Tricity artists hail legendary artist Vivan Sundaram’s art and activism, who passed away on Wednesday

Mona

India’s leading conceptual artist Vivan Sundaram breathed his last on Wednesday morning. Nephew of the legendary artist Amrita Sher-Gil, Sundaram earned prominence as a painter, sculptor, photographer and pioneer of installation art in the country, whose works reflected contemporary issues.

Born in Shimla in 1943 to Kalyan Sundaram, former chairman of Law Commission of India, and Indira Sher-Gil, sister of Amrita Sher-Gil, he was educated at MS University, Baroda and The Slade School of Fine Art, London in the 1960s. He stopped painting and devoted himself to installation art in the 1990s that comprised sculptures, photographs and videos. His work on his family includes an installation called The Sher-Gil Archive.

Sundaram was also the editor of the book, Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self-Portrait In Letters & Writings. His works had been exhibited across the world, including in the Biennials of Kochi (2012). His retrospective, Step Inside And You Are No Longer A Stranger, brought together his 50 years of work and ideas and was held at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi in 2018.

Sundaram’s death spread a pall of gloom in the artistic fraternity. His contemporaries hailed his art and activism. “Vivan Sundaram inherited a legacy and emerged as one of the luminous minds in contemporary Indian art. Through his art he gave a visible voice to our hopes, dreams and aspirations, which are symbolised by his use of discarded ordinary objects. In his death we have lost a voice rooted in the hearts of humanity,” said artist Prem Singh.

“He represented cultural resistance and experimented across mediums without any fear of failure. He was well informed, and was connected with every inch of space and time. He was pioneer across artistic disciplines, be it installation, fusion of photography montages, video, sculpture, painting and more. An erudite speaker, fluent writer, philanthropist, curator, organiser of art events, he was also the founder of Shergil Sundaram Art Foundation,” said Diwan Manna, chairman, Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi.

Tirthankar Bhattacharya, professor, Department of Art History & Visual Arts, too fondly remembers Sundaram, “I have had a long association with him as my father DC Bhattacharyya was his friend. His works were prolific and ahead of the times. He was open to new ideas in his approach, method and style.” Roshini Vadehra, director of Vadehra Art Gallery, called his demise ‘a great loss to the global art community’. “His political activist side was one that we all admired and drew strength from,” shared Vadehra.

Sundaram was 79. He is survived by his wife, art historian and-critic Geeta Kapur.