BOLLYWOOD LABEL ART
COLLAGE PROJECT
When I lived in Jaipur, I collected as much ephemera as I could lay my
hands on, soap packets, matchboxes, incense and beedie packaging and
especially fireworks package labels. I regularly horrified my
housekeeper and chowkidar by scrabbling through the rubbish in the empty
lot next door the day after the festival of Divali. The treasure trove
was irresistible! Millions of boxes of fireworks are discharged in the
weeks leading up to Divali. The treasure trove was irresistible! Millions of boxes of fireworks
are discharged in the weeks leading up to Divali, and the labels are masterpieces of package
design; vibrant colours and flashy images of starlets, goddesses,
peculiar war-like bombs and showers of sparkles.
Wildly contrasting images and words are combined to entice the buyer, "disco butterfly" or
"rocket bomb" and even "atom bomb"! These boisterous graphics are
combined with naive abandon; a child (looking for all the world like he
came off of a Chinese calendar) clutches a tube of showering sparks
labelled "milk baby" (accident in the making!), a spectacularly curvy
dancer prances beneath "Boeing 7 O seven". "Flower Pots", as seen
in my work, are a kind fountain firework contained in a small clay pot. Most
families go for the noisiest bombs and crackers available.
I am particularly interested in the imagery of women, and the unique
Indian portrayal of the feminine spirit as a blend of demure tradition
and steamy sexuality, as amply demonstrated in every BOLLYWOOD movie. (I
am still a great follower of Bollywood films, thanks to the bootleg
videos available!) In other words, the Good Girl (saree-clad, well
brought up, innocent and pious) is swept away by calamity or dangerous
big-city influence (Good Girl changes her clothes to tight revealing
"Bad Girl" fashions). But her inner goodness re-emerges when she meets
the Good Boy. And unlike real life, there is always a happy ending. So
optimistic!
My passion for label art led me to this ongoing Bollywood label art
collage project which I began in 1999, utilizing the "reverse glass"
technique to create my own combinations of printed image with word,
printed papers and sequins. The quaint technique of reverse glass art,
in which the artist proceeds "backwards", painting the details first on
the back of the glass, proceeding to add the background last, is one
that is perfect for the images I wish to create. It has been popular for
centuries to create cheap and cheerful decorative art, sold in the
bazaars, and can still be found in Temple towns at the stalls selling
religious icons and souvenirs. Generally this type of artwork is done
with inexpensive tempera or oil paint, and foil backing is popular to
add glitter. I utilize the same technique but incorporate colour copies
of the above-mentioned ephemera and label art, felt marker, gold pen,
nail polish for glitter, and papers from all over the world. Not wishing
to be bound by the standard oblong format, I chose to work on round glass
plates for some pieces.
Six pieces of this Bollywood series were exhibited in Toronto August
2003, at the juried group show by SAVAC members (Andrée is a member of
the South Asian Visual Arts Collective), titled,
>BOLLY>LOLLY>HOLLY>TOLLY, held at the Harbourfront Centre festival,
Masala! Mehndi! Masti!.
Also, my collection of fireworks labels formed part of the exhibit in
"India - the Living Arts" exhibition at the Canadian Museum of
Civilization in 2000.
This method is perfect for this body of work, the technique is
traditional, but I use new imagery and materials to create pieces that
convey the exuberant visual textures to be found in the bazaar. I
combine my collages to capture the "cheap and cheerful",
quickly-finished appearance for that ephemeral look, but of course they
have been glued and varnished with high quality materials.
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