Clay at the Attic, Feminine Narratives and more..

NEWS

Audio-visual by Jagannath Panda

(work by Jagannath Panda)

Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, hosts an audio visual presentation by artist Jagannath Panda at the Government Museum & Art Gallery. 

The artist is known for creating images that are deceptively simple. Often, his works consist of light, linear drawings and melting of liquid shapes placed on the surface. At the same time, the works also reflect conflicts between ecology and development, nature and technology. Panda's works are often inspired by his immediate surroundings: Orissa, his native state, and his current home in chaotically urban New Delhi. Through his art, Panda brings together many binary opposites, nature and culture, the urban and the rural, tradition and innovation, and the figurative and the abstract. In his works he brings together these opposing scenarios to form a coherent whole through deft colour treatment and a personal aesthetic sensibility. Animal life also plays an important part in the artist's circle of motifs. Animals represent people, gods, or the cycle of life. 

The audio visual presentation will take place on 31st March 2014 at 5:30 pm.

Clay At the Attic - 3

The Attic art space, New Delhi is presenting a pottery exhibition that will be showcasing art works by nine contemporary artists. The artists whose works will be displayed at this exhibition are Akila Chungi, Nausheen Bari, Kaveri Bharth, Neha Pallarwar, Shayonti Salvi, Ranjita Bora, Sylvia Kerkar, Veena Chandran and Tejashree Segvekar. The show is curated by Ray Meeker, and this exhibition offers a wonderful experience for art lovers in the city.

The show is on view till 29th March 2014.

Ladakh—The Land of Mountain Passes

The Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata will be hosting an exhibition of paintings and photographs by Sasanka Ghosh and Kakoli Dey, respectively. Their works capture the landscape, people, culture, architecture and wildlife of Ladakh.

The show is on till 30th March 2014.

Feminine Narratives

( work on display)

Malaka Spice Art Gallery, Pune presents an exhibition of paintings by Chetana Chaudhari-Sudame. Chetana is an artist with her own style of figurative painting. Her mostly self-taught pursuit of excellence in art has added facets of learning under artists of repute in India and in UK at the Slade School of Art,(UCL), London. 

Her paintings explore the feminine subtleties inspired from folk painting styles of India and are a celebration of colors and enhance the finer moments of the feminine life. Using various media, from oil pastels to ink and acrylic to oil, is her forte.

The show is on view till 31st March 2014.

( News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE

In search of the missing

Interview: At Art Dubai, Indian origin artist Hajra Waheed unveils the second chapter of her ongoing novel-like work based on the issue of migration.

( A work by Hajra Waheed)

Hajra Waheed was born to Indian parents in Canada. The artist grew up in Canada and in Saudi Arabia. Educational pursuits took her to the U.S. and then back to Canada. This diversity can perhaps explain how Hajra’s art eschews regional trappings so well.

The artist is exhibiting at the eighth edition of Art Dubai, a significant platform for the visual arts from the West Asia, North Africa and South Asia regions. Hajra is being presented by Kolkata’s Experimenter gallery.

“I think having been raised in different places has enabled me to look at various aspects of myself,” says Hajra, who had her first solo in India last year where she showed different pieces from the same body of work.

Because she finds it problematic to situate an art work in a particular region, her work ends up having a universal resonance. “I don’t look at myself coming from a particular region. If I did then the narrative would have been very channelled,” she says.

Describing the “Sea Change” series as a long novel which will unfold over the years, the young artist says the India show was an introduction of the narrative. The plot deals with people who disappear during their journeys, and at Art Dubai, Hajra’s series “Sea Change Character 1: In The Rough” becomes a little specific in introducing one out of nine characters who go missing.

Based on the real account of disappearance of a large group of people travelling by sea, Hajra does a take on migration and issues around it. Her vivid experiences of, particularly, living in the Saudi Arabian oil compound with many restrictions owing to gender and nationality, inform her art practice.

