The Creative Circuit

Explores the weight of history and the demand for originality on the contemporary artist.

K. G. Subramanyan (1924–2016) played a pivotal role in shaping India’s artistic identity after Independence. Mani-da, as he was fondly called, seamlessly blended elements of modernism with folk expression in his works, spanning paintings, murals, sculptures, prints, set designs and toys. Beyond his visual artistry, his writings have laid a solid foundation for understanding the demands of art on the individual. In the year of his centenary, Seagull is proud to publish his writings in special new editions.

What conception does a modern artist or critic have of contemporary art activity? How does a modern artist react to his environment and cultural inheritance? Under what perceptions or illusions or emotional urges does she work? And what general norms of achievement can we think of in the highly heterogenous art scene of today?

In The Creative Circuit, K. G. Subramanyan draws upon his considerable experience as a practising artist and theoretician to engage with these concerns from a modern Indian perspective. The five lectures that comprise this volume discuss certain common terms and concepts—such as modernity, eclecticism, nostalgia—which have entered our art vocabulary and which lend themselves to reinterpretation today. This erudite discourse is accompanied by a large selection of illustrations in colour.