Books are the latest fad in the art market. Once upon a time, it was catalogues. All artists needed a good catalogue and an introductory essay by a leading art critic to make his/her show worthy enough. As one of the contemporary masters puts it, “It became a ritual. The market, really speaking, does not need any supportive material to sell the works of an artist. But to add value, you need enough information about the artists. Catalogues and even exhibitions do only the value addition job.” This could be a bit cynical. But it is not far from the truth.

A new interesting format is, however, on the shelves. The book, ‘Alternative Lyricism’, published along with the works of Jehangir Jani, is an anthology on the artist. Basically, it is a collection of catalogue essays done during the last few years by noted art critics and historians. Except for the articles by Shivaji Panikkar, Mortimer Chatterjee and Nancy Adajania, the others are from previous catalogues. While Shivaji Panikkar’s article locates Jehangir Jani’s works in the socio-political arena, Mortimer Chatterjee dwells deep on the aesthetics of the artist.

A book of this scale heralds the success of an artist not only in terms of marketability but in terms of his/her aesthetics also. (Does anybody edit an anthology of a failed artist? I do not know. But if one translates success as material success, there will be many more anthologies waiting in wings). Jehangir Jani’s success should be seen in relationship with his struggles for asserting his ‘gay’ identity. And most of the writers have elaborated on this issue.

This anthology, edited by Ratnottama Sengupta, serves as study material for new age buyers and art collectors. Besides, such anthologies serve as guidebooks for students specialising in contemporary art.