Indian Divine, Head Tale, and more..

NEWS

Head Tale

( work on display)

Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi presents a solo show of paintings by artist Soumen Bhowmick. The show titled, ‘Head Tale’ tells the tale of hope, despair, failure, struggle, deceit and tears of all kinds of disillusioned people who make up the fabric of society. Like the children who perform on streets for a living, migrant labourers in an urban space who live with flse hope of ever becoming rich.  All these heads are reflecting the soul of our present society. The contemporary dilemmas of mankind are vividly portrayed here.

'Head Tale' stands on an understanding of daily exploration of a soulless journey towards attaining the truth. The show tries to visually trace the imperfect frameworks for negotiating the complexity of existence.  The elements facilitate engagement at all levels of consciousness, being provocative in nature. 'Head Tale’ is based on the inner turmoil and its struggle with various elements. Influenced by forces of society, norms of survival, rules of coordinated etiquette, economic pitfalls, political lies, back stabbing idiots, race to success.

The show is on from 15th March to 25th March 2014.

Versicoloured Days of Mine

All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi presents a solo show of paintings by artist Archana Das. The show is titled, ‘Versicoloured Days of Mine’ and on display are the vibrant evocative paintings of the artist. Delving into figuration and a strong narrative for her works, the artist presents a series with distinct stories to tell.

The show is to be inaugurated by eminent art critic and poet, Keshav Malik, and will be presided over by Ram V Sutar eminent sculptor and President of AIFACS and Paramjeet Singh, eminent painter and Chairman of AIFACs, New Delhi.

The show previews on 10th March 2014 and is on view till 16th March 2014.

Indian Divine

Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi presents its upcoming exhibition titled, ‘Indian Divine:  Gods & Goddesses in 20th Century Modern Art’. The show explores the worship, propitiated, cajoled and given a primal place in the lives of Indians from the earliest of times to today.

The works are dated across three centuries from 19th century to present day, earliest work dating from 1849 on saint Chaitanya in the Early Bengal style. The exhibition aims to build a historical perspective and chronology of Indian art through mainstream religions like Hinduism, Buddhism,Islam and Christianity. It includes paintings in the Western style of deities by artists like Raja Ravi Varma, MV Dhurandhar and paintings from the Kalighat style and the early Bengal styles. Other artists works in the show are Nandalal Bose, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Ganesh Pyne, MF Hussain, KK Hebbar,Rabin Mondal, PV Janakiram,Krishen Khanna, FN Souza, Madhvi Parekh, Kanwal Krishna, S Dhanpal and V Nageshkar, GR Santosh, Sohan Qadri, PT Reddy, Sunil Das among many others.

The show is on view from 15th March to 26th March 2014

(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE

New art space, Tarq, opens in Colaba

A 3,000-sq-ft gallery, Tarq, opened in Colaba with celebrated photographer Clare Arni’s Disappearing Professions of Urban India on display

(A Tinner in Delhi; copper can react with acidic foods causing toxins. In such workshops, pots are tinned on the inside. With the coming of stainless steel vessels, this profession is vanishing.)

While art lovers are spoilt for choice at Colaba and the neighbouring Kala Ghoda sub- precinct, there always seems to be room for more. It’s evident with the opening of Tarq, the latest gallery to open its shutters at Colaba. The new gallery spans 3,000-sq-ft and is spread across the ground and first floors. Tarq in Sanskrit stands for discussion, abstract reasoning, logic and cause. The contemporary art gallery is dedicated to enabling a conversation around art from a diverse range of contexts.

Gallery talk

(Dhobi Ghat in Bangalore; there are 40 permanent members. With the introduction of washing machines their work is getting less and less.)

Gallery director Hena Kapadia elaborates, “The idea of this gallery is to be open to conversation, and to be a space where artist, collector, critic and art enthusiasts can learn and grow together. The intention is to have a space where different voices can be heard, and a sense of context and history can be developed.”

She adds that they wish to encourage a constant dialogue between the viewer and the artist and work with newer artists and collectors. “A clear sense of the artist’s thought and an insight into his practice are essential in choosing works for me. The influence of the artist’s larger context on the art, and how that is effectively expressed in the work is also essential to an artwork,” elaborates Kapadia.

(Quri Mohd Yaqub in Delhi is a calligrapher. Arni recounts that he sat with his legs tucked under him and sang his answers to her questions.)

Offering some location trivia, she states that the gallery, located in Dhanraj Mahal, is one of Mumbai’s iconic Art Deco buildings. “It was built in the 1930s and was the former palace of the Raja Dhanrajgir of Hyderabad. It was designed by the architectural firm of Gregson, Batley and King, and is now home to several commercial enterprises as well as private residences. Having housed the British Navy in World War II, the building has recently been restored to its former glory,” she informs.

Bangalore to Mumbai

(Tarq gallery in Colaba is spread across 3,000-sq-feet)

The first exhibition to grace the gallery is Clare Arni’s collection of images featuring the country’s vanishing occupations. Kapadia met Arni in Bangalore and loved her photos and the thoughtful archive that she had created. The exhibition has 50 images on display. All are digital photographs, some are on paper and a few are printed on canvas.

The UK-born and Bangalore-based photographer says that she stumbled upon the subject of her latest exhibition, titled Disappearing Professions of Urban India: “I was working on the subject of urban change, and I found that this was a good way to document the changing face of the urban geography of India.” Arni, a professional photographer for over 25 years in India, shot these works over a span of six years. Till April 1st 2014.



