India's N.S. Harsha is among nine artists shortlisted for the third Artes Mundi Prize. The prize looks for works that debate many of today's big issues.
Man's destruction of the environment, AIDS' destruction of man and the problems of marginalized societies are just three of the issues reflected upon by the contenders.
Artes Mundi, Wales' international contemporary arts initiative, announced Thursday the names of the nine artists shortlisted for the prestigious award.
Some of the complementary themes emerging from this diverse shortlist include that of the environment and man's effect and relationship to it. Harsha focuses on figures in his paintings, offering a political commentary with echoes of the formal nature of Indian miniature painting.
Harsha's works offer the artist's witty and poetic, political and social responses to a variety of issues relating to global economics, the marketplace, and cultural heritage. The figurative and narrative paintings are woven out of the artist's personal travel experiences, photographs and images culled from the media.
Adding delicate banners to his paintings, Harsha cleverly plays with text and words. The Mysore-based artist's imagery is influenced by popular street and poster art, and draws much from children's text-book illustrations, bazaar art and the forms found in handcrafted folk toys, as evident in the form and treatment of his flattened figures.
However, the 40,000 pound ($80,600) Artes Mundi Prize gives these artists the unique opportunity to present a major body of work to a very broad audience both in Britain and internationally. The prize will be awarded at the end of April 2008.