( A work by Hajra Waheed)

So, “Returned” is a set of 24 works on paper, which with collaged photographs of rocks, landscapes, accompanied by some text, qualify to be called minimalistic.

“Co-ordinates” is a set of steel slide viewers — handcrafted wooden boxes — inside which can be seen an image (found film, cut and reassembled) of a landscape.

The material she uses helps her in elaborating the narrative. Found objects, aged paper, gifted things often make it to her work (like the family photographs gifted to her by a friend that were used in “Entranik Anouchian Passport Drawing”, portraits of men and women, now in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York).

“I notice that the materials that have existing history have a much more mature way of working,” says the artist, who is also doing what she describes as a live installation at the venue. “It is like a floating lantern which comes alive. I collaborate with a shadow puppeteer and we interact with shadow and light,” explains Hajra, who will be performing on a boat floating in the water body at hotel Madinat Jumeirah, the venue of Art Dubai.

Indian presence at Art Dubai

Bangalore-based artist Anup Mathew Thomas has won the Abraaj Group Art Prize along with four other artists from different countries.

The commissioned work, “Nurses”, a set of photographs of nurses, is also on display at the venue.

Sunoj D, another Bangalore-based artist, and Mumbai-based art collective Clark House Initiative are part of Art Dubai Projects.

Then there are Indian galleries like GallerySKE, Experimenter, Chatterjee and Lal, Jhaveri Contemporary, etc, which have booths at the fair.

(Report by Shailaja Tripathi for The Hindu)

Village Tales, Collage Art and more..

NEWS

Collage Art

( Work on display)

Bliss Art Gallery, Pune presents a show titled, ‘Collage Paintings’. The show displays beautiful art, created using torn pieces of colourful paper comes to Bliss Art Gallery, as it hosts an exhibition of collage paintings. Created by Vikram Paranjpe, an alumnus of Abhinav Kala Vidyalaya, who is now settled in Devrukh, Konkan, the artworks at he exhibition take the art form of collage paintings to a new, professional high.

The show is on view till 29th March 2014.

Art Jugalbandhi

Government Museum & Venkatappa Art gallery, Bangalore present a show ‘Art Jugalbandhi’ a combination of charcoal drawing and water color painting; a one day charcoal drawing workshop. 

Skills like handling different types of charcoals will be taught.  Fee includes materials and lunch and one day water colour workshop. Each participant can join either for charcoal drawing or water colour painting. All the classes are held outdoor and are held in 10 different locations, across Bengaluru. 

The workshops will be held till 23rd March 2014.

Village tales

( Work by JMS Mani)

Artworld Sarala’s art Centre, Hyderabad celebrates its 49th anniversary with a two solo shows. One solo is of paintings by artist P Perumal, and the other solo show displays works of JMS Mani.

The two eminent artists present their paintings exclusive to their styles of figurations. JMS Mani’s works explore the rural landscape and the people,a s do the paintings of P Perumal. The works differ in the rendition, style and palette each of them uses.

While JMS Mani locates his protagonists in busy market places and hubs of activity depicted in sharp use of vibrant colours, Perumal uses slightly subdued hues to capture the idyllic lives of the rural cattle rearing community.

The show is on view till 31st March 2014.

Seeds

(Etchigns on display)

Art Heritage gallery, New Delhi presents the solo show of artist, Kavita Nayar. The show is titled, ‘Seeds’ and is to be held in the basement gallery. The show has on display exclusive prints made by the artist, which portray a lyrical painterly quality.

Subdued hues, and full of spiritual and Buddhist symbolism, the works on display have been made by etching on zinc plates. The show finds a balance between contemplation and celebration.

The show is on view till 21st March 2014.

( News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE

Lalit Kala Akademi hosts artwork from across the country

(An award-winning painting at the exhibition)

Selecting the brightest and the most imaginative artist after going through a mind-boggling number of 6,583 entries is a painstaking job. But for the Lalit Kala Akademi, it was an essential prerequisite to get the right kind of artists from across the country. This also meant getting proportional representation.

