The Secrets of the Gargantuan

After starting his one-week tour de force at the Fortress Hohensalzburg on Monday, Jitish Kallat already presented himself in a lunchtalk this Tuesday. Completely leaving out his background, which might have been a bit disappointing fro the mainly western audience but showed once again why he had been chosen as a speaker for our global art forum, he presented several projects in his work, mainly one in Mumbai and one in Chicago.

It soon becomes apparent that he loves to play with materials and with making things look as-if, like in his work Public Notice 2 that spells out the speech Mahatma Ghandi held in 1930 before starting his Dandi march. The entire words of the speech are put into what seems like bones, but is actually steel and resin. "We studied all kinds of bones prior to making the letters", says the artist, "after a while the smell in the studio became unbearable."

This concept is also seen in his exhibition in the newly renovated Bh

au Daji Lad Museum in Mumbai, where, poking fun at the long time it spent in disrepair, the artist put up what looks like bamboo scaffolding but is in fact intricately carved resin.

Another aspect of Mr. Kallat's work is the monumental. Asked about this, he says that "I always liked the huge, the oversized, even when he was still studying painting." He adds, smiling, "I enjoy making works so large that people have to step really close to see what it actually is."

Jitish Kallat's class Off Course will be presenting the outcome of a without doubts highly productive week at our open day on Friday, the 5th of August, starting at 2 pm in both the Fortress and the alte Saline in Hallein, and lasting until 6 pm, with an additional finissage at the fortress that will last from 6 to 9 pm. Hoe to see you there.   [mp]