Samar Jodha at Venice, Ashok Vajpeyi talk, Maya Kamath awards and more

NEWS

Maya Kamath Memorial Awards Exhibition

(Winning entry by Dwijith)

Indian Institute of Cartoonists, Bangalore presents an exhibition of works of cartoonists from India and across the world, who have been participants and winners of the 5th Maya Kamath Memorial Awards Competition for the year gone by.

The show was inaugurated by actor, playwright, Girish Karnad. The competition saw over 100 applications form India and over the world. Most of the topics of cartooning, have been abut political issues of today, and the oppression faced by the common man. Some of the entries from international cartoonists focused upon mocking the dictatorial leadership and the resistance movements. 

Some cartoons were about more sentimental issues such as human emotions and acceptance etc. Along with the regular awards in this competition, a special jury award also was in place. 

Mr Dwijith, from Kerala won the first prize for the cartoon, ‘Mum’ Mohan Singh’, Mr Uday Vitla from Mangalore won second prize, and Mr Ramadhyani from Shimoga bagged the third prize. The special jury award went to Mr Raghupathy from Bangalore and Mr Chari from new Delhi.

All these works will be on display at the show till the 29th of June 2013.

A Gift of Solitude

(a painting by Chaitali Dey)

Mrigna Arts Pvt Ltd, presents a group show of artists at the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The show is titled ‘ A Gift of Solitude’ and displays works of art by 14  upcoming artists from the country.

The show displays paintings, in oils and acrylic on canvas, sculptures and potteries from various style. The show tries to compile a variety of works effectively.

The participating artists are Amar Singh Gosain, Beenu Gupta, Chaitali Dey, Dharambeer, Goldie Kasturiya Manuja, Harshpriya Kalra, Neelam Gupta, Parmananda Choudhary, Raghuveer Saha, Rakhi Baid, Sona Chopra, Sunil Jasiwal, Sakshi Jain, Uma Sawhay.

The show is organized by Shankar Pratap Singh. The show is on view till the 16th of June 2013.

The Presence of Raza, the Absence of Swaminathan

(a painting by S H Raza)

With insights into the many controversies of deciphering the abstract art as a language of communication in art, Jehangir Nicholson Gallery, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahlaya, Mumbai has organized a talk ‘Art of the Matter’ by distinguished, Hindi poet, and former Chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi,  Ashok Vajpeyi. 

The talk will focus on the two specific painters who are known for their distinct abstract styles in the Indian art scene, namely, SH Raza and J Swaminathan. Through a close friendship with the two artists Ashok Vajpeyi intends to compare and understand their different personas and their ways of creating art and the philosophies that influenced their work.

The lecture is part of an ongoing exhibition titled, ‘Nothing is Absolute: A journey through Abstraction’. This exhibition is co curated by Mehlli Gobhai and Ranjit Hoskote. The show and talk try to bring out the unorthodox account of the story of abstraction in India.

The talk will be held on 12th of June 2013 from 5 pm - 6 30 pm at the Jehangir Nicholson Gallery.

Raja Ravi Varma Revisited 

(Raja Ravi Varma chromolithographs)

Revisiting India’s beloved painter, Raja Ravi Varma and his exquisite works, Artisans, Mumbai presents a collection of the icon’s chromolithographs. These chromolithographs have been preserved under one roof in a Chettinad mansion by the Ravi Varma Press.

Raja Ravi Varma was one of the painters who wanted his mythological images to become one with every household int he country, and his chromolithographs were used widely in the south of India and elsewhere. Depicting Gods and Goddesses from Indian mythology and epics, Varma successfully gave a face to the much abstract concepts and persona of mythological characters.

The exhibition aims to revisit the maestro’s works and rekindle the experiences of a bygone era of Indian art.

The show is on view till the 15th of June 2013.

(News Reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE

Lens And Sense

(Photographic installation at the biennale)

Samar Singh Jodha’s work at the ongoing Venice Biennale raises universal questions about making and receiving art.

There is no India at Venice Biennale 2013 but Indian participation isn’t missing from the scene completely. Samar Singh Jodha along with a few more like Prabhavati Meyyapil — the numbers of which can be counted on the fingers of your hand — registers a low but powerful presence. Samar, an exemplary lensman, is like an artist nomad who can’t remain tied down to one place. So he travels around the world exhibiting his art. For instance, “Bhopal: The Silent Picture” which was shown by Amnesty International during the London Olympics will be traveling across Europe this Fall.

(Samar Singh Jodha)

As of now Samar is in Venice where he was first part of a video projection in 2011 (when India pavilion happened). With “Outpost”, his first solo at the prestigious platform, Samar logs in his first major appearance there. The work is being exhibited at the 1000-year-old Arsenale Nord, the space where Chinese pavilion is also located.

(Prabhavati Meyyapil)

For some years now Samar has been engaged with people and issues that are on the margins of society and mainstream media and “Outpost” takes the story forward. “Outpost” was inspired by habitat of migrant workers in India’s North East. But it evolved into larger ideas about making art in a world that is getting more and more culturally homogenised.

At the same time art is being increasingly framed by commercial interests that often sponsor as well as arbitrate art — which art is valuable and which is inconsequential,” says the photographer over e-mail. He visually executes it by having a pictorial trope of discarded containers fashioned into a habitat by miners in India’s pristine North East. Foregrounding the work with people who excavate precious minerals from earth feeding the same mass culture and industry adds irony to his endeavor. And then the narratives woven into the work bring out the results of global technopoly.

“My work has migrant miners in India’s North East as the starting point but goes on to raise larger, universal questions about making and receiving art,” says Samar adding that art is increasingly becoming the preserve of the so-called professional artist or virtuoso.

“This was never the case earlier as can be seen in India’s diversity or in her indigenous people where not just one or two individuals but the whole community is given to making art. My project is a reaction to the present state of affairs and a gentle reminder of what is slipping away.”

(A report by Shailaja Tripathi, courtesy The Hindu)