Fluxus artworks now on display in Delhi

ARS GRATIA ARTIS: The Fluxus art movement took place in the 60s to break free from conventional art.

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The flux in art: Fluxus exhibition comes to Delhi

Fluxus is an art movement that took place across Europe and US in the 60s.

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New Delhi: As a mark of constant experimentation, Indian artists today have successfully broken free from norms. But there's something similar that happened in Europe half a century ago – the Fluxus art movement.

The National Gallery of Modern Art in the Capital is showcasing 300 works from Fluxus – an art movement that took place across Europe and the US in the early 60s, to break free from the expected conventions in art.

"It is an exhibition that addresses all those issues of creative freedom – remaining within a structure, yet breaking it, but knowing what to break and how to break and what to get out of it,” explained the gallery’s director, Rajeev Lochan.

Fluxus looks beyond the canvas and made art out of collected junk and can and put it in boxes, cabinets or pin-up boards. It invites viewers to play or create art. It also includes music which interspersed musical notes with recitations. It's a style that is still unknowingly kept alive by contemporary artists today.

"Many young people and young artists are doing Fluxus, or Fluxus-influenced work, and don't realise where the roots were. For instance, video art wouldnt exist without Fluxus,” explained Fluxus’s founder member, Ben Patterson.

With our own Indian artists experimenting with new media, the show is well-timed.

"There is that climate, it's very useful to have an historical reference," said artist Vivan Sundaram.

According to one of the best-known artists of Fluxus, Joseph Beuce, every human being is an artist.