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Lot Essay
TV Santhosh reinvents images of global conflict, terrorism, acts of politically motivated violence and their victims, borrowed from various media sources, on his canvases. This painting exemplifies Santhosh's signature style: shockingly bright neon colors create the effect of a color photographic negative where light and dark areas are reversed.
Santhosh's works are often categorized as political, but the artist prefers to think of it as a process of ethical and philosophical questioning. The humanism distilled in his works demand that the viewer resist detachment from reality. "We cannot be elsewhere when the event takes place. We cannot take solace, like viewers of the TV news, in the fact that we are elsewhere, in comfortable living rooms far away from the action. These paintings remind us that, morally, we are where the action is; and the action is where we are." (N. Adajania, 'No Alibis for the Image', T.V. Santhosh: Unresolved Stories 2004-2007, p. 11)
Since the late 1990s, Santhosh has participated in many international exhibitions including Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2011), The Saatchi Gallery, London (2010), Museum of Contemporary Art -- MOCA, Shanghai (2009) and Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi (2009). In 2012, Santhosh was the only Indian artist to be represented in the 11th Havanna Biennial.
Santhosh's works are often categorized as political, but the artist prefers to think of it as a process of ethical and philosophical questioning. The humanism distilled in his works demand that the viewer resist detachment from reality. "We cannot be elsewhere when the event takes place. We cannot take solace, like viewers of the TV news, in the fact that we are elsewhere, in comfortable living rooms far away from the action. These paintings remind us that, morally, we are where the action is; and the action is where we are." (N. Adajania, 'No Alibis for the Image', T.V. Santhosh: Unresolved Stories 2004-2007, p. 11)
Since the late 1990s, Santhosh has participated in many international exhibitions including Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2011), The Saatchi Gallery, London (2010), Museum of Contemporary Art -- MOCA, Shanghai (2009) and Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi (2009). In 2012, Santhosh was the only Indian artist to be represented in the 11th Havanna Biennial.