Excavating Obsolescence: The Art of Tallur L.N.

Adapting ancient iconography and industrial objects, Indian-born conceptualist Tallur L.N. provocatively lays bare the mechanisms and politics of cultural value. This handsome volume is the newest publication on the artwork of Tallur L.N. (born 1971), featuring works from the last 13 years. Using a range of mediums including found objects, appropriated industrial machines, carved stone and wood, cast bronze, and works embedded in concrete and studded with coins, Tallur questions the value we assign to money, icons and artifacts. Building on the rich sculptural traditions of India, he references ancient religious and patriotic iconography, and often invites the viewer to become a participant through his interactive works. Among the works documented here are two new site-specific installations and a new video work, Interference (2019). The publication includes scholarly essays by art historian Chaitanya Sambrani and curator Gary Garrido Schneider, and presents new information on the art and politics of this important 21st-century artist.