To achieve the task of selecting the 168 artists for its 55 edition of National Exhibition of Art, the Akademi-appointed committee had commensurate number of painters, sculptors, graphic artists and photo experts as its members.

Explaining the method of selecting the artists, Akademi Chairman K.K. Chakravarty said: “We did blind testing which meant the committee members were clueless about the identity of the artists whose work they had to appraise. And they had also been kept in the dark about the artists’ place of residence. Only after the selection, the details were revealed to the members.”

Of the total number of artists, 10 artists have been selected for the prestigious National Awards. And this year, noted artist S.H. Raza conferred the awards on winners on the premises of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries here on Wednesday.

Shedding light on the prestigious exhibition, which started at the Akademi on Thursday and will continue up to April 10, Dr. Chakravarty said: “The exhibition has been conceptualised in such a way that it has broad national representation. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to state that this exhibition represents the entire country. The exhibition lends extraordinary meaning to ordinary objects by associating them in unforeseen permutations and combinations.”

The exhibition is showcasing multi-storeyed facades, deserted interiors of heritage sights, empty rooms with stacks of books, iconic figures and mechanical objects. The caparisoned elephant, zebra, winged horse, bull, frog, snake, cat and rat have also been absorbed and translated into anthropomorphic forms.

(Report by Madhur Tankha for The Hindu)

A Million Smiles, The Journey of a Butterfly and more..

NEWS

A Million Smiles

( Work on display)

Ambience Mall, New Delhi presents a solo photography show of veteran photography artist Ashok P Kochhar. This would be India's largest solo photography exhibition by the eminent photographer. 

Titled, ‘A million smiles’ the show is a photography art initiative conceived by Kochhar to celebrate womanhood by exhibiting joyous smiles of more than 1000 women across Delhi - NCR. This exhibition displays a unique initiative, where experience and energy synthesizes at one place for a greater cause.

The show commences on Women’s Day, 8th March and will be on view till 16th March 2014.

The Journey of a Butterfly

( Work on display)

Goethe Zentrum, Hyderabad presents a solo show of paintings by artist Sravanthi Juluri. The show titled, ‘The Journey of a Butterfly’ is an ode to the bold and free spirited woman of today. The most scared place for Sravanthi is a plain white canvas waiting for her to express her feelings, raise her voice, and tell a story. She has always been fascinated by the human mind, and the way we react to different situations around us-pain and anger, happiness and joy. She loves to use her canvas as a story board and mostly as a tool to spread awareness about the crime committed against women and the trauma women undergo. She also likes to inspire women and young girls to look for inner strength and find the courage to stand up against the atrocities. 

The current works being showcased expose the inner thoughts and emotions of a woman, releasing her inner strength and letting go of inhibitions; feeling liberated. She explores the world in the form of a butterfly, sipping in the nectar of sweet victory. This is a show dedicated to all the women around who stood up against the odds and emerged as butterflies leading a new live.

The show is on view from 14th March to 24th March 2014.

A glimpse of an inner world

( Work on display)

Kamalnayan Bajaj Art Gallery, Mumbai presents a solo show by Shilpa Welkar. The works on display are figuratives and rendered in a realistic style. For the artist self –expression enables the inner-world to step into reality. So thought takes form and there is release and realisation. 

Environment, upbringing, experiences and inclinations imbue all art. This builds bridges and the greater good is accomplished. Here is a catalogue through time, of musings and tendernesses and the miracle of empathy. It is both an attempt at control and a need to surrender.

The show commences on 10th March and is on view till 15th March 2014.

A Myriad Woman

( work on display)

Malaka Spice Art space presents a unique show titled, " A Myriad Woman", a painting exhibition by upcoming artist Vishalini Paliwal. 

The show displays paintings which celebrate the essence of the feminine by focusing on the nuances and myriad expressions and emotions of the woman protagonist. The works take the viewer through an array of emotions. The show coincides with the Women’s day and portrays this feminine mystique.

The show is on till 15th March 2014.

(News Reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE

An ode to love

The canvases of The New Romantics are filled with the colours of love as it is experienced today

(RICH AND TEXTURED Basuki's canvas)

Kynkyny’s recent group exhibition on the occasion of Valentine’s Day titled “The New Romantics” showcased the artists’ perspective on the idea of romance, in their signature style.

The exhibition featured artworks in a range of media including acrylic, charcoal, pen and ink, tempera, collage, oil and mixed media.

Basuki Dasgupta’s landscape is a vivid red, signifying romance, with the figures — faces of a man and a woman, painted to appear as one. The canvas itself is rich and textured.

“The concept behind my painting is the relationship between a man and a woman. Two different units are coming together to show that they are one. I believe that when two souls come together with an emotional and logical understanding, something positive can come from it. That is romance,” explains Basuki.

“Life started when the elements of fire and water cam together. They are two extreme powers. But the appearance of love has changed though the form remains the same. I have shown this by making my canvas textured, to show that we live in a rough world today.”

G.Subramanian works with the medium of collage, creating images of the iconic Indian lovers, Radha and Krishna. Subramanian’s figures are rounded, their eyes are closed and they smile dreamily, appearing intoxicated by their togetherness.

“I like painting subjects from Indian tradition and I didn’t want to borrow from the tradition of the miniatures by painting Krishna and his gopis. I have always felt that Radha and Krishna make a nice pair. She’s older than him, she’s more mature and more caring,” says Subramanian, who believes that his work should spread joy.

“And my subjects have their eyes closed because I think it’s more romantic. When you have your eyes closed, your vision becomes infinite. And that’s what I wanted to express through the collage. I believe that it’s the love between a man and a woman that gives life to the earth.”

Sachin Jaltare fills his canvases with smoky, half-formed figures of a man and a woman in a delicate embrace. The only hint of colour, a vivid red, is on their foreheads. Their eyes too are closed, as if they are exist on another plane and their faces express an unfathomable depth

“I represent the Indian deities Shiva and Shakti, as body and energy, through my works. I have always been fascinated by the idea of Shiva Tattva or the supreme consciousness that represents the universe. As I started working I developed my own style of expression. The figures in my paintings are not completely clear, nor are they completely abstract,” he explains.

“And only when Shiva and Parvati, together as energies, can serve the purpose just as a bulb cannot be used without electricity.”

The exhibition also feature works by Basuki Dasgupta, Bakula Nayak, Dhrubajyoti Baral, Doddamani, G. Subramanian, Nishant Dange, Praveen Kumar, Subrata Das and Sachin Jaltare.

“The New Romantics” will be on view until March 8th 2014.

( Report by Harshini Vakkalanka for The Hindu)

Forms of Activism, Fete de la photo- Holi, and more..

NEWS

Forms of Activism

SAHMAT celebrates its 25th year with a curated exhibition titled, ‘Forms of Activism’. The show explores the connections between art and activism. Aiming to address questions of constructed memory (Communal Violence – Gujarat); identity (Citizen Rights); conflict zones (Kashmir); direct improving environmental degradation (Ecology); provocative stances in relation to gender, nation and history (Mother/India/Tradition); and confrontational positions inherent within class/caste (Labour/Materiality). 

The show explores various media practices and the participating artists are, Anita Dube,  Arpana Caur, Arpita Singh, Arun Kumar H.G., Ayisha Abraham, Gauri Gill, Gigi Scaria, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Inder Salim, Jehangir Jani, Jitish Kallat,  Madhvi Parekh, Navjot Altaf, Parthiv Shah,  Prashant Panjiar, Pratul Dash,  Probir Gupta, Pushpamala N., Ram Rahman,  Ravi Agarwal, Reena Saini Kallat,  Riyas Komu, Saba Hasan, Samit Das,  Shamshad, Sharmila Samant,  Sheba Chhachhi,  Sonia Khurana, Subba Ghosh,  Sudhir Patwardhan, B.V. Suresh,  Tushar Joag,  