On-view works capture confrontation between life, death

Mumbai : Eight exhibits by artist Yardena Kurulkar deal with the concept of mortality and elusiveness of life, and are on view at the Chemould Prescott Road art gallery here starting on Monday.

The solo exhibition "So It Goes", featuring digital prints, sculptural installation and video, borrows its title from American writer Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Slaughterhouse Five", where he uses the refrain "so it goes" after every death.

"Unlike Vonnegut, Yardena does not use dark humour to displace the grief of death and the pain of the dying body. In her play, she offers no relief," sociologist Gita Chadha said in her note on the show.

Through her works, the cycle of life is captured in varied media to create "moments of confrontation between life and death".

She confronted death at the age of eight when her father passed away, and from there on the event of death has played a continuous role through her life, the gallery said.

A key work, "Earworm" explores her Jewish ethnicity, and takes one to the funeral practices of Bene Israelis -- a disappearing Jewish sect in India.

The month-long multimedia exhibition is open for public viewing till November 22.