( Report by Soma Das for Mid-Day)

Narratives of our own, Vision of a Living Past and more..

NEWS

Narratives of Our Own

( Work on display)

Artisans Art Gallery, Mumbai  presents the story of Ganesh Jogi and his family through their autobiographical pen-and-ink drawings. This exhibition titled, ‘Narratives of Our Own’ is a tribute to Ganesh Jogi, a renowned musician and artist. 

A traditional balladeer from the nomadic Paua community of Rajasthan, Ganesh was a self-taught artist. First prompted to express himself with pen and paper in the 1980s by the cultural anthropologist and artist, Haku Shah, today Ganesh's wife, Tejuben and their family are artists in their own right. Their children Prakash, Somi, Govind, Sangita, daughter-in-law, Soni and her brother Raju Kalbelia join their mother Tejuben in this tribute.

The intricate pen-and-ink drawings are a story of origin, migration, urban settlement, adaptation and survival, with keenly observed detail. At once personal memoir, and imaginative allegory, these articulate works of art are testimony to the transformative power of the human spirit, to awaken not with song this time, but with their stirring art.

The show is on view till 9th February 2014.

Vision of a Living Past

( work by Raghavendra Rao KV)

Gallery Five Forty Five, Bangalore presents ‘Vision of a Living Past: the Imaginary Landscape of the Komagata Maru’, a solo exhibition of new works by Raghavendra Rao K.V.

May 2014 will mark the centenary of the arrival in Canada of the Komagata Maru, a ship carrying 376 migrants from India. A small number of passengers were not allowed to enter Canada in accordance with the amendments to Canada’s Immigration Act and the infamous ‘Continuous Journey’ regulation. These passengers were forced to return to India, only to be welcomed by the British Indian police as dangerous revolutionaries. They were fired upon, and many were either killed or arrested.

The significance of the Komagata Maru for the Punjabi Canadian community of Canada, and indeed for all South Asian Canadians, cannot be overstated. As a newcomer to Canada (who became a permanent resident in June 2013), the artist has been struck by the continuing significance of the Komagata Maru for many South Asians.

For this reason, the artist has completed a series of paintings related to the incident and plans to complete several more paintings, digital images, and conceptual objects that will engage with this event and its ongoing, living significance today. The set of paintings are acrylic on canvas and small in size, represents the effort to bring together processes, surfaces and imageries that are not always seen together.

The show is on view till 28th February 2014.

Balthazar

( Work on display)

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, (IGNCA)New Delhi presents a show of Swiss artist Mai-Thu Perret. The artist has displayed an installation titled, ‘Balthazar’. Mai-Thu Perret is an internationally acclaimed Swiss artist, her multifaceted practice ranges from sculpture, installation, painting, video and textile works drawing from a wide array of art and art historic references. 

Balthazar is a life-sized donkey sculpture woven out of rattan. The donkey, suggests hard physical labour and in Christian tradition stands for the poor and for women. The subject of the work and its proximity to handicraft and design - to traditionally female occupations- is mirrored in the materiality of the rattan-donkey. 

The show is on till 28th February 2014 at Matighar, IGNCA.

Old is gold

Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi presents a group show of etchings, photographs and prints. 
The show is to be held at Triveni Kala Sangam, and the participating artists are, A Ramachandran, Akbar Padamsee, Anjolie Ela Menon, Arpita Singh, Ghulammohammed Sheikh, Krishna Reddy, Laxma Goud, MF Husain, Paramjit Singh, Ram Kumar, Rameshwar Broota, SH Raza, Somnath Hore, Tyeb Mehta, VS Gaitonde and V Vishwanadhan.

The show commences today and will be on view till 12th February 2014.

( News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE

Unveiled

Anuradha Saluja unmasks what lies behind the face

(One of Anuradha Saluja's works)

On a slosh-ridden rainy afternoon with Delhi roads traffic choked, viewing art ina quiet art gallery can be healing in its own way. Tucked away in a silent lane in the Siri Fort Institutional Area, the Arpana Caur Art Gallery was home to “Naqaab”, an exhibition of paintings and prints by Anuradha Saluja last week.

Each of the art works displayed on the walls seemed to explore what lies behind the ‘naqaab’ or the veil that each of us wear all the time, letting our guard down only before a select few to whom we permit a look behind and beyond it. Mostly portraits, the works used a range of media — pencil, charcoal, poster colours or dry pastel on white paper, white glass pencil on black paper and acrylic, pastel and oils on canvas.

“What attracted me to do portraits were eyes,” said Anuradha and one could see that having translated into the portraits exhibited, the eyes being the most striking element in almost all of them. “I feel that the eyes talk and are sometimes the only window into what lies behind the veil. In women who wear a burkha, their eyes are all you can see of their faces and their emotions lie within them. When the veil is removed, the lines on their faces tell you what they have experienced in life,” she added. In the backdrop, the white pencil portrait on black depicting a grinning, wrinkled and wisened old man reflected this idea in fascinating detail.

Her “showstopper” as she herself termed it, however, was a pencil sketch on paper — a portrait of a lady without a face. With an intricate pattern filling up the surface where one expects to see the eyes, nose and mouth, Anuradha felt that the air of mystery around this ‘naqaab’ and the curiosity it aroused to know what story lies behind it, is what inspired the title of the exhibition itself.

(Report by Nandini D. Tripathy for The Hindu)