Commemorative Stamp
The wall Painted by the Artist : Chintan Upadhyay
Medium: Stainer, Metallic, Gold, Enamel and Varnish.

In these fast changing times. Modernity is touching the small town and rural areas as well. Consumerism and media have found their way to enter to every area, the launch of modernity is a launch of Dreams, Greed and Desires. In turn changing the mind set of people. In this process the popular icons become the mediums of marketing. The faith and desires has been created and result come in many ways one of them is Migration.

I too am a part of migration from Rajasthan to metropolitan and cosmopolitan city Mumbai. The walls in small towns of Rajasthan are changing and we could see media generated, modern graphic imageries of popular icons asking people to buy some product. The changing walls are the suggestions for the changing culture. And some time it comes as imposed one. The new generation is the main target of this change and they are becoming the part of it.

I have covered the gallery walls with the modified decorative motifs. In many rural places in Rajasthan people there is a tradition to make murals in houses on different occasions like marriages, deaths, festivals, child birth… in form of wall paintings and Rangoli (women decorate their floor with lime, dry pigment or sometimes rice powder). These paintings carry strong linear qualities and I have adopted that linearity and modified the motifs.

The painting on the wall was done in two thin layers of burnt umber and yellow ochre. And the motifs are drawn in gold. (Burnt umber comes very close of the mud walls of rural houses)

The white ceiling gives the breathing space, as we get the breathing space of the sky. (The sky in Mumbai, where vertical spaces has been bought by advertising agencies. leaves the sky as the only breathing space)
I have put all paintings on the painted wall which talk about the imposed graphic imageries on traditional walls and the replacement.

Each painting has postal stamp of international icon from different disciplines. The paintings are in two different sizes one full size poster (generally a film poster size stuck every where in city walls) another standard news paper advertisement. The painting has very seductive gloss and finishing with popular taste. Overall installation creates a claustrophobic environment where one image affects another. The stamp format suggests a brand quality to it.

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