MOVE TOWARDS THE LOCAL AND PERSONAL IDIOM IN PAINTINGS OF POST INDEPENDENCE PERIOD IN INDIA

Present paper throws light on post colonial 2nd generation Indian painters whose desire to engage with actual and virtual realities of the society gained prominence during 1970’s. and 1980’s. Personal experiences and socio-political unrest provided the required stimulus for highly individual interpretations. The artwork now provoked the viewers to participate in it rather than meekly accept it as a mode of entertainment. Certain naturalistic principles and elements of representation were being challenged and figures on canvas were not solely based on observation but also based on conceptualisation. Different norms of anatomical reconfiguration with strong imagery showed a deliberate shift from academic representation, exploring the individual stylistic choices. Some of the artists used narrative devices to weave stories with descriptive backgrounds relating to specific time and place and certain life experiences whereas others opted for a non representational art, enhancing the formal qualities of line, form and colour. The need to release the repression of consciousness ,positions itself through the understanding of postmodernism.