Santosh Morajkar, Nasreen Mohammedi, Grain and More

NEWS

About Nasreen -  A Talk by Roobina Karode

 (Nasreen Mohammedi)

The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi presents a talk titled ‘About Nasreen’ by Roobina  Karode, on artist Nasreen Mohamedi on the 14th of May 2013, from 5:00pm to 6:00pm.

The talk focuses on Roobina’s interactions with the artist, being her neighbour and  her student at the M S University of Baroda. Roobina interacted with the artist between a peiod of 1977 to 1990, and will be talking about Nasreen’s persona as an artist, her distinctive artistic and pedagogical practices and the development of her original oeuvre of subtle abstraction in an age of predominant figurative narration in art in India.

Through personal anecdotes and conversations, Roobina will bring to light rare insights of the life of the artist and her self-evolving discipline.

The Ila Dalmia FICA Research Grant 2013

(Ila Dalmia)

The Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art, New Delhi, instituted the Ila Dalmia FICA Research Grant, with the help of art historian and writer, Yashodhara Dalmia. The grant is a way to commemorate her sister Ila Dalmia and supports research on Indian modern and contemporary art. The amount presented is a sum of Rs 2 lakhs and focuses on encouraging independent research carried out by students and scholars in India.

Individuals who are committed to research in visual arts with particular focus on Indian modern and contemporary art may apply. This includes first hand research and archiving of art and historical material, or a critical study of Indian art history, art criticism and practices,studies related to curation, exhibition, collection and the economy related to Art.

The chosen candidate has to complete the research within one year of the grant period, and will be given a chance to travel to Delhi to present their paper at the annual Ila Dalmia Memorial lecture to an audience.

The applications for the Ila Dalmia Memorial FICA Research Grant opens in June 2013.

The City in Transit - A two parts show about Bangalore

 The Rangoli Metro Art Center in Bangalore presents a show titled ‘The City in Transit’.  The show comprises of two exhibitions to be held in well known galleries of Bangalore, namely, the Gallery Chaya, which will host the show titled, ‘Bangalore  Over the Years’ and Gallery Vismaya which will host the show titled, ‘Making of the Metro’.

The two shows and entire project is curated by Surekha for the Rangoli Metro Art Center, BMRCL ( Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation ltd)

 The show, ‘ Bangalore over the years’ displays various changing images of the city, captured at photo studios and by individuals. They show also has images collected from the archives of T V Annaswamy (urban historian) and Clare Arni (photographer).

‘Making of the Metro’ is a show about how the Metro rail was constructed in Bangalore. The images were collected from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited, and the show is compiled with inputs from BLY Chavan and Vasanth Rao, BMRCL officials.

The show is on view till the 20th of June 2013.

Grain - A microcosmic art show

Gallery Espace, New Delhi presents a show of four artists, titled, ‘Grain’. The suite of works on display are diverse in expression and rendered in a variety of mediums. The show displays an eclectic mix of canvases, mixed media works, and a video installation.

The show takes its conceptual inspiration from the minute indivisible omnipresent entity of a ‘grain’, right from its genesis to the eventual dissolution into nothingness. The word grain can metamorphose into any thing from shape, culture, being or emotion into patterns, spiritual planes as in ‘bindu’ - the micro-grain of existence, to nature and topography and human relationships.

The participating artists are Anjali Deshmukh, Mekhala Bahl, Ranu Mukherjee and Shalina Vichitra.

The Grain is on view till the 1st of June 2013.

(News Reports by Sushma Sabnis)

PROFILE

Surreal Rebellion of Obese Animals- Santosh Morajkar

Santosh Morajkar lives in Goa. When he works, he works in Goa. Living and working make him a Goan. If not he is a Goan by nature. He can be a stereotypical Goan person. But he is different. How different an artist is Santosh Morajkar, JohnyML finds out:

(Santosh Morajkar)

Santosh Morajkar is happy when he is under the influence of alcohol. When he is not, he is happier. Being happy and happier at the same time has created some happiest moments for him in his creative life. Happiest are those moments when an art buyer, who could even be a first timer, falls for the charm of Morajkar’s spirited words. Morajkar is direct, simple and to the point when he speak about his works and life. He wants dignity both as an artist and as a social being. He does not mince words when it comes to critiquing his fellow artists’ works. His friends say that at times Morajkar is ‘removed’ from critical scenes. And they love Morajkar’s happy and happier moods because he speaks up often for them more than he does for himself. And Santosh Morajkar is a Goan artist.

May be all what I have said about Morajkar could sound quite stereotypical as this is how most of the Goan/s are portrayed in the popular culture; bindaas, fun loving people. Morajkar is bindaas not only because he is a Goan but also his perpetual rebellious nature. He may bargain with a first time buyer in a weekly market where he set up his stall but he will not yield to the pressures put on him by galleries. He works with galleries in his own terms. This sense of freedom comes from his own sense of artistic dignity, rebelliousness and ask-the-society-to-go-to-hell attitude. He is liked and disliked for his outspokenness. But none can write him off because he creates his art.

Morajkar is a printmaker in the conventional sense. But he is a painter and sculptor. The journey of Morajkar had started long back. There is an interesting tradition in Goa. Those artists who study in Goa College of Art, finish their graduation there and go to Hyderabad for their post-graduation. This is an interesting migration of art students from Goa, which has not got enough critical attention. Hyderabad has a very conducive atmosphere for printmaking and printmakers. Goan artists find Hyderabad their own Baroda or Santiniketan. They do not complain and they are happy about their horizontal journey than the vertical one.

Morajkar went to Santiniketan to try his luck. Many got in but Morajkar got out. He went back happily to Hyderabad. After post-graduation he went back to Goa, as it is the tradition so far. Hyderabad is a good place to study but not a good place to stay for a Goan, Morajkar says. He is a fine graphic artist. His drawing is superb and his printmaking technique exquisite. He draws his imageries form mythologies as wells as from his surroundings. He mixes them in his own quirky way so that mythical stories look like local sagas and local stories look like mythologies in his works. There is a tremendous amount of sexual energy he tries to impart to his works. The images are selectively phallic but he does not demean women in his work though they become an object of his male perspective and gaze.

Though voluptuous in nature Morajkar’s painterly works do not show round and bulbous human figures in them. But when it comes to sculptures Morajkar sees everything in an exaggerated fashion. His animal images in sculptures balloon themselves into obese figures. He carefully paints the skin of these ballooning figures with carefully drawn images from Goan landscapes. They are not real animals but surreal animals wandering into human zones. Morajkar’s playful nature comes up in these sculptures. And when we see along with the artist’s nature of handling things around him, we could clearly feel that these obese animals have real life counter parts in local history, politics and social life.