Chris. Is this a rhetorical question? Is this one of those must know answers that needs to be qualitatively analyzed; furthermore to be regurgitated at Goan or for that matter Desi parties. And would it make someone sleep better if it could be proved that FN was one heck of a "Great Goan." Art is big business, and people who buy art do so for a myriad reasons that most people including artists cannot always grasp. Collections buy the noveau-riche entry into certain circles, and when you have that kind of money one does strange things to get access to even stranger things. This will forever be my position, within the context of what is considered success as an artist. Now some further extrapolation: Think hedge funds, commodities and all that esoteric economic crap that looks and sounds ridiculous but someone does well in that environment. Its not about good or bad art. Most India stuff is of a decent quality. A head here or an arm there, a lot of contacts, the right people to massage and it works. So be it! And BTW, it was not for Neville Tuli, our art bigwigs would not have touched FN Souza. There were too many strikes against him. He was perpetually offending too many sad-a**ed egos in the Indian firmament. And I believe, in most cases rightly so. A good proverbial kick to the head was what he delivered to the assored cultural mandarins. His overbearing sexual persona - desire (yes, yes we Goans have it!-Its just that as 'good' Catholics most have desparately attempted to sublimate it.), over the top attitude, delusions of grandeur did not endear himself to too many. Neville Tuli oppened the eyes of the Indian Art establisment of what could be garnered financially with FNs work. Now there is a man who put hs LSE degree to good use!! Besides FNs work was never about damselles in dupattas, and bikini cholis. Perhaps it was about cosuming the other, and having them see things fom his vantage point. But when it comes to sexuality and emoting it, and that too as a Christian, none of his peers and one may resaonably say contemporaries have even got close to him. He in a sense artistically shaped our foray into what is our sordid modernity. Dolea uktea zale. Eyes opened. That does not mean things will not change. Someone else can analyze all this further.
So leave it be. Let him kick some a** on our behalf, until perhaps I make it if at all in the same sordid environment. Then I will take over. Have a good Sunday Chris. Venantius ----------------------- On Sun, 03 Dec 2006 10:34:29 -0500, Chris Vaz wrote > According to news reports, the works of Indian artists now dominating the > market have little in common with traditional sculptures or illustrations mostly associated with South Asian art. > > One top seller is Francis Newton Souza, a painter born in Goa who died in > 2002. Francis' paintings often feature bold portraits with abstract, distorted elements, appear to be highly influenced by Picasso. His painting."Man and Woman" recently sold for $1.4 million at Christie's. It was bought by Rajiv Chaudhri, a New York hedgefund manager. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Goanet supports BMX, the alumni network of Britto's, St Mary's and Xavier's -- three prominent institutions in Mapusa, Goa. Events scheduled from Dec 16 to 21, 2006 For more details visit http://www.bmxgoa.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------