Long ago, Shakespeare raised a very valid discussion when he penned down the famous lines, “What’s in the name?” Perhaps, think again as a title or a name can be very strong medium to express your thoughts, and that’s exactly what the contemporary artists are trying to prove by naming their creations innovatively. Going beyond the conventional nomenclature, the artists are willing to play with words just as they play with colours in their artworks.
What’s the first thing that strikes you when you hear “Headless Chicken”? Well, it’s one of the sculptures by artist Ved Prakash Gupta, whose small format show caught fancy of many for the quirky names he used for his creations. He says, “By naming my sculptures as ‘Headless Chicken’ or ‘Everybody says we are fine’, I wanted to add some humour element to my creations. These names are also my way to express the satire that exists in the elite society comprising of intellects, politicians and artists. The catchy titles make my work easier as even the common man can understand the humour behind the artwork and relate to it more easily.”
Artist Sheila Makhija, who named her paintings with interestingly abrupt captions like ‘Caught,’ ‘Just trying something out’, ‘What were you thinking’ feels it’s a way to express the thought process behind the artwork. She says, “Most artists choose titles as per their sensibility. For instance, I prefer naming my works depending on what I was thinking while creating it. Though it’s strange, many times, people associate themselves to the title more than the artwork. I have used titles for my paintings, which I thought was apt according to the moment when I was painting them. At times, titles are also like footnotes, it’s for the convenience of the artists as well as the admirers.”
Similary, artist Baaraan Ijlal’s?painting series titled ‘To be continued’ and ‘Baghdad Café’ at the exhibition “Retellings” had a unique appeal. UK-based artist Xena’s upcoming graffiti art exhibition called “Butterflies, Birds + Spray Cans” also has interesting artworks, which have titles like ‘Fighting Ringnecks,’ ‘Gold Mosaic’ and ‘Kingfisher High’.
Tunty Chauhan, director of Gallery Threshold opines, “The trend of naming artworks in interesting manner is not new as contemporary artists like to use catchy titles for their work. Innovative names help people to articulate the thinking process put behind the installations, paintings or sculptures. I remember artist Subodh Gupta’s famous art work ‘Saat Samundar Paar’ got rave reviews not just for the art, but also for its title, which said a lot of things.”