Graphicswallah: Graphics In India

From Mumbai to Chennai and from Kochi to Karachi, from the humble sign writer to the blue-chip advertising agency, the creative industries of India entice and inform a population of over one billion. In this crowded, colorful world, innovation is often born of necessity and scant resources, and can result in the very clever or the completely ridiculous. The most exciting graphic work has been singled out by the keen eye of Keith Lovegrove on his journey through India. He lovingly documents a wide range of vernacular graphics and commercial art from the personalized bodywork of vehicles to advertising hoardings; from political posters to lavish Bollywood publicity. The result is a celebration of the huge variety of graphic work that Lovegrove found in this densely populated landscape and a reflection of the religious, political and cultural diversity along his route.

Editorial Reviews

This fascinating compendium of Indian commercial signage — from lavish Bollywood posters to a hand-made chart advertising the services of a rat-and-insect exterminator, from a portrait of Gandhi on a wall to a cell phone delightfully rendered by a traditional sign painter — is a loving homage to the anonymous artists whose work amplifies the already tumultuous buzz and vibrancy of Indian street life.? Francine Prose