Photography by Jyoti Bhatt at NID, The Wall Effect and more..

NEWS

Photographs from Rural India by Jyoti Bhatt

Photographs by Jyoti Bhatt

The National Institute of Design, Design Gallery, Ahmedabad and Tasveer present a unique show of photographs by the legendary artist Jyoti Bhatt. Bhatt began documenting the folk and tribal culture of rural India in the summer of 1967. 

With specific focus on the folk arts of Gujarat, the artist travelled far and wide throught he villages and tribal areas to capture never seen art forms which were in practice then. He photographed folk arts and craft traditions in their original environments, along with the people who inhabited these spaces. Bhatt’s journey across rural India had a profound effect on him as an artist and it extended into this major body of photographic work.

The photographs in this show are from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Bihar,

The show is on view till the 22nd of September 2013.

In unison with Nature

Work by Ramanuj Sekhar

Artists’ Centre Gallery, Mumbai presents the exhibition of paintings by artist, Ramanuj Sekhar from Jharkhand. The artist works mostly in the genre of landscapes with a leaning subtly  towards abstractions or nature abstractions.

The works have been rendered in acrylic on canvas and have a vibrancy and fluidity to them. Some of the works have are reminiscent of rural landscapes and fantastical lands which are parts a distant memory. The artist revels in the serenity of nature and brings nuances of her in to his canvases.

The show titled, ‘In unison with Nature’ is on view till the 22nd of September 2013.

Augury of an abstraction

Work by Shefali Shah

Gallery Pradarshak presents a solo show of works by artist Shefali Shah. The works belong to the genre of abstracts and are rendered in water colours on paper. Colour and form are two important ingredients of her work and she experiments with them in a more playful manner than as a serious vein.

Her work exudes a sense of freedom and it is done with full intent of breaking the norms of form and shape but not in a random, intuitive way but more of an augury of a definitive process, aware of the result. Her photography background helps her in foreseeing her abstractions.

The exhibit is on view till the 22nd of September 2013.

Show of Student Artwork of MSU

Complain box by Soumitra Gouri at the show

Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai presents a group show of students art works from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M S University Baroda. The show displays works of students, who show their outcry and interpretation of the urban and rural issues as seen by them. Their young minds conjure up various solutions for these societal problems and are a testament to their art works and artistic expressions. The works shown emit an experimentative spirit and a variety of visual languages  with respect to the sensibilities of the current times with a succinct message of the contemporary.

The show displays the works of Chetan Parmar, Likhita Mahajan, Mrunal Kahar, Nagendra Rajbandari, Premdavid Vaishy, Ritesh Rajput, Sanjay Rajwar, Shantanu Shastry, Soumitra Gouri, Vijay Kadam, Arti Kadam, Loknath Sinha, Rakesh Rana, Shiv Verma, Mrudula Mishra, Sunil Kholi, Mehul Patel and  Ajay Kanwal.

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

(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE

The wall effect

Colombian artist Vicky Fadul is helping the residents of Hauz Khas slums transform their surroundings

Vicky Fadul with the participants

Eclipsed by the uber cool and trendy environs of Hauz Khas village are the Hauz Khas slums which many of us who frequent the Village remain oblivious to. It is a slum just like any other, bordering a posh area that erupts into news mostly owing to a negative development. But the last five days have been different. The area is engulfed in frenetic activity and this time it is fuelled by enthusiasm and positivity. With her project ‘La Casa Pintada’ (The Painted House) Columbian artist Vicky Fadul is literally filling the lives of the residents with colour. Very soon they will start living amidst colourful walls adorned with beautiful motifs and patterns all done by themselves.

After implementing her project in 55 villages in Colombia, United Kingdom and Indonesia, Vicky with the support of Embassy of Colombia in New Delhi has brought her project to India. In the slums of Hauz Khas, she is training and encouraging people to paint the walls of their houses with foam rollers. “It’s a very old technique in Colombia. Earlier we used to have ceramics and stone rollers but now we have foam rollers. The participants are taught to how to etch out designs on rollers with a heater rod and mix colours, which have been provided by Asian Paints. They are free to do their designs. But before they carve these designs on rollers, they have to draw them on paper and show it to me. Indian culture is so aesthetic that you don’t need to tell people much. They are coming up with very elegant designs. Mostly people paint flowers but here they have done the imagery of elephants, Ganesha, etc.,” says Vicky.

A participant with her work

From young school dropouts to 40-year-old women employed as maids and cooks in the nearby localities, Vicky’s initiative is attracting participation across the board. Seventeen year-old Damini, whose father is unemployed and mother works as a cook, looks at it as an addition to her skill base. “If I get involved with it at a deeper level, which is very possible, it can become a means of income for me. Moreover, who doesn’t want to live in beautiful surroundings. Right now we are painting just the exteriors which are so dirty but if I had my way, I would paint the interiors of my house too,” expresses Damini, who painted rose and an intricate rangoli design on a wall.

Vicky reveals that in the villages of Colombia, a few have made the skill a means of livelihood. “This skill has great utility because it can be taken up professionally and also implemented in daily life. The participants are going to get a certificate. Also, the corporates who sponsor it can continue the programme after I leave like they have elsewhere.”

The painted wall

The artist travels with the project consciously choosing to work with the marginalised. “I think colours have a transformational capability and a healing quality. From the perspective of community too, it is great because it binds them all, brings them closer,” says Vicky from her experience. Fourteen-year-old Reshma, who is learning stitching at the community school Muskaan, agrees. “Nobody refused permission to paint on their houses. They happily agreed. And it is fun to be working and painting together,” says Reshma, who painted a creeper motif on the wall.

(Report by Shailaja Tripathi for The Hindu)