Conjectures, Timeless, Being Black and more...

NEWS

Being Black

( Work by Amritah Sen)

Ganges Art Gallery, Kolkata presents artworks of artist Amritah Sen in an art exhibition titled 'Being Black'. The artist combines her creative ideas along with her sense of colours and creates her art works.

The artist is a B.F.A and M.F.A in painting from Kala Bhavana Visva Bharati University, Shantiniketan. She creates stories from her paintings and combines mythology, happenings of the surroundings, a bit of humour quotient. The artist makes it a point of not covering current issues in her paintings. She has been awarded the National Scholarship from the government of India for her talent.

The show is on view till 7th December 2013.

Conjectures

(Work on display at the show)

Pradarshak Art Gallery, Mumbai presents a group show of abstract art works by upcoming and established artists. The show titled, ‘Conjectures’ displays abstract works by young artists, depicting conscious, sub conscious with motifs and layered works.

The works by Ranjit Kurmi, Anuja Paturkar, Anupam Banarase, Vikram Kulkarni, Raju Autade, Gaurav Chavan, Sachin Pakhale, Yashpal Kamble, Amit Patil, Anu Kulkarni, Rahul Dangat and Umesh Patil are on show.

The show is on till 13th December 2013.

When High and Low Art Meet

( Work on display at the show)

Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi presents a group show of contemporary artists’ works, titled, ‘When High and Low Art Meet’. The show is curated by Rupika Chawla.

The participating artists are A Rajeswara Rao, Anita Dube, Anjolie Ela Menon, Anupam Sud, Atul Dodiya, B Manjunath Kamath, Chandra Bhattacharjee, Chintan Upadhyay, Dileep Sharma, G R Iranna, Gopikrishna, Himanshu Verma, Jagannath Panda, Jayasri Burman, Jogen Chowdhury, Manisha Gera Baswani, Murali Cheeroth, Nayanaa Kanodia, Paresh Maity, Pushpamala N, Raghu Rai, Ram Rahman, Ranbir Singh Kaleka, Ravinder Reddy, Rohit Chawla, Sudhanshu Sutar, Sumedh Rajendran, Sunil Gawde, Thukral & Tagra, V Ramesh, Vivek Vilasini, Waswo X Waswo.

The show is on view at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi till the 2nd December 2013.

Timeless

( Work on display)

Piramal Art Gallery at NCPA, Mumbai, presents the photography show titled, ‘Timeless’.

Photography works of photographers Mathew Kurien, Shabir Hussain Santosh, Partha Sarathi Sengupta, Idris Ahmed and Sanjay Das will be on display.The photographers’ skills of capturing their surroundings will be seen. 

Each photograph presents a unique story and is different in its own way. The photographers have captured wildlife, landscapes, scenes of Holi and much more. Also the exhibition will give a chance to all the viewers to present their interpretation of the clicks captured.

The show previews on 29th November and is on view till 1st December 2013.

(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE

A world of colours

Artist Gayatri Shantaram’s paintings celebrate the universe

(Work by Gayatri Shantaram)

Black is a defining colour in artist Gayatri Shantaram’s work. The other predominant colours are white, red, blue or purple. Her ongoing exhibition Mandala at Contemplate Art Gallery is a celebration of the universe. “Mandala represents a circle or the universe. It showcases a little bit of my universe. All my paintings have a focal point, a circle often represented as the sun or the moon that encompasses a square (the canvas). In our Indian temple structures, a number of squares lead up to the garbagraha. The Tibetan Mandala comprises of a square within the circle. The Mandala collection constitutes what I am,” she says.

( work on display)

The use of blue in her works, she says, comes from Chennai where she grew up by the sea. “I use a lot of whites as well because it suits my linen canvas which I often work on. But my work is incomplete without black. It represents the duality of life,” she says.

The various paintings on display capture the artist’s progression in abstract work. At the entrance is a portrait of ‘Pilgrims’ in a play of themes. It is a figurative expression in shades of golden yellows and of course, black. There’s a series on guinea fowls. “I noticed these little creatures huddled together during visits to a friend’s farm. I found them extremely funny. You laugh at them but there is sadness too, as they cannot fly. I look on them as children, people or adults in a family with their own set of curious expressions.”

( work on display)

There are more birds as she points out her African crane and the Japanese crested crane. In one of the paintings, a plain peacock looks away while its plumage forms the backdrop like a screen lit up by moonlight. In another painting, there are shades of purple as the moon settles down and a bird is in flight.

Gayatri uses acrylic colours, a lot of Indian, Chinese and photographic ink, and water colours. She draws inspiration form just about anything that catches her fancy. “I click a picture when something strikes me and go back to the spot after two week’s time to see if the impact is the same. Then, I work on it. Though I look at subject matters for outward inspiration, I look a lot more inwards while working.”

( Work on display)

While some of her paintings are vibrant, others are calming and meditative. A painting titled ‘Fly’ is her tribute to aviation. It has blue clouds, a red sun and a bird. “The idea of taking off and to be there among the clouds is liberating,” she says. Another portrait inspired by Japanese art has just a splash of red on white and black background. The artist has also done guinea fowls on rice paper, inspired by Japanese art. “When you draw a line of colour the paper absorbs it and the crinkles add texture to the work.”

( Work on display)

‘Indus’ is a work in black ink. It has a mix of crackles and flow effect. When you point out what look like faces on the canvas, she says to her it represents a flowing water body. Some of her other abstract works include the elements, air, earth, water and fire. Gayatri describes art as a way of life. She says, “Though it doesn’t promise you an assured monthly pay check, it’s been very fulfilling emotionally and intellectually.”

The exhibition is on till November 29th 2013 at Contemplate Art Gallery, Avanashi Road.

( Report by K Jeshi, Photos by M Periasamy for The Hindu)