Back of the Book The Dialogues Series explores the concerns, careers and contexts of some of India's most acclaimed artists. Each book in the series takes the form of an extended conversation between an individual artist and the authors, Ranjit Hoskote and Nancy Adajania, two of India's best known and most authoritative critics. The Dialogues Series provides sharply etched portraits of the artists and critically engaged accounts of their work. It sees each artist's journey in review, with its distinctive transitions, breakthroughs and evolutionary rhythms. The Dialogues Series also situates the imagination and lifeworld of the artists within larger art-historical genealogies, cultural narratives and political discussions, both Indian and global. The series aims to create a discursive space in which both enthusiasts and scholars can reflect on the arguments that art and criticism conduct with history. The series is founded on the belief that the history of art does not simply revolve around the personalities of individual artists or the trends of the day; it also records the vital historical and philosophical questions that are posed and played out on the contested terrain of art.
Introduction Foundation b & g is a contemporary arts publishing and curatorial initiative, launched in January 2009 by Popular Prakashan, an 87-year-old publishing house that pioneered high- quality publishing in the social sciences, history and literature in India. The Foundation aims to develop a serious knowledge infrastructure for India's contemporary visual arts. Its mission is to inform the enthusiast and to augment the bandwidth of the informed. The Foundation's objective is to achieve a convergence among artists, critics, curators, viewers and readers. It has planned a publishing programme that includes entry-level, intermediate and specialist books. At school level, it will model an art pedagogy that is responsive and participatory: to cultivate new generations that will not regard culture as alien to normal life, but will embrace it as a necessary condition of being.
foundation b & g, which already has seven exhibitions and three monographs to its credit, now presents an important publishing initiative, The Dialogues Series, which is targeted to art enthusiasts in general and students of art in particular.
The Dialogues Series explores the concerns, careers and contexts of some of India's most acclaimed artists. Those featured in this continuing series of books include Anju Dodiya, Ashim Purkayastha, Atul Dodiya, Baiju Parthan, Gargi Raina, Iranna G R, Madhvi Parekh, Manu Parekh, Jagannath Panda, Justin Ponmany, Ranbir Kaleka, Riyas Komu, Sumedh Rajendran and Veer Munshi. They represent several generations and positions within the richly diverse domain of contemporary Indian art.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
