The Tale of the Talking Face

n The Tale of the Talking Face, eminent Indian artist K. G. Subramanyan offers a stinging parable of democracy gone wrong by narrating and illustrating the story of a princess whose autocratic rule brought nothing but suffering to her people, despite her ambition of progress for her country. A thinly veiled satire on the political drama of 1970s’ India, The Taleof the Talking Face is a universal record of the ever-deepening crisis of democracy and the threat of totalitarianism.

“[Subramanyan’s] art is radical in content, open in its approach to style and aesthetic ideas, meeting the proponents of style and craftsmen as equal and reflecting a high standard of artistic skills of different kinds. Cowed down neither by the figurative and non-figurative debate, nor loyalty to a school, which would restrain his originality, he is the quintessential Indian contemporary artist.”-Suneet Chopra, Frontline “[Subramanyan has] come to be identified with the play of wit and satire, and with a phantasmagoric theatre of surfaces.”-Nancy Adajania, Hindu

Author Biography

K. G. Subramanyan, one of India’s most respected artists, has worked with diverse media and materials, exhibiting extensively both within and outside the country. He has been part of the arts faculty at Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, and is professor emeritus at the Kala Bhavan Center at Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan. His other books include The Magic of Making: Essays on Art and Culture and The Living Tradition: Perspectives on Modern Indian Art, both also published by Seagull Books.