Osian's Auction Catalogue Indian Modern and Contemporary Art | March 2008

113 86 Shibu Natesan (b.1966) Futility of Device Signed in English ‘SHIBU NATESAN’ l.l. Oil on canvas, 1995 69 x 69.0 in (175.3 x 175.3 cm) INR 4,800,000 – 6,000,000 USD 120,000 – 150,000 ‘When I came to live in Gujarat the landscape here made an impression on me: it’s vastness.I was attracted to the industrial landscapes I saw around Baroda- dumping grounds, or junk yards for useless industrial machinery. These areas have a sense of “wasteland.”…In the recent series of work I had a very clear idea about the subject matter – this gave me a certain freedom to choose images from diverse sources. But all the objects used eg. lamps, helmets, mattresses etc. were chosen because they are familiar to people and in that way can be easily read…. In Roman Polanski’s “Knife in the Water” the beginning sequence shows the protagonists going along a road to the dockyard. The road becomes the metaphor for all that has happened during the war- and its resultant tensions. I felt Polanski succeeded in conveying the machinations of war in that scene. In a similar way, in my last painting the absence of human presence yet the lingering residue of previous inhabitants activities gives an indication of violation.’ – Shibu Natesan rpt. in Shibu Natesan—The Futility of Device Sakshi Gallery ExC.1995. Work Illustrated in Shibu Natesan— The Futility of Device Sakshi Gallery ExC.1995.