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INDUCED EPIDEMIC, 2007
Oil and acrylic on canvas
96 x 180 inches
Private collection
Photo: Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi |
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| Ashutosh Bhardwaj |
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Born 1981, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
Lives and works in Vadodara (formerly Baroda), India |
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| Economic reforms in the early 1990s further opened India’s markets to the influence and products of other countries. In Induced Epidemic, Ashutosh Bhardwaj critiqued the rise of the cosmetics industry — a by-product of the liberalization of the Indian economy — in his home country. The hands pursue beauty, which remains just out of reach. They seek a product that is intended to reshape a person’s nose, specifically to mimic the striking profile of the ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti1. To Bhardwaj, the crowd represents the desire for consumer goods and a homogenized standard of beauty. The curtains flanking the stage suggest that the activity is being controlled from behind the scenes by those in power. |
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