Kitsch time, big time : The Tribune India

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Breaking away from the set image or ideas, this flamboyant art is making mismatch the new favourite

Kitsch time, big time

Who says mismatch is a no, no? Mismatch is the new best-matched today.

Kitsch time, big time

There is colour, drama, a little wild imagery in kitsch and, at times, diverse textures are blended to create a pop appeal. Photos: Avishek Mitra



Anju Munshi

Who says mismatch is a no, no? Mismatch is the new best-matched today. The bold with the loud, the bright with the garish are in order, for, this is kitsch time. Aluminium buckets and kettles, plastic cups and saucers, painted in bright and jazzy colours are in vogue. Animated image of an old chaiwalla or a Bollywood actor of yesteryear dancing in a ridiculously flamboyant style is the new favourite with art lovers. Quirky sofa covers, cushions and upholstery with bright tones, film posters, metallic plates with images of music icons or images of famous cartoon characters are doing the round.

Welcome to the kitschy fun world. Kitsch is a German word that means junk. In the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘kitsch’ is defined as worthless. The trend to go kitsch is defined by psychologists as a need to break free and adopt an irrational mode. This finds an outlet in bizarre colours, contrasts and caricatures. It is also a statement of ‘doing my things my way.’ Art has a language and this one talks of freedom, of not conforming to the standards and ethics set by traditional society.

This street imagery is being translated into various fashion and lifestyle arena in the modern age. It is all about creating something that is non-conformist, blunt and bright. For the home crowd, this is a way to identify with Indian ethos, according to artist Anita Sarkar.

“Kitsch art started as pop art, being termed as cheap or ridiculous. But the fact is that it focuses on the cultural trend of the society making it into a creative item. It is a statement on the cultural strand of the times,” she says.

There is colour, drama, a little wild imagery in kitsch and at times diverse textures are blended to create a pop appeal . Wood is combined with ceramic, tin with glass, brass with steel and aluminium with wall paints. In so doing, the basic ethnicity is woven into fashion and lifestyle. Some say kitsch is vulgar, pretentious, insensitive and in bad taste.

Tathagatha Bhaduri, a fabric designer, is of the opinion that it is like comparing Shakespearean couplets to the modern remixes, or Picasso’s work with a brightly splashed hoarding or a poster .

While some call it art, others name it as a cheap form of expression , a creative pursuit that does not match the spirit and appreciation of high art. Mohan Mondol, an artist from Kolkata, feels all forms of art as modes of expressions.

“One could create things with stones, feathers, coins or what have you. Who decides? Who says nudity is unethical? For some, colours like red and orange may be too bright but for me these wake up my spirit.” Mondal enjoys kitsch and holds exhibitions every year in some well-known art galleries of the city.

Ritz Mehta has a home in Bangalore that is full of collectibles like bottles, lamps and cards from all over the world. Her wall space is shared by profound art, along with milky mouse posters and film posters. It is not jarring but very much in style. While travelling round the globe, she likes browsing in the flea markets to find articles that are queer and quaint. Portobello, the famous street market in London, is her favourite haunt. She uses old postcards as a base for splashing colours and one of the paintings in her room is done on an old Hindi language newspaper.

Vineeta Jhawar, homemaker, Kolkata, has in her living room a huge poster on the wall inspired by the famous Bollywood film Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenege starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol: “I got my idea from the Swiss Alps where on entry to one of the peaks you see this famous Bollywood pair. This is unique, classy, ridiculously eye catching, and flamboyant.” Indian kitsch art is capturing street imagery and planting it strategically in the interior of a modern home to make it a happening place, she feels.

In the living room, too, the subdued art is quickly making way for a bright splash of colours or a tapestry that is frayed at the edges with bold red and black stripes going from one end to another. An aluminum bucket is transformed into a wine bucket and a kettle painted bright blue and red becomes a new artefact on the mantlepiece.

This signifies freedom from the colonial sophistication, which defined taste for many years. This is art where colours play riot and beauty spills over, says Shanta Duruvila from Kerala. She loves using broken bangles, conch shells to create beautiful bright wall hanging.

In the fashion industry, kitsch is peeping in too. Manish Arora’s 2013 couture collection saw him using Indian street art, digital prints, and gold colour. He reportedly said that, ‘I don't think I am using colours when I am using colours. Maybe I am weird… I can put red, blue, yellow, orange, green together and it looks convincing to me.”

Kitsch is a strong emotional reaction to everyday experience and uses a highly charged imagery .The urge to go kitsch is quick, automatic, impulsive. It is a passionate reaction to incidents and experiences, and straight from the heart. Whether loved or hated, glorified or condemned, kitsch makes its own statement and that is what that makes it stand out.

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