Five Indian artists have recreated Beer Street and Gin Lane (1751) by English artist William Hogarth. Pic/Getty Images
Priya Kuriyan found the original Hogarth engraving so dark, dreary, and despairing that at first glance everyone looks pandemic-stricken. "My work Ginolem is reminiscent of Gin Lane, yet totally in contrast to it—joyous, intimate, filled with things that were missed. Think spontaneous meetings, chance encounters, and happy gatherings. I wanted people to look at the image and wander inside it" adds Priya
Artists Saswata and Susruta Mukherjee feel as Hogart’s work intended to turn the tide against gin, “we tried to turn it around by keeping celebration, love, and acceptance at the core. No street for hate is a day when people choose love over hate, win and celebrate with gin”
Artist Jasjyot Singh Hans found Hogarth’s Gin Lane so unpleasant and stylistically flaccid that he decided to keep his work, Mehfil, calmer and clearer. The focus is on the novelty of an intimate moment. “Laughter echoes in a crystal clear surreal landscape as two friends share a drink over endless sweet nothings,” he adds
Priyesh Trivedi found Hogarth’s a parody of itself. “Like he was trying too hard to show something so dark and grotesque that it seems absurd to a point where you just can’t take it seriously.” His interpretation, The Alley, is in keeping with his tune of using vintage imagery, archival material, and re-contextualising to make things darker or more subversive
Shweta Sharma’s base vision for reinterpretation, The land which is greater than, was a world that isn’t defined by a single skin or dominant species. It is a deconstructed ecosystem where common connotations change and everyone is allowed to dream
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