Gau – Mata: The Maternal Cow

The artist dialogues with modernity in terms of tradition speaking to contemporary concerns. Here he explores, without turning didactic, the material and spiritual values attached to the worship of the cow in contemporary societies that however remain deeply patriarchal and hypocritical. Sidhartha depicts the interrelation between and the layering of religion, tradition and modernity. The worship of the Nandi, of the linga, with its invocation of male power and seminality, is juxtaposed to the cow and its utilization in the socio-economic sphere. All through this section we see the celebration of duality in Indian tradition and its tapering into the linear monolithic modernity. Five thousand years of history of living together in temporal and spatial realms in India is being depicted through these painting. Yet, this art is devoid of alienation that comes from derivative and imitative trends which have come to represent most contemporary Indian art.

Ms. Seema Bawa