Bharat Sikka belongs at the top of India’s photography spectrum: his work has been exhibited internationally and regularly graces the pages of a wide variety of publications. Often credited as a fashion and editorial photographer, Sikka’s work seems to extend across the many domains of photography – most comfortably settling in a dynamic position within the fine art world.
His new body of work “MATTER” embodies this enterprise by covering a range of different formats from street and studio photography to landscape and portrait. At the heart of “MATTER” lies India’s confused contemporary identity. The screaming bright colours so tightly wound into India’s representation are replaced by varying shades of muted gray and silver, black and white, every now and then a looming dash of colour will creep it’s way into “MATTER”.
The dichotomies of Indian culture are plastered all over the walls, where tradition and urban living come face to face in the uneven blend that makes up this country in the throes of transition. This sense of shifting uncertainty and fast paced living that lurks in the corner of each picture also inhabits the space in which “MATTER” chooses to unpack itself in. It has been exhibited a number of times in Delhi and Berlin, Sikka now turning to the warehouse-like space of Mehboob Studio to unfold his narrative of contemporary India.
Like many of Focus’ exhibitions, Sikka’s pop-up show refuses to be contained by the traditional gallery space. The enormous poster of a dead bird that hangs over the front of Studio 5 suggests that this is no normal exhibition. In the space of two days, the nondescript space tucked away behind the parking lot has been transformed into Sikka’s visual journal, now filled with the people and places that make up the unfinished stories of “MATTER”, which he continually adds to. Portraits are tacked up to the van in the parking lot and inside, through the fog that is being pumped into the room, a manic slideshow is flickering on the wall.
Unlike the static, conventional photography exhibition, “MATTER” is in-progress. The storytelling never stops as Sikka snaps guests in a pop-up studio throughout the night, unsuspecting visitors one minute, in front of the Hassleblad the next. The party is barely over when the team silently move in and start pulling the pieces off the walls. Their brief 5 hour stint in Studio 5 has come to an end having come alive and given us a glimpse into Bharat Sikka’s frenetic personal universe, and will now be stored away until next time.