MUMBAI, December 16: Anjolie Ela Menon's brush with controversy is not yet over. Just as her canvas tells a new story now, the accusations which have dogged her in the past, have reappeared in different colours. All this before her exhibition opened at Jehangir Art Gallery, today. On one hand, detractors whisper that Menon manipulates the market and that most of the work has already been pre-sold, defeating the purpose of having an exhibition. On the other, long-time buyers and admirers are excited about seeing a completely new body of work. The crows and khatiyas, death and doors, women and widows which dominated her work over two decades have slowly given away to abstract paintings. Though she has been painting abstracts for some four years now, she waited until a substantial body of work had been completed before exhibiting it. "Abstract painting is more like poetry. Here you are not dealing with recognisable images, so the work is more contemplative and ruminative," she says. Also what excites her is that in abstracts she can start painting from any point on the canvas. Quite a shift from her previous works where one central protagonist dominated the frame and everything else was in context to it. In abstracts, it is the repetition of a design which intrigues her. "I am fascinated with jap. Those symbols in repeat are like the litany you chant over and again in prayer," she says. Also the sweep of a large canvas has been replaced by miniatures - some as small as 6"x6" - where Menon has isolated a detail and has painstakingly worked on it.Some 40 frames are on show with half abstract and half signature Anjolie Ela Menons. These works were recently exhibited in Hong Kong where most were sold. And this had some people raising questions about having an almost completely pre-sold exhibition. "The purpose of an exhibition is to expose the work. It is not like a sari exhibition where everything has to be on sale," she reacts, sharply. And though her loyal legions are excited about seeing her new work, their appreciation is not unanimous. Art collector Harsh Goenka flatly says that he much preferred her figurative works. Dr Saryu Doshi, honorary director of the National Gallery of Modern Art on the other hand, is determined to buy one of the abstract works for her gallery. And Doshi is one of the people who refute the criticism that Menon is more about style than substance - `Great soft furnishing', `Upgraded picture postcards', `Handsome accessories for exporters' walls' are some of the phrases used often to describe Menon's oft-considered over-priced work. "I think Menon's work has a very distinctive style and they are substantial as well. As for pricing, paintings are not like jewels where the quantum of gold would determine the value. It depends on market forces," says Doshi. Menon herself has had enough of the economics of her art. So much so that she refuses to talk prices at all. "People say that I starve the market of my works to increase prices. In fact, I would rather not sell at all," she says. Then why does she? "Because there is so much pressure to do so. In the middle period you needed the money and then there was also the excitement about the fact that you are selling. But that stage is over for me now. Painting is something very self indulgent. I think it is hypocritical to imagine that social messages conveyed through art will get through to anyone but the already-initiated," she says. And in Menon's utopia, her paintings would be wrapped up and kept in storage after they were completed, perhaps never to be seen again, even by her. She muses, "A good painting makes itself. And an artist has to be open and innocent to that process. After all it is the making of the picture which is important, the end result and whether it sells or not is peripheral and subsidiary."
