The Center of International Modern Art (CIMA) is bringing the curtains down to the six-month-long celebratory fervour of its 30-year journey with a grand exhibition titled “Fantastic Realities and Beyond” at the Visual Arts Gallery from February 29 to March 10 2024. The showcase features artworks of artists spanning generations and offers an invitation to viewers to delve deeper into the captivating world of artistic evolution and diversity across India.
Established in Kolkata in 1993, CIMA was founded with a vision to redefine artistic boundaries and provide a platform for Indian artists to showcase their brilliance. Over these decades, CIMA has played a pivotal role in shaping the narrative of Indian art, challenging conventions, and pushing the limits of creative expression.
To commemorate this milestone, CIMA hosted a series of exhibitions over six months, reflecting the diverse and rich cultural landscape of artistic masters. The final leg of this celebration is marked by Fantastic Realities and Beyond which will open in the capital and will subsequently be showcased at the CIMA Gallery from April 26 to May 25, 2024.
“As CIMA completes three decades, we aim to revisit earlier concerns and pose new questions, broadening the cultural spectrum for the current generation. This exhibition is an opportunity for today’s youth to witness and experience the evolving visual history that shapes and unravels new territories,” says Rakhi Sarkar, the Director of CIMA Gallery.
This exhibition features seminal works by around 50 artists — both celebrated, young and anonymous covering 12 decades from across India, including a musical excerpt from Satyajit Ray’s famous comedy, Goopie Gyan Bagha Byne (based on the original story by his famous grandfather, Upendra Kishore Ray) have been included to provide a holistic overview. Works of artists such as Bikash Bhattacharjee, Shobha Broota, Jitish Kallat, Sudhir Patwardhan, Goutam Pramanick, Arpita Singh, K.G. Subramanium and more will be on display.
Fantastic Realities and Beyond tries to capture the elements of fantasy beyond the modernist tenets of surrealism by infusing postmodern, futuristic ideas into oriental storytelling. Beginning from early 20th-century miniature to highlighting Indian modernist twist on fantasy to contemporary augmented reality, the exhibition unravels a wide spectrum of art from across India. The figurative gradually transcends to the subliminal abstract; borders dissolve and contemporary existential dilemmas, questions and crises take over.
The showcase points towards a profound psychological dilemma of the contemporary world in general and a search and questioning emanating from that; with irony, humor and occasionally, utter shock.