master of allegories, the artist calls them "symptomatic terrorist portraits" and plays with the idea of the interchangeable identity of a terrorist versus an activist.

The artist uses a mirror as the base on which the portraits are reflected which refers to the use of mirror in security check points where they are slid under vehicles in search of any form of ammunition. The mirror also acts as a medium that brings the viewer closer to these portraits and thereby the viewer becoming one with them.

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