One of India’s most prominent young artist duos, Thukral & Tagra are made up of Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra, both graduates of the New Delhi College of Art.

The pair jointly founded Bosedk Design in 2003, a branding outfit that produces advertisements, office interiors and designs for products. Since 2005 they have also been creating paintings, sculptures and installations under the moniker Thukral & Tagra.

Both Thukral and Tagra grew up in the midst of rapid globalization that flooded India with all manner of goods and information following the deregulation of its economy in 1991. They draw on various techniques and diverse media such as painting, installation, video, graphics, music, fashion and the Internet to create works that blur the boundaries between art and pop culture, product and design as well as art and media, winning much acclaim for their abundant humor and wit.

In recent years, they have been creating condoms, undergarments, sandals and other items with original designs that address the issue of HIV infection in an attempt to appeal to a younger generation. In 2007, “Adolescere Domus” (Teenage House), an installation modeled after the fictional home of a teenager living in a small Punjabi town, was exhibited at Art Basel, the world’s largest art fair.

In Japan, Thukral & Tagra received a great deal of attention for an installation of works that included a row of chocolate syrup packaging plastered over with portraits of young people from India’s rural areas at “Chalo! India”, a group survey of contemporary Indian art held at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi, Tokyo in 2009. The exhibition presented the duo as one of the most progressive, avant-garde artist groups working in India today.

Although they combine humor with a sense of playfulness, Thukral & Tagra’s works are also a reflection of the wave of Western culture inundating cities and regions in contemporary India, the consumer culture of its middle class, as well as the culture of modern information societies found not just in India, but also a whole swathe of countries across the world.

This will be Thukral & Tagra’s first solo exhibition in Japan, showcasing with a focus on new works.

* The text provided by TOKYO GALLERY + BTAP | TOKYO.

Period: Saturday, September 3 - Saturday, September 24, 2011
Venue: TOKYO GALLERY + BTAP | TOKYO