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DIFFERENT One of Naina's works.

Naina Kanodia’s earlier works reflected an ideal happy family, seen mostly in films like “Hum Saath Saath Hain”. Her women are well-clad. They wear traditional Indian sari or salwar-kameez. Her men too are suited-booted. This time, most of them are in a ‘transition phase’. They are clutching on to their traditional values and at the same time seem fascinated by the modern ways of dressing up. They also flaunt works of art in their living rooms. Art for some of the characters is an obsession. And for a few, it’s a statement in glory and one-upmanship.

So, if a flower-seller decides to sell flowers arranged the way Ara (the master painter) did in his works, a Van Gogh flower painting is a fashion statement for an urban family living a lavish lifestyle. A couple obsessed with art, wraps a quilt designed with Raza’s bindu! Another ‘art obsessed’ woman tries to lounge around like Jogen Chowdhury’s reclining nude.

In a fun-filled style, Naina also fiddles with the important characters made by masters in their photographs and paintings. For instance, she decides to take Leonardo da Vinci’s Monalisa out in the picturesque environment to break free from the confines of the museum. Hence, the new Monalisa sports a revealing evening gown, matching pendent and sits pretty amid blooms in the mountain. Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe finds herself surrounded by several clones singing a choir.

In these works titled “Distinguished Company: Pictorial Dialogue”, almost all masters make their presence felt; from Picasso to Raza, Hussain, Tyeb Mehta and so on. “I copied their style for two years and then made the backdrop,” she admits. “I wanted to reflect the people’s current affair with art. It is at times superficial, at times real and at times just for investment reasons,” she says. This show concludes at Art Alive gallery this Friday evening.

Says Naina, “My works have always been touted ‘utopian’. It comes from my upbringing in a joint family where all family members lived in harmony. When I went to Switzerland, London and other such foreign places, I was stunned to see all white ambience there. They are bereft of those vibrant colours and culture that India has. I would always wonder why no one depicts that typical middle class family atmosphere so synonymous with Indian culture. So I decided to paint them.” But Naina didn’t have any formal training as she wasn’t “allowed to go alone” to London’s art institutions or even in Delhi, where she was living, by the elders in her family. So she resorted to art books. “I used to study master painters’ works and learn the technique from several academy books.

As for my child-like style, it comes from the innocence and purity that these families reflect,” concludes Naina.

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