Centennial Man

A seminal exhibition of K.G. Subramanyan's works in his birth centenary year at Emami Art, Kolkata takes an imaginative and immersive curatorial approach

- Ruchir Joshi

K.G. Subramanyan was one of the most important artists of the post-independence Indian Modernists. Differently from the Progressives of Bombay and others, KG (as he was widely known) was also a bridge between Santiniketan Modernism and the energetic manthan of work that developed in India from the 1950s onwards. In a career spanning nearly 70 years, KG produced brilliant, amazingly varied work in various mediums.

Superb draughtsman, wicked colourist, constantly funny and witty, with a deep yet deeply un-pompous connection to the subcontinent's long historical visual vernacular, KG's work has been recognised and viewed in several exhibitions during and after his lifetime. The challenge for any curator is to bring the work afresh to viewers. In this, Nancy Adajania's show-One Hundred Years and Counting: Re-Scripting KG Subramanyan-at Emami Art, Kolkata (on till June 21) succeeds beautifully.