ATUL BHALLA (B. 1964); R.B. BHASKARAN (B. 1942); JYOTI BHATT (B. 1934); BHURI BAI (B. 1968); RAMESHWAR BROOTA (B. 1940); ARPANA CAUR (B. 1954); NIKHIL CHOPRA (B. 1974); JOGEN CHOWDHURY (B. 1939); AVIJIT DUTTA (B. 1974); C. DOUGLAS (B. 1951); OLIVIA FRASER (B. 1965); CHITRA GANESH (B. 1975); SHILPA GUPTA (B. 1976); GANESH HALOI (B. 1936); FARHAD HUSSAIN (B. 1975); G.R. IRANNA (B. 1970); POOJA IRANNA (B. 1969); AMRITA JHA (B. 1994); TUSHAR JOAG (B. 1966); ABIR KARMAKAR (B. 1977); KRISHEN KHANNA (B. 1925); PRABHAKAR KOLTE (B. 1946); BOSE KRISHNAMACHARI (B. 1963); BANWARI LAL JANGID (B. 1968); DESMOND LAZARO (B. 1968); ANJOLIE ELA MENON (B. 1940); DHRUVA MISTRY (B. 1957); S. NANDAGOPAL (B. 1946); R.M. PALANIAPPAN (B. 1957); JAGANNATH PANDA (B. 1970); MADHVI PAREKH (B. 1942); MANU PAREKH (B. 1939); SUDHIR PATWARDHAN (B. 1949); PUSHPAMALA N. (B. 1956); RAM RAHMAN (B. 1955); RAQS MEDIA COLLECTIVE (JEEBESH BAGCHI B. 1965; MONICA NARULA B. 1969; SHUDDHABRATA SENGUPTA B. 1968); SYED HAIDER RAZA (1922-2016); TANMOY SAMANTA (B. 1973); T.V. SANTHOSH (B. 1968); GIGI SCARIA (B. 1973); MITHU SEN (B. 1971); GULAM MOHAMMED SHEIKH (B. 1937); NILIMA SHEIKH (B. 1945); MEGHA SHINDE (B. 1990); ARPITA SINGH (B. 1937); PARAMJIT SINGH (B. 1935); K.G. SUBRAMANYAN (1924-2016); VIVAN SUNDARAM (B. 1943); SWATHI AND VIJAY (B. 1986, 1984); THUKRAL & TAGRA (JITEN THUKRAL B. 1976; SUMIR TAGRA B. 1979); NITYAN UNNIKRISHNAN (B. 1976); THOTHA VAIKUNTAM (B. 1942); ANIL VANGAD (B. 1983); WASWO X. WASWO (B. 1953)

In 1976, Christian Neffe of the JPL Gallery, London, distributed a standard deck of playing cards among 54 contemporary British artists including Howard Hodgkin, John Hoyland, Patrick Heron, Allen Jones, Maggie Hambling and David Hockney. Neffe commissioned each artist to produce their own version of the card they received, thus creating a new and completely unique pack. Exhibited as The Deck of Cards, the entire collection was purchased by Anthony Jones and toured to over twenty countries by the British Council. Eventually, the works were published as a functional pack of cards, still available all over the world.

To commemorate the fortieth anniversary of this distinctive initiative and exhibition, 55 of India’s leading artists were asked to create their own interpretations of a playing card that they picked from a standard deck. They could use any media, given the work remained the prescribed size. The resulting collection of original artworks, akin to a mini-survey of modern and contemporary Indian art, was titled Taash ke Patte and exhibited alongside the original 1976 Deck of Cards at the British Council, Delhi, in early 2016.

The artists whose works are featured in Taash ke Patte include modern masters Syed Haider Raza, Krishen Khanna, K.G. Subramanyan, Jogen Chowdhury, Rameshwar Broota, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Arpita Singh and Anjolie Ela Menon alongside contemporary practitioners Ram Rahman, Shilpa Gupta, RAQS Media Collective, Mithu Sen, Nikhil Chopra, Chitra Ganesh, Tushar Joag, Abir Karmakar and Desmond Lazaro to name a few.

In addition to creating the art works, all the artists who participated in this project have signed an agreement handing over the copyright of their images to the owner of Taash ke Patte, allowing them to reproduce the works as a limited or open-edition physical deck of cards.

To complete the deck, during the exhibition a competition was opened to students pursuing art degrees at recognised institutions in India, asking them to produce the artwork for the ‘3 of clubs’. The winning design was a digital print titled Roti, Kapda aur Makaan by Megha Shinde, an MFA student at the Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University, Hyderabad.