Interview of Jyoti Bhatt, Impressions show, Homelands show and more..

INTERVIEW

A Print is a Print is a Print - Jyoti Bhatt 

Noted graphic artist, Waswo X Waswo, talks to eminent artist, photographer and printmaker Jyoti Bhatt about his art, print making practices and his life in this candid online interview.

(Jyoti Bhatt)

Jyoti Bhatt is standing in Baroda’s ABS Gallery, a camera to his eye, photographing both the crowd and the objects at the opening of a group ceramics exhibition. His wife Jyotsna is at his side, making some small adjustments to the placement of a cleverly designed tea pitcher. As always, both are busy. Jyoti is still making photographs as he lets me in on a private joke. “You know when Jyotsna and I were both teaching at the Faculty of Fine Arts our students used to call it the ‘J. J. School of Art’.” He says this with a light-hearted chuckle, and then returns his full attention to focusing the camera.

( Waswo X Waswo)

I’ve come to Baroda to visit, and Jyoti has been my guide. Jyotsna later cooks a fabulous Gujarati lunch in the couple’s eclectically furnished home, and then Jyoti and I are off for more touring. At age seventy-six he has more energy than I do. Later still, upon my return to Udaipur, we conduct this online interview. To be quite honest I am surprised at some of his answers. Jyoti Bhatt remains as challenging, free-thinking, and rebellious as ever.

WXW:  Much of your work has revolved around printmaking, from your very early linocuts to the digital prints of the present. What attracted you to make etchings, lithographs and linocuts?

JB: I studied woodcut, linocut and lithography as elective subjects, along with painting as my main subject, from 1950 to 1954. I did my first etching when I went to Italy in 1961. I pursued it later, first in the US for two years at the Pratt Institute from1964 to 1966, and then on and off until today.

The reason for my liking and later taking up printmaking could have been that it was a relatively new medium. Not many artists in India considered printmaking worthy for their creative expressions. Also, my paintings did not have “painterly quality”, but they did show some graphic tendency. Printmaking allowed me to use my graphic strengths and print an image in multiple ways in various colour combinations and printing devices. I could not do anything similar to this in my paintings without scrapping off the previous stages.

As printmaking mediums allowed me to make a desired number of copies I thought they could reach to a larger number of people. This might have been wishful thinking at the time, but now I would guess that the number of people who have my prints is larger than the ones who have my paintings.

(A reverse painting on acrylic sheet by Jyoti Bhatt)

WXW:  Many collectors feel that a print...meaning a finely made original print as opposed to a reproduction...is somehow inferior to a drawing or a painting. Do you share this view?

JB: No! “A print is a print is a print”.  All these art forms have some characteristics which are similar and some distinctly different. A painting, drawing or print can be considered good, bad, or ugly according to the capability of the artist. The criteria for deciding this will always have to be related to the characteristics of the medium. But one medium should never be considered inferior or superior to another. A Rembrandt print, even a mechanical reproduction, may in ways be better than my own paintings, prints and drawings. It is rather unfortunate that people...even art collectors...have such wrong notions. The discriminations prevailing in their value judgements could be due to the ugly caste system and racism many of us have inherited, and that is still there in our culture. We like to make hierarchies.   

WXW:  You once told me a very interesting story about a linocut of yours called “Mother and Child”. Would you care to share that story again?

(Linocut - Mother and Child, 1961)

JB: The linocut print ‘Mother and Child’ dates from 1961 and was made from a drawing that I had made in my sketch book in 1955. It is an image of a cat with its kitten.  In 1963, as a part of the selection procedure for the Fulbright Scholarship I had applied for, I was interviewed by a jury of specialists. When seeing that linocut print one member of the jury remarked that it was a “copy” of Picasso’s work. This irritated me too much. So, I told him, “It is certainly a copy of a kind, but not of Picasso. Apart from few minor but essential changes demanded by the print medium, the image I have created in this print is a fairly accurate reproduction of the line drawing which was made by some illiterate village woman on a wall of her hut near the seashore in Saurashtra. This woman belonged to a farmer community for whom any words like Picasso , France , Africa , or cubism, did not have any meaning! I appreciate that you could see the similarity, but it is rather sad that you have no idea about so many of our own indigenous traditions because you do not find them in the books you have on your shelves!”

I feel happy and grateful that the jury members did not feel offended by my impolite reply and proceeded to recommended me for the scholarship.

( A photograph by Jyoti Bhatt)

WXW:  What do you feel about editioning?  Editioning is obviously done to enforce a sort of artificial rarity upon a print, when in fact perhaps a lot more could be made. In my opinion artists sometimes overuse the A/P designation as a way of making many more prints than the edition number would imply. What are the ethics of making editions, and second editions?

JB: The meaning of most of the terms such as “A/P” and “Edition” keep on changing and often are interpreted differently by printmakers and galleries. Yes! A/P designation has often provided a loophole for us to make extra prints which are not part of the edition. But, should the artists really need such loopholes? Aren’t they free to create the way they like, irrespective of the demands or commands from art dealers and art market? At the time when almost any image is available on the net it is ridiculous to hope that there will not one day be software which would turn any low resolution image into a high one.

In my own case, I usually keep on pulling trial proofs and feel happy or at least do not feel unhappy with most of the variations I try. On the other hand, I find it too mechanical and boring to print the final edition. I have also made an edition of A/Ps, meaning that I have numbered the prints in it like “A/P-7/15”.  I have also sometimes made two editions with variation in colours, and on one occasion I made a second edition to meet a special demand. Such a practice might be interpreted as ‘unethical’ by most art dealers. But as far as I know, it has not decreased the monetary value of my prints.

The fact is that most people could not care less if the number of other people who have my prints is five or five hundred. They seem to be happy with what they have. There must be a large number of people who have Rolls Royce or Mercedes cars, Omega or Rolex wrist watches. They do not make any fuss about the number of such expensive objects. I had made three large editions, each image having 1400 copies: 1200 were for Lufthansa and 100 for a gallery plus another 100 for myself. This was part of an international project of Lufthansa Airlines and a German Art Gallery during 1983.  

I have no guts to follow what the Austrian artist Hundert-Wassar had done. But I have always appreciated his philosophy as much as his work.  He had numbered several of his prints where the edition size was ‘infinite’ or very large, such as “75039 / 927500945”. Just to ridicule the art dealing norms he even sold his prints from the same editions at different prices.

Some illustrated examples of my so-called “unethical” practices can be noticed in the book “Parallels that Meet” that was published by Delhi Art Gallery. 

( A print work by Jyoti Bhatt)

WXW:  As you said before, you have moved in your career from linocuts and lithographs to etchings and now the digital print. How do you find working with digital medium? Do you get the same “hands-on” feeling while making a digital print? The same satisfaction?  What are the advantages and disadvantages?

JB: Yes! Though I have always enjoyed the process of creating or making an image and while doing that also exploring the potentials of different mediums, tools, method etc. I think that my main focus in most of my work has been the image and the meaning it can convey, (semiotics?). So, working with digital prints does not really make any difference. In fact the term ‘digital’ is used by us only as a popular nomenclature. While working with oil paints one is simultaneously working with its chemistry also. But, we do not use the term ‘chemical’ as a prefix for paintings done with oil paints.

Most of us work with computers and use ordinary keyboards that have English alphabets and so-called Arabic numbers. A computer turns our ideas into digital media without our knowing anything about how the digitalization of a shape or a colour works, actually and theoretically.  A computer is a high-tech advanced form of a tool. While looking at the depth of my etched marks I often used a magnifying glass. A computer allows me to see any detail at various magnifications.  It allows me and helps me and provokes me to see with my own eyes, on the computer screen / monitor, everything that is going on in my mind while I am creating an image. So far I have not found any tool more versatile than a computer. It is a modern age ‘Kalpa- Vriksh’ for artists.  

Of course I have several personal problems that do not permit me to get the best from the wonderful opportunities one can avail from this technology. Apart from that, the cost factor and the discriminatory idea that an etching or a lithographic print is considered better than a digital one are also important factors that discourage many artists from trying their hands with digital media. Those kinds of prejudices about different media should not hold artists back. It is not the medium that is important in art; it is what is done with it!

(This interview has been reproduced from Art & Deal Magazine for The Art Daily)

NEWS

Beyond Pain : An Afterlife

(Vasudha Thozhur with the artists at the show)

Sakshi Gallery and Project 88, Mumbai present art works by the riot affected women of Godhra in a show called, ‘Beyond Pain : An Afterlife’. The show is a decade long project anchored and put together by Baroda based artist Vasudha Thozhur, in collaboration with 

Himmat, a collective that helped 16 widows of Naroda Patiya who were relocated to Vatva, in Ahmedabad, India Foundation for the Arts and Khoj International Artists’ Association.

The show displays more than 100 art works comprising paintings, posters, books and videos all narrating individual stories in one voice. Vasudha hopes it will bring out the role of art with respect to collective trauma, and addressing issues that range from personal loss and displacement to rehabilitation and economic revival.

The show will preview at both Sakshi Gallery and Project 88 on 11th July 2013. The preview at Sakshi Gallery is from 7:00 to 9:00 pm, and at project 88, between 5:30 -7:00 pm.

The show is on view at both the venues till the 31st of July 2013.

Perspectives on Collecting - a discussion

(A work on display at the Homelands show)

National Gallery of Modern Art, NGMA, Bangalore, along with Christie’s India, British Council and Asia Art Projects presents the ‘ Homelands’ exhibition. On view are 28 artworks by contemporary artists from the British Council Collection.

As part of the exhibition, a panel discussion is to be held, titled, ‘ Perspectives on Collecting’. This panel discussion is presented by Christie’s and the Indian and UK based panelists are Menaka Kumari Shah, Director, Country Head - Christie’s India, Shreela Ghosh, Director Arts, South Asia, British Council, Sunitha Kumar Emmart, Director, Gallery Ske. The Moderator is Elise Foster Vander Elst, Director, Asia Art Projects.

The panel aims to debate and investigate approaches to building public and private art collections from a variety of perspectives. The panel also will discuss philanthropic giving, public acquisition committees and the role of the government.

The talk is to be held at NGMA, Bangalore on 6th of July 2013 at 11:15 am to 12:15 pm. The Homelands show will be on view till the 14th of August 2013.

The Graphic Impressions Show

( A print  by Akhilesh)

Gallery 88, Kolkata presents a mammoth group show of artworks traversing a few generations of artists. From legendary Indian masters to upcoming contemporaries, this show displays a variety of art works in the form of graphic prints. 

Titled, ‘Impressions’ the show displays works in serigraphy, linocuts, intaglio, planography and woodcuts have been employed by artists over decades to produce an eclectic mix of print works from different generations.

The participating artists are, M F Hussain, Somnath Hore, K G Subramanyan, Bhupen Khakar, Manjit Bawa, Krishna Reddy, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Dakoji Devraj, S h Raza, Sudhir Khastagir, Paritosh Sen, Amina Ahmed Kar, Laxma Goud, Jogen Chowdhury, Sanat Kar, R B Bhaskaran, Lalu Prasad Shaw, Jyoti Bhatt, Anupam Sud, Sakti Burman, Navjot Altaf, Dharmanarayan Dasgupta, Himmath Shah, Suhas Roy, Partha Pramit Deb, Shail Choyel, Atul Dodiya, Ramlal Dhar, R M Palaniappan, Akhilesh, Santanu Bhattacharya, Chandan Das, Sandip Chakraborty, Sohini Dhar, Paula Sengupta, Moutushi Chakraborty, Anupam Chakraborty.

The show previews on 6th of July 2013, and will be on view till the 10th of August 2013.

Korean art in Chennai

(One of the works on display at the show)

Chennai Chamber Biennale brings a collection of contemporary Korean art to the city featuring 15 of Korea’s best artists with 134 canvases spread over two floors.

There is a heady mix of genres and styles, — from American modernism to traditional Korean art, from a colourful take on urban living to sober portraits of hazy winter evenings, the exhibits capture a wide range of emotions and offer great insight into the contemporary artistic practices of Korea.

K-Art has curated the show and Lalit Kala Akademi and InKo Centre with Hyatt Regency, Chennai, have organised the show, the first in a series of bi-annual exhibitions. The 15 artists are also offered a chance to explore Tamil culture with guided tours to Mahabalipuram, DakshinaChitra and Kapaleeshwarar Koil in the hope that it will add to their artistic journey.

The show is on view till the 7th of July 2013.

( News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

Reviewing Secrets of the Art Millionaires, Ennea show and more

REVIEW

Secrets of the Art Millionaires

Self-help in nature and preachy in tone, ‘Secrets of the Art Millionaires’, written by Durva Gandhi unveils the obvious secrets of Indian contemporary art scene. These secrets are mostly like a news reader wearing a decent shirt and neck tie, complete with a blazer, but wearing a lungi below instead of trousers thinking that the camera would hold him in a tight bust shot. In this book, the author seems to pull out for a long shot to reveal the hairy legs of the news reader, says JohnyML. 

(Durva Gandhi with her book- photo courtesy www.thehindu.com)

There is one thing about all self-help books. They all speak of the obvious. They present the obvious as highly guarded secrets because the authors know for sure that those who seek chicken soup for soul through self-help books come to them with befuddled minds. Authors of such books do one simple thing; they throw the presumed confusions right at the faces of the readers. Most of the readers who read self-help books are on a perpetual denial trip. When someone tells things at their faces they suddenly get a way out and they feel there is a light at the other end of the tunnel.

“Secrets of the Art Millionaires” with a subtitle, Empowering You to become Abundantly Wealthy through Art, written by the Mumbai based art expert and director of www.breathearts.com, Durva Gandhi is a self-help book for all kinds of art players that include gallerists, critics, curators, buyers, collectors, investors, sellers and artists themselves. As the subtitle shows, Durva’s basic argument is that art is a gold mine and you just need to work towards gathering your share of gold. The style of writing is inspirational, chiding, coaxing and cajoling or all rolled into one. The dominant tone is that of the one who knows the art scene from inside. The author admits that she is an expert of Indian art scene. However, her experiences are primarily culled from the ways in which the Mumbai art scene works. But a cell could reveal the secrets of a macrocosm. Mumbai art scene contains it all. There is an inversion of Marco Polo’s logic here. He had once famously said; whenever he spoke of the wonderful cities in the world he was speaking of Venice. Here, whenever Durva speaks about Mumbai art scene, she in fact speaks about the art world in general. Globalized economy has made it possible, if not imagination.

(Durva Gandhi's Book. Photo courtesy www.amazon.ca)

One good thing about the book is, besides being a verbalisation of the obvious, it considers art as business not as a medium to satisfy the soul. The crux is simple, you indulge in art, buying or selling, exhibiting or promoting, investing or dealing, you could make a lot of money. If you make a lot of money soul satisfaction would follow. Hence, Durva addresses the galleries straight. During the last decade we have seen the enhancement of professionalism in most of the galleries. But the author says that it is not enough. She chalks out strategies and plans for regaining confidence of the buyers and investors in art and also she derides all kinds of manipulative bad mouthing amongst galleries. It’s clear that Durva speaks from the lessons learnt out of economic recession in the art market. Generally we could say that the backdrop of the book is economic recession. If recession is still an ongoing state how to handle it? The answers are there in this book. But to work it out all the art market players need patience and perseverance.

Now the bad thing; perhaps the bad thing is also a good thing. Durva advises the artists to be their own marketing managers along with their parent galleries. But she does not tell them to undercut the galleries by doing direct selling on fluctuating prices. She warns them of all these fault lines. What I felt as a bad advice is that according to the author, an artist should check out the demands before he does his works. In a pragmatic sense it rings true. But in an ideal sense of understanding creative people, it is almost like telling them to stop ‘living’. Durva is realistic in all sense. She says that all artists cannot become the top ranked ones. Only a meager per cent would make for the bill. To be a part of that exclusive club one has to really work hard. One intelligent question that she raises is this: While we all say that the investor should wait at least for a decade to mature his investment and reap profits, do our artists gear up themselves to do the same? Are they ready to invest their whole life and efforts unflinchingly to art without expecting any returns for almost a decade? If they do, then she says, success will not be that far. However, she says that keeping ten years’ of works in a private studio also will not bring in any results. In the meanwhile, the artist should be learning the skills to push his works while remaining less ambitious in terms of returns.

This overall realistic book with realistic advices for one and all in the art scene falters only when the author suggests a single window solution for every problem related to art in www.breathearts.com, owned and directed by her. The promotional sentences mentioning this business venture appear several times in the book so glaringly that makes the author’s intentions a bit less sublime. In short, in those parts this book reads like a promotional brochure for Durva’s business venture. Seen with an inverted logic, I would say, by doing this Durva does exactly what she preaches in the book: Promote yourself. Not a bad thing.

Noted literary critic, Late Prof.M.Krishnan Nair, who had literally shaped the critical perspectives on world literature of many generations (including mine) in Kerala through his illustrious weekly column titled ‘Sahitya Vaaraphalam’ (Weekly Horoscope of Literature), once wrote about how he read both bad and good books cover to cover. Whenever he felt like throwing an ugly piece of literature into the dustbin, he used to curb that instinct by reminding himself of the amount that he had spent on buying that book. I did not feel like throwing Durva’s book. But at some points I thought of keeping it down. Each time I felt so I thought of Rs.1000/- paid to flipkart by a young political philosopher who had kindly got this book for me. After all it is not a bad book. But the tragedy is that most of the gallerists will never read it though they would have copies signed by the author herself. 

NEWS

Terracotta an Art medium

(A work at the show)

The NIV Art Centre, New Delhi presents a group show focused on terracotta as a medium of making art. The group show is by artists selected for the NIVSATurday The last program. The show is an ongoing part of the Mysterious Terracotta exhibition.

The artists participating in the show are Anjum Khan, Anjali Prakash, Swati, K M Shweta, Mukesh Sah, Gazhala Parveen, Ramchandra Pokale, Vijendra Vij, Gagan Mandal, Ranjit Kokate.

Having opened with a talk on terracotta as a medium in art, by the acclaimed artist Rahul Modak on 29th June, the exhibition of art work continues for public viewing till the 8th of July 2013.

Photography Workshop at NID

(National Institute of Design)

The National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and Tasveer, have jointly organized a photography workshop which will be conducted by eminent artist Jyoti Bhatt.

The workshop is a precursor to an exhibition of photographs from the collections called Magnum Ke Tasveer. 

The workshop will be held on the 5th of July 2013 from 11:30 am to 4:00pm at the NAtional Institute of Design, Paldi , Ahmedabad. The exhibition continues till the 14th of July 2013.

For further information please contact Deepak John Mathew at +91 98243 17395 or email at deepakj@nid.edu

Ennea - An Art and Music venture

(Works at the Ennea Show)

Swasti- the Contemporary Art Gallery, Bangalore presents a group show with specific installations. The word Ennea is a Greek term for the group of Navarasas or nine emotions. The show displays nine installations depicting nine emotions, the navarasas.

The artist  Bhagya Ajaikumar has excelled at the sculptural installations in hand mudra like poses to depict the emotions.

In addition to the show, the exhibition is soothed by the experience of Carnatic music, navagraha kirthana and navaragamalika varna in an instrumental version teamed with the movie music of Navrang.

This amalgamation of music and fine art creates a unique experience for the viewer. The show is on till the 10th of July 2013.

Solo show of Sreshta Rit Premnath

( A photography work by Sreshta Rit Premnath)

Gallery Ske, Bangalore presents a solo show of eminent artist and educator Sreshta Rit Premnath. Educated in the Cleveland Institute of Art, and the Bard College, he has held a number of solo exhibitions worldwide and also is a co-editor and founder of a leading magazine.

The works on display, part of his latest, photography works. Sreshta Rit Premnath has curated several shows, and group shows  and currently teaches the MFA program at Parsons college.
Sreshta Premnath works in various mediums like painting, collage works, installations works.

The show is on view from the 13th July 2013  till the 24th July 2013.


(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

Profile Urmila VG, Parikrama Show, Art Affair and more..

PROFILE

Towards an Illumined Life - Urmila VG

She rotates, revolves, endures and evolves. She annihilates and rejuvenates. She survives. This is the indomitable spirit of Mother Nature that inspires artist and printmaker Urmila VG as she witnesses, reveres and heralds through her silent, eloquent works, observes Sushma Sabnis.

(Artist Urmila VG)

Mother Nature speaks in every language fathomable and unfathomable. Bangalore based artist Urmila VG, listens attentively with reverence, she notices and imbibes all those tiny life lessons, left behind as a reminder of nature’s speech and reproduces them in her artworks.

One has seen and even experienced the fury and disciplining actions of mother nature over the past few years. Humankind and its infinite, never ending greed has borne a huge burden on nature and now she strikes back, at times gently, benevolently and at times with unbridled violence, to demolish and rebuild in the only way she understands, with tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes and absolute decimation of life.

Urmila takes a rare stand. Unlike a staunch environmental activist, she chooses to strike a unique balance and respect for the spirit of survival of nature and and equal regard for the need for progress and modernization in society. Her works, primarily prints and installation works subtly bring to the viewer’s attention the quiet footsteps of nature’s survival. 

(Woodcut print - Sounding my trumpet)

A Master of Fine Arts in printmaking, from Kala Bhavan, Visvabharati University, Santiniketan, Urmila’s works bring to fore the beauty of a mutual understanding, a pact of survival between nature and the forces bent on her destruction in the name of modernisation  The symbiosis and co-existence of two very contrasting forces and their survival instincts is what evokes very strong works by the artist. The strength of the visual is as much in the projected battle for survival, as the brimming sensitivity and will of life. An irony stares at the viewer which is neither obvious nor ignorable. 

The initial appeal of the works is in its finesse of skill. Muted tones and precise shapes control the compositions and the implied narratives. At times the imagery even dares to mock the human race itself with its conflicting elements. But when looked at closely, a deep concern inherent in the artist’s mind and her stoic, yet silent voice comes through crystal clear. In a way the works emulate Mother Nature herself. 

(Woodcut Print -  Tree)

In her 2011 work, ‘Sounding my trumpet’, a woodcut print, the artist portrays an image of an old radio/ transistor through which a plant with trumpet shaped flowers and seed pods grow calmly and propagate. The triumph of nature over the industrial era is loudly implied. In another woodcut print, titled ‘Tree’, the visual transports the viewer into a fantastical land where a tree bursts with life and encompasses what looks like a happy earth. Leaves, cover each portion of this flourishing tree and seeds like fireflies coat the land in a carpet of hope.

(Woodcut print - Walk with me)

‘Walk with me’ a woodcut print is a strong message sent out to humankind by Nature as portrayed by the artist, where a pair of sneakers / walking shoes act as a germinative bed for a vine to grow and prosper. The uniqueness of this image is in the quiet acceptance of two contrasting elements. A symbol of movement, a shoe, houses and sprouts an immovable plant with roots. The leaves reach out in all directions to touch the sky in all ambitiousness while the shoes remain firmly rooted to the ground. This is a message to humankind about how progress is to be achieved, without uprooting the source of life itself -  the green cover, trees. Cleverly titled, ‘Walk with me’ the obvious contrasts are very well accentuated.

(Woodcut Print -  Illumined Life)

In another woodcut print of 2011, titled, ‘Illumined life’ the artist makes a direct statement about power sources in the world and the need to preserve them. A bulb houses a green plant entangled in its tungsten wire, a metaphor for the sun, and solar power being the alternative power source for the future generations. The green plant is also the only way the environment could be salvaged and this may actually give humankind the illumined life one seeks.

(Installation -  Recipes For Change..s)

Urmila also expresses with meaningful installation art which strikes a cord with the viewer. Her installation, ‘Recipes for Change...s’ comprises of a well laid out table for four. On the table are four glass plates, elegantly laid out on the table cloth, with cutlery. In the plates however, are what can be easily mistaken for actual food, items made of saw dust and left over/ discarded wood shavings.  Each year tons of trees are cut down to be sawed and shaped to suit the market needs for furniture, paper making industries etc. The shavings and the sawdust is thrown away as waste. The installation concentrates on the amount of wastage in the name of a higher standard of fine living made by humankind.

(Woodcut Print - Seed 1)

Two of her earlier works titled ‘Seed 1, 2’, the artist has used acrylic colours and printing ink on carved wood to create an imagery of germinating seeds. A potential of life, a seed has been dissected and its innards open to view. The works have a sepia hue on black background and are very effective in pointing out the regenerative spirit of nature and her 
unbreakable continuity of life.

That the artist Urmila feels and thinks very deeply about nature is evident in her works resplendent with environmental concerns and a quiet positive belief in the triumph of Nature and her ability to survive everything. The artist captures this unparalleled optimism and successfully demystifies these subtle messages through her works.

Urmila VG lives and works in Bangalore.

NEWS

Art with Heart

(A painting by Sudhir Talmale)

Gallery 7, Mumbai, presents a group show of paintings and sculptures titled, ‘Art Affair’. The artworks on display and sale are aimed at art buyers and collectors of various strata of society. Being a pocket friendly show, the artists have chosen to contribute thirty percent of the sales proceeds to the Indian Cancer Society. 

This collection has been hand picked by the owners of the gallery and the participating artists are Vijay Shinde, Prakash Waghmare, Sanju Jain, Sudhir Talmale and Anupam Singh.

With a healthy mix of figurative art and abstract art on display, this show promises to herald its noble cause and intent with ease.

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

Of Architecture and Art

(Model by Kapil Gupta)

The Mumbai Art Room, presents a special show of the best projects of two of the foremost architects in India, Kapil Gupta and Bijoy Jain. With its fascination for creative designs, the gallery brings together in an exhibition the works of the two leading architects.
The show has been curated by the popular American architect Aaron Schwarz.

On display are works which include building models, a wall drawing, axonometric views, site images, project plans, working mockups and samples, giving visitors a window into each designer’s projects and sensibilities. The differences in culture, geographical changes etc have been fast becoming a thing of the past as far as architectural practices and designs are concerned. 

The show attempts to feature the differences along with the similarities of the works and the distinct working styles of each of the architects further broadening the horizons of architecture making it more homogenized and all-encompassing approach to the field.

The show is on view till 2nd of August 2013.

The Parikrama Show

(A painting by Navina Ganju)

The Visual Arts Gallery,  India Habitat Centre, New Delhi presents a group show of paintings and sculptures titled, ‘Parikrama’. The works on display are by upcoming and emerging artists of the country.  The show displays a variety of styles and skill levels in the works. Variety of mediums have been experimented with and a fresh approach to art  and creative expression as a whole can be seen at the show.

The participating artists are Amit Kapoor, Chander Bose, Gaurav Mangla, Harender Harsh Loomba, Honey Gupta, Iqbal Krishan Gurtu, J S Gill, Kamini Baghel, Kuldeep Kumar, Kuldeep Singh Rathore, Madhu Priya, Manoj Dass, Navina Ganju, Parakh Arora, Radhey Shyam, Rekha Gurtu, Rinky Katarey, Shahee Sagar, Shiladitya Verma, Surender, Sonali Chaudhari, Swatantra Kamal, Uzma, Vinit Choudhary, Vijay Goyal, and Yogesh.

The show is to be inaugurated on 4th of July at 6: 30 m by Prof Kiran Walia, the Hon’able Minister for Social Welfare, Women & Child Development & Education.

The show is curated by Radhey Shyam and co-curated by Kuldeep Kumar. 
The show is on view till the 8th of July 2013.

English monuments on canvas

(A painting by Swaroop Mukerji)

The Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata presents a solo exhibition of paintings by artist Swaroop Mukerji. What makes this show stand apart form the others is the subject of the paintings on display. Swaroop, a Kolkata based artist has chosen to paint and recreate 10 historical properties from the British heritage. The properties he has painted about include, Apsley House, Wellington Arch, Eltham Palace, Chapter House in Westminster Abbey, Queen Victoria's Palace, Osborne House in Isle of Wight and Jewel Tower among others.

Swaroop specializes in capturing historical monuments on canvas and has a large collection of his works inspired by Raj Bhavan, Kolkata, Rashtrapat Bhavan, New Delhi and ancient temples like the Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Most of the works have been rendered in water colours and acrylics on canvas.

The show is on view till the 14th of July 2013.



(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

Featuring The Sahmat Collective, Palette Summer 2013 show, Dipak Kundu solo and more..

NEWS

Palette Summer 2013 show

(Palette Summer show)

Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi presents its mammoth annual group show of artists titled, ‘Palette Summer 2013’. The show encompasses a few generations of artists and art works from the yesteryear greats to today’s upcoming and established contemporaries. 

The show features forty four artists and their over seventy artworks in various oeuvres and styles,  diverse mediums and timeless thought processes and imagination. 

The participating artists are, Ram Kumar, Anjolie Ela Menon, Arpana Caur, Akbar Padamsee, Manjeet Bawa, Jogen Chowdhury, Arpita Singh, Amit Ambalal, Anupam Sud, Vasundhara Tewari Broota, Sujata Bajaj, Amitava Das, Mona Rai, Baba Anand, Manisha Gera, Seema Kohli, Gopikrishna, Himmat Shah, Zarina Hashmi, Subodh Gupta, Anju Dodiya, Remen Chopra. Sonia Mehra Chawla, G R Iranna, Gigi Scaria, Baiju Parthan, Reena Kallat, Atul Bhalla, Paresh Maity, Shibu Natesan, Aishwarya Sultania, Chintan Upadhyay, Manjunath Kamath, Jayasri Burman, Bose Krishnamachari, Shivani Aggarwal, George Marn, OmSoorya, Binoy Varghese, Sunil Padwal, Pradeep Mishra, Ritu Kamath, Suparna Mondal, Mousumi Biswas, Chandra Bhattacharjee , Guru Siddappa, Murali Cheeroth, Dinesh Khanna.

The show is on view till the 13th of July 2013.

Tale of love, life, divinity and death

( A painting by Dipak Kundu on display)

The Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata, presents a solo show of paintings by the artist Dipak Kundu. The show is titled, ‘Tale of Love,Life, Divinity and Death’.

The works on display are figurative and narrative in style and rendered in acrylics on canvas. The works on display depict a soulful and spiritual narrative with a backdrop of mural like art techniques and effects. With vibrant colours and an array of skills in art on display, this show promises to be an enchanting one for the viewer.

The artist Dipak Kundu is a post graduate from the Rabindra Bharati University and has participated in several group and solo shows all over the country.



Zooming in on Contemporary Art

(An artwork from the show)

Kalakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata, presents a group show of thirteen contemporaries of today, titled, ‘Zoom : A Collection’. 

Taken from the gallery’s own collection, these exquisite artworks are by thirteen well established contemporary artists of India today. The show displays works in various mediums ranging from sculptures and installation art to paintings, in mixed media, oils and acrylics. Figurative , narrative styles and portraitures also comprise the selection. Abstracts and popular media works with a keen sense of humour also feature in this show.

The participating artists are Akhilesh, Anjolie Ela Menon, Anju Dodiya, Atul Dodiya, Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, Jitish Kallat, Nalini Malani, Nilima Sheikh, Rajeswara Rao, Reena Kallat, Rekha Rodwittiya, Riyaz Komu and Sakti Burman.

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

Reflections on Abstract Painting - a lecture

(Works at the show)

The Jehangir Nicholson Gallery presents a lecture on ‘Iconoclasm, Invisibility, Silence: Reflections on Abstract Painting’  as a part of the ongoing exhibition ‘Nothing is Absolute: A Journey through Abstraction’. The show is co-curated by Mehli Gobhai and Ranjit Hoskote and the lecture will be conducted by Ranjit Hoskote.

The subject revolves around the disconnect felt by many people when viewing abstract art, focussing on the engagement between the viewership and abstract art, the extent of true participation in this engagement and the forms of freedom that abstraction signals towards.  These are some of the questions that will be talked about.

The lecture will be held on 12th of July 2013 from 5 - 6:30 pm.


(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE

A secular collage

The Sahmat Collective, an Indian art exhibition touring the U.S., is a striking representation of communal dynamics.

(A photograph by Ram Rahman at the show)

“That’s an auto-rickshaw,” a local woman said matter-of-factly to her companions pointing to the three-wheeler parked inside the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. Shiny red rather than dusty black and yellow, the authentic Bajaj auto-rickshaw came from nearby Wisconsin to help tell Sahmat’s story. The exhibition — The Sahmat Collective: Art and Activism in India Since 1989 — was in Chicago from February until early June and travels to museums at the University of North Carolina and then the University of California at Los Angeles.

The first image in the exhibition is ‘Safdar Hashmi’s Funeral Procession (1989)’, a large black and white print of a photograph taken by Ram Rahman. The photo shows Hashmi’s corpse covered with a hammer-and-sickle flag and surrounded by a packed procession of mourners. Thirty-four-year-old Hashmi was assassinated while leading a pro-labour street theatre performance in an industrial area outside Delhi. His family, friends, and fellow travellers formed Sahmat (Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust) in the aftermath of this unprecedented onslaught on artist-activists.

The flag signals Hashmi’s party affiliation and Sahmat’s leftist politics. A Bangladeshi man viewing the exhibition told me that Sahmat is a front organisation for the CPI (M). However, Prabhat Patnaik’s essay in the impressive exhibition catalogue describes a more complex and nuanced relationship. The rapidity of Sahmat’s responses to the 1992 destruction of the Babri Masjid and the 2002 attacks on Muslims in Gujarat suggest that it is neither stymied nor stalled by party politics and bureaucracy.

Smart Museum curator Jessica Moss organised the exhibition with Delhi-based co-curator and Sahmat founding member Ram Rahman. Moss first heard about Sahmat several years ago when visiting Delhi with her husband Kavi Gupta, owner of contemporary art galleries in Chicago and Berlin. She was “struck by how the group could galvanise around issues and how little Sahmat was known outside of India.” And thus began her quest to bring Sahmat to the U.S.

Anthony Hirschel, the Smart Museum director, describes the museum’s impetus for organising the exhibit: “India now occupies such a large place in our understanding of the world, it seemed entirely the right time for the Smart Museum to devote a major exhibition to the work of some of its leading artists.” Both Hirschel and Moss also spoke about how Sahmat meshes with two key Smart interests — contemporary art from Asia and ways that artists engage with current social and political issues through their work. Moss added that the exhibition provides a context for more deeply understanding and appreciating works made by India’s “global art stars.”

Sahmat has a rich archive of diverse projects spanning over two decades of activism. Abundance and historical-cultural specificity pose challenges for creating an exhibition accessible to non-Indian audiences. But Moss and Rahman deftly responded by organising the exhibition into case studies. This approach highlights the innovative ways that the trust involves artists and designers to join forces with musicians, poets, dancers, and scholars. It also shows how Sahmat mobilises its resources to reach out to multiple publics and promote secular Indian nationalism and freedom of expression.

(The Sahmat Collective: Art and Activism in India since 1989)

The case studies are grouped by theme in Smart’s galleries: Sahmat’s Beginnings; Janotsav (People’s Festival); Children’s Books; Artists Against Communalism; Ayodhya: Demolition of the Babri Masjid and After; Tributes to Gandhi; Gift for India; Art on the Move; Ways of Resisting; Reasserting Secularism; and Free Speech and Defending Husain. The final gallery billows with colourful Sahmat signs and screens a video compilation of excerpts from performances at the annual Safdar Hashmi Memorial and other Sahmat events.

Through the loosely chronological presentation, the artwork, artefacts, and accompanying text offer excellent primary sources on recent Indian history. Unfortunately, most audiences in art museums do not take the time to digest wall-text and captions. The difficulty of engaging with politically imbued art in the museum setting is multiplied when the work is displayed so far from its “native” context.

So despite several carefully worded definitions, the exhibition’s heavy use of the commonplace Indian term “communalism” confounded many non-Indian viewers. Communalism is not used in American political discourse. It doesn’t connote violence or struggle; much less inter-religious strife or religious nationalism. Fortunately, many pieces in the Sahmat show do not require background knowledge or expertise. Instead they rely on art’s power to convey ideas and evoke emotion and experience even when meaning isn’t readily discernible.

The exhibition offers no shortage of works that prompt return for repeated savouring. Gargi Raina and Gigi Scaria contributed two of the many striking works in the 2007 exhibition — Making History Our Own — which marked the 60th anniversary of India’s independence and the 150th anniversary of the 1857 Uprising. Raina’s austere yet visceral ‘The Scattering (Zafran)’ is a set of six prints on paper each arrayed with varying densities of delicate wisps of blood. Scaria’s ‘Details of a Personal History’, digital print of a black and white photograph, evokes the formal calm of a still life. It invites the viewer to visually ponder this workers’ way station — a store showroom under construction with clothes hanging on nails, a bamboo ladder diagonally bisecting half the room, and a patch of marble floor in the foreground gleaming through dust and debris.

M.F. Husain is revered by Sahmat and art lovers across the world as a giant of modern art. Sahmat has organised symposia, publications, and exhibitions to honour him and protest his persecution by Hindutva forces. Like other Sahmat projects with a shared theme, works in its 2009 exhibition celebrating Husain on his 94th birthday display a lively diversity. Pushpamala N. conveys incisive self-assertion in her tableau-like ‘Motherland with Om Flag and Trishul’ while Sudhir Patwardhan combines tenderness and wit in his drawing that gives Husain an extra pair of arms.

In addition to its filial devotion to M.F. Husain, Sahmat organised projects to revive the memory of Mahatma Gandhi.

This reminder of Hindutva’s viciousness is grimly echoed in Vivan Sundaram’s ‘Memorial: Burial 1, 2, and 6’ and ‘Memorial: Iron Pyre (1993)’. These post-Ayodhya works stopped Chicago-based photographer and geography professor David Solzman and me in our tracks. Dr. Solzman gravely pronounced, “This guy doesn’t take any prisoners. His work deals with savagery and god-awful waste.”

(Report by Lise Mckean courtesy The Hindu)

EDITORIAL - Seeing NGMA in 'Better light', Somnath Hore retrospective and more..

EDITORIAL

Getting ‘Better Light’ for the NGMA, New Delhi

With the July 1^st issue of The Art Daily (TAD) we are at the threshold of the third month. When we started it on 1^st May 2013 our resources were limited and aspirations were high. Today, we are proud to announce that more people have come forward to support us in many different ways. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for being earnest readers and critics of TAD during the last two months. While we expect the same in coming days, I make an earnest plea here: Please do send your articles, links and other interesting materials for publishing in TAD.

( National Gallery of Modern Art - NGMA)

Today I went to the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi for seeing a retrospective of Jamini Roy (1887-1972), mounted as a part of the late master’s 125^th birth anniversary celebrations. Curated by the veteran art researcher and writer, Ella Dutta, this exhibition showcases the works of Jamini Roy from the NGMA Collection as well as a few sourced from some reputed private collections. Spread out in the sprawling galleries of the new wing of the NGMA, this exhibition is a treat to the art lovers. I will be writing about this exhibition in detail soon. What I could say is this much: we need more and more such exhibitions, not only in Delhi but also in other cities in India including the metros like Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai and Kochi.

Am I becoming a slave of habit too? When I recounted the names of cities I did not speak of Patna, Ranchi, Lucknow, Khairagarh, Nagpur, Pune, Guwahati, Bhuvaneshwar, Chandigarh or Panaji. What about these cities that also have a vibrant cultural scene or claimed to have a rich cultural heritage? Why do we wish away these cities or places whenever a major retrospective is centrally planned? Do we lack in resources or workforce? Or is it a pre-requisite to have private facilitators in these respective cities in order to make exhibitions travel? It is high time that we think of centre-periphery cultural exchanges. Or do we think that culture should end up in economically and politically powerful cities only?

I was very happy to see a long queue in front of the ticket counter at the NGMA; a rare sight. Things are slowly changing. But the demographic complexion of the queue was a bit depressing. Most of the people who had come to see the Jamini Roy exhibition belonged to the Bengali community. Obviously, NGMA cannot do anything towards it. But it could do something towards transcending the parochial implications a show could possibly have. Starting from newspaper advertisements to connecting with tour operators, from news channel special programs to FM Radio highlights, an exhibition of this scale could promoted through various mediums.

(A painting by Jamini Roy)

Lighting at the new galleries in NGMA, New Delhi is of abysmally poor quality. While the NGMA claims to have all the state of the art facilities, especially in its new wings, the authorities seem to have paid no attention to the lighting aspect. To see a Jamini Roy work one has to stand in an angle to get proper light on the work of art. It has happened with most of the important shows held in this new wing. Though art journalists have been pointing it out for a long time the authorities do not mind having shows in ‘poor light’. 

When Public-Private participations happen at the NGMA galleries, surprisingly, lighting gets better and galleries are spruced up for cutting edge works of art. If private money could do wonders as in the case of Skoda Prize show this year, I would suggest that the NGMA should go for collaborations with the private sector whenever it mounts important shows. It would ensure better catalogue productions (as we saw in the case of Ram Kinker Baij retrospective), better production of shows, better lighting and better publicity. When done alone, the NGMA Delhi has once again proved that it can show the best of gems in the ‘worst light.’

JohnyML

NEWS

Of Spoken Memory

(Speak, Memory show)

Gallery Five Forty Five , Bangalore, presents a solo show of recent paintings by artist Madhvi Reddi, titled, ‘Speak, Memory’. The show highlights in a unique autobiographical style of painting, and the bold and unapologetic way the artist chooses to depict the thoughts.

Madhvi is a self taught painter, and a product designer from National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi, she moved to painting full time in her studio in Bangalore. 

The paintings may appear disconcerting because of their unapologetic and unguarded content. She presents her life and experiences, and illustrates them using herself as the main figurative element. The works have an almost confessional note to them.

The show is on view from the 5th of July to the 31st of July 2013.

Limited Edition Prints by Somnath Hore

(A Somnath Hore print)

The Chemould Art Gallery, Kolkata, presents a retrospective of eminent print maker, Somnath Hore. On show, are limited prints of 21 works by the legendary artist. Most of Somnath Hore’s works can be seen as a response to historical crises and events of 20th century Bengal, including the famine of 1943.

The sculptures, murals, sketches and prints were a reaction which convey a quiet heroism in the face of suffering beyond measure. With influences and inspiration form some of the German printmakers like Kathe Kollwitz and Austrian expressionist Oskar Kokoschka, he learnt and developed various innovative  methods of printmaking in India. He died at the ripe age of 85 in 2006.

the retrospective will be on view from the 1st of July to the 10th of July 2013.

Merging Metaphors through Art

(ICCR invite)

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations, (ICCR) New Delhi, presents a painting exhibition of a group of artists titled, ‘Merging Metaphors’. The show is curated by eminent curator, Sushma K Bahl and the works on display are the artworks done by the artists from the India-ASEAN Residency held at Darjeeling in 2012.

The show is being held at the Azad Bhavan Art Gallery, and is on view till the 3rd of July 2013.

The show is an ongoing part of the ‘ Under Horizon Series’ and event to promote solidarity and bonding between various communities of India. 

An Unhurried Moment

(A painting by Naresh Das)

Icon Art Gallery, Hyderabad, presents a solo show of paintings by artist, Naresh Das. Naresh has a Bachelor’s degree in Painting from the Utkal University Orissa, and his work on display can be classified as expressionistic style.  He has explored the world of animation Film making and uses both these strains to create his new series.

The show is titled, ‘ A Moment Paused’ and displays a collection of paintings where the artist has tried to capture an irreversible line of fleeting moments. The fraction of a second when time is paused, is what the paintings seem to depict through the artist’s fertile imagination. A flurry of activities, movements frozen in an instant. The delicate merging and blending of forms depicted in canvas in full vibrancy of colour makes the collection mystical and inspiring. The artist captures the still and the dynamic all in one colourful array of works.

The show is on view till the11th of July 2013.

(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)