Thukral & Tagra

Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra
Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra standing outside YBCA San Francisco
Born	1976, 1979 Jalandhar, New Delhi
Nationality	Indian
Website	www.thukralandtagra.com

Known informally as T&T, Jiten Thukral (born 1976) and Sumir Tagra (born 1979) are visual artists who have been collaboratively creating art since 2000 to produce exuberant, colourful, yet darkly humorous works in a dizzying range of media, including painting, interactive installations, film, design and games.^[1] Over the years they have had notable exhibitions at the sixth edition of the Asia Pacific Triennial, Centre Georges Pompidou,^[2] Paris, Arken Museum, Denmark, Kunstmuseum, Bochum, Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art, France and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo. In 2010 they held a solo show “Match Fixed” at the Ullens Centre of Contemporary Art, Beijing and in 2015 they were invited to mount a solo show Games People Play at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad City Museum in Mumbai.^[3] They are represented by Nature Morte, New Delhi.

Early Life and Background

Jiten Thukral was born in Jalandhar, Punjab. He earned his BFA from Chandigarh Art College in 1998 and his MFA in 2000 at College of Art, Delhi. Sumir Tagra completed his BFA in 2002 from College of Art, Delhi and received his post-graduate degree at National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.^[4]

Works

Thukral & Tagra's inspiration begins with the reality of traditional values transfused with their ideas of modern times in the context of North India. As such, the duo could be said to project the visual culture of the young Indian’s dreams and aspirations today with the help of pop culture references. Their work has described as a fusion of graphic design, candy colours, and international pop culture references^[5] that reflects and often satirizes India's middle class aesthetics and aspirations. Ever since their break-out show, Iconography bosedkdesigns.com, they have persistently dwelled on the subject of migration, the nouveau riche Punjabi culture and criticized the globalized, rampant consumer culture in India.^[6] They refer to the ongoing exodus of Punjabis to different parts of the world in search of a better life an "escape" project. In an interview with BLOUIN ARTINFO Singapore in 2013, during their show at Art Plural Gallery titled "Longing for Tomorrow," they said, "We've been working on this 'escape' project for a while now looking at the idea of leaving the country for a better life, with people juggling their new lives with carrying on keeping in touch with their families, sending money. We come from Punjab and the majority of people there identify success with the idea of migration, going to Canada or New York in search of a better life. However, the reality is not always what they had hoped for.^[7]

Thukral & Tagra blur the lines between High Art and Popular Culture, product placement and exhibition design, and artistic inspiration and media hype.^[8]

Their more recent work is highly interactive and explores social commentary through a competitive form of gaming, whether by referencing the traditional Indian game of Kabbadi, Japanese Pachinko, Billiards, Table Tennis or even Wrestling. "Games People Play," their 2015 show at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Mumbai was entirely game-inspired and takes as its point of departure the museum's collection of Ganjifa cards.^[9]

Artist Residencies

In 2009 Thukral & Tagra were invited to do a residency at Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI) where they concocted an irresistible assortment of works on paper for the exhibition “Low-Tech Family Vacations”, featuring a seductive mix of beautifully composed graphics that animate with specially designed digital components. In 2011 they were invited for a residency at Edition Copenhagen^[10] and also at the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory near Dresden, Germany.^[11] In 2015 they were a part of a residency at Khoj International Artists Association^[12] that culminated in an exhibition titled Level 01 in January 2016 at KHOJ.^[13]

The Foundation Thukral & Tagra

Established in 2009, The Foundation Thukral & Tagra, aims to spread awareness about the transmission of HIV and to dispel misinformation about AIDS. By employing their multi-disciplinary creativity, playfulness and humor that are hallmarks of their art practice, Thukral & Tagra explore new avenues of communication and education to bring the issues of HIV and AIDS to the public. Their efforts are predominantly targeted towards the urban, middle-class youth, as this demographic group now enjoys leisure time, a measure of privacy and a disposable income, all of which contribute to increased sexual activity at an earlier age. The goal is to break through the ingrained embarrassment associated with talking about sexual activity so that the subject of safe sex practices can be introduced. By positioning their imagery and products at a variety of points in the consumer society (in upscale malls and low-income street markets, on wearable items and printed give-aways) and collaborating with health care NGOs who are already working in the field, Thukral & Tagra hope to create situations where parents and children, flirtatious teens, and inexperienced peer groups are coaxed into addressing the subject and are educated so that they can make responsible choices.^[14]

The work, apart from being colourful with motifs flying across the skies, there is an undercurrent of playful irony in these romantic depictions, like in their ‘Put it On, Again’ exhibition. Although their works are playful and humorous, they ask serious questions about sexuality and the new Indian identity in the 21st Century global context.^[15]

The exhibition “Put It On” continues from their 2007 solo exhibition (“Put It On,” Bose Pacia, New York) with a body of work that addresses the themes of safe sex practices as a result of the increased sexual activity among Indian youth, against the backdrop of traditional perceptions of sexuality in the country. With their characteristic use of pop culture imagery, graphic, seductive colors, sardonic wit and insightful juxtapositions, Thukral & Tagra address serious subjects through a humorous façade, engaging paintings, consumer products and sculptural installations in the mix.^[16]

As part of Level 01, Thukral & Tagra presented the installation work “The Beautiful Game,” first created for the India Art Summit. Acknowledging the competitiveness and sense of sport that lie at the heart of courtship and romance, a simplified game of billiards invited couples to test their skill and luck to win T&T merchandise. While this merchandise educates about safe sex practices, the form of the billiards game itself acted as a metaphor for both the anxiety associated with sexual awakening and the thrill of amorous adventures. By creating the atmosphere of a gaming hall in the context of an art gallery, Thukral & Tagra lured the public into a dialogue about a subject they may usually do everything to avoid.^[17]

In works like Wonder Woman II (2011), for example, Thukral & Tagra mix iconic Indian motifs—lotus flowers—with iconic images from Western pop culture—of Superman—to explore the juxtapositions of East and West, traditional and new, enduring and ephemeral in Indian culture and identity in the 21st century.^[18]

Publications

2015 Bathtub, published by D2^[19]
2014 Longing for tomorrow, Volume 2, Somnium Genero Meissen Porcelain, Published by Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, New Delhi
2012 Q, Volume 1, Published by Thukral & Tagra studio^[20]
2009 Low Tech Family Vacations, Published by Singapore Tyler Print Institute and Thukral & Tagra studio^[21]
2007 Thukral & Tagra, Published by Gallery Nature Morte and Thukral & Tagra Studio^[22]

References

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