Aesthetics of Pictorial Language/Soubhagya Pathy. New Delhi, Harman,
2006, xviii, 358 p., figs., ISBN 81-86622-82-9.
Aesthetics of Pictorial Language/Soubhagya Pathy. New Delhi, Harman,
2006, xviii, 358 p., figs., ISBN 81-86622-82-9.
Contents: Preface. Acknowledgement. A note on the use of Indian terms. 1. Introduction: Aesthetic space and the pictorial language. 2. Rock art: pre-linguistic expressions. 3. Tribal art: language of the primitives. 4. Folk diagrams Jhoti and Cita: language with a rural sensibility. 5. Temple murals: language of mytho-religico discourse. 6. Pata paintings: language of new devotion. 7. Palm leaf illustrations: language of the poet Elite: 8. Silpa Sastra and Citra Sastra illustrations: inner language of structural forms. 9. Easel paintings, installations and happenings: language alien. 10. Conclusion: towards the formation of art linguistics. Bibliography. Plates.
"Aesthetics of Pictorial Language epitomizes a fine piece of scholarship, both in terms of its presentation and documentation. In trying to signify the qualities embodied in the aesthetic space, the author has effortlessly ransacked the cupboards of the rich Orissan art forms-from the tribal to the modern and postmodern. The book unravels the ubiquitous, and almost indefinable, connection between the aesthetic space and the space generated by the pictorial language. It critically examines, interrogates and investigates the interiority of such spaces in order to posit the view that these spaces engender a creativity both for the viewers, readers, critics and the artists.
Author's reading of the diverse art forms and interpretations evidence a rare critical insight with which he moulds the formal structure of this book. Basing his observations on the available theoretical paradigms, the author has evolved and formulated his own theory of reading the pictorial language." (jacket)
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