Irina Aristarkhova Publishes "UnMyth: Works and Worlds of Mithu Sen"

Stamps Professor Irina Aristarkhova has edited and contributed to a new book, UnMyth: Works and Worlds of Mithu Sen, out now from Mapin publishing. Beautifully illustrated and designed by Anusha Yadav, this artist monograph presents the first comprehensive study of the impactful artwork of Mithu Sen, a major Indian contemporary artist and poet, in all its full performative multiplicity.

Sen’s work spans over two decades of making and hundreds of exhibitions, projects, performances, and word art, unveiling an unparalleled history of experiments with materials and concepts. The book’s title ​‘UNMYTH’ speaks to Sen’s impactful and impacting work in all its multiplicity and complexity.

Sen’s art imagines new worlds for us, including to escape to and from. Some elements are familiar, others are alien. As with myths, they are lulling and disturbing at the same time. These worlds are built around the key concepts in Sen’s work: ​‘mything’, ​‘unmything’ and ​‘postmything’; radical hospitality; ​‘untaboo’ sexuality; lingual anarchy; critiquing institutions and countering capitalism; ​‘unmonolith’ identity; byproducts and contract. These and other concepts are engaged with systematically in wide-ranging essays, written by eminent scholars, curators, and critics who have followed Sen’s work for many years. The artist herself contributes conceptual captions, dispersed citations, and the experimental ​‘Fictional Interview’.