Baljit S Chadha releases Mona Lisa at Viktor Vijay's exhibtion CHANCON Art at Visual Gallery Delhi

Mona Lisa does not smile anymore

Contemporary Indian art-- Viktor Vijay

Excerpts from the book on Indian art by contemporary Indian artist Viktor Vijay

Mona Lisa does not smile anymore

"One should realize that ancient religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Judaism were never in a hurry to change others to their way of thinking. They evolved through inner spiritual dynamics over long centuries. They incorporated contrarian points of view and fresh spiritual experiences and thus came to have a wider acceptance based on free choice rather than fear, temptation, violence, and subjugation by swords, guns and canons. The search for God is a very private journey and guns, swords and conversions are not the kind of vocabulary He/She (God) appreciates. Does Mona Lisa smiles any more?

The art of Renaissance was the art of body and of faithfulness to appearances. What happened inside in the human soul was just ignored as unimportant. Monumentality and opulence were revisited from the Grecian classical inspiration after 1000 years of vanishing of the grandeur of Roman Empire The socio-political context of art of Renaissance can not be ignored. The aim of our lives is to find answers and not destroy possibility of finding them."