Abstract
Bhupen Khakhar, one of India’s most celebrated modern artists, revolutionized the art world with his exploration of identity, sexuality, and everyday life. Khakhar created a narrative and intimate style that was anchored in Indian traditions during a period when abstraction and Western modernist ideas dominated Indian painting. Khakhar used narrative painting to draw attention to underrepresented groups, small-town life middle-class hardships, presenting under appreciated characters like barbers and watch repairers as resilient role models. His experiences as a gay man in a strict environment were represented in iconic pieces like You Can’t Please All and Man with a Bouquet of Plastic Flowers, which made his art both universal and autobiographical. Khakhar used vivid colors, flattened perspectives, and symbolic details to produce works that were both approachable and culturally relevant, drawing inspiration from Indian calendar aesthetics & miniature painting. His art was centered on humor and irony, which allowed him to playfully criticize middle-class beliefs and societal hypocrisy. His art was highlighted the conflicts between private and public life in Baroda’s thriving art scene. Khakhar left behind a legacy of humanizing contemporary Indian art, highlighting commonplace occurrences, and igniting discussions about identity, society, and art around the world. Through an analysis of key works this study explores how Khakhar used art as both a tool of self-affirmation and social critique. This paper draws on secondary sources. It aims to deepen the understanding of Khakhar’s visual language and his role in advancing the representation of marginalized identities within the Indian art scene.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Oceanic Journeys: Multicultural Approaches in the Humanities
KEYWORDS
Gay,Sexuality, Narrative,Self, Humor, Autobiographical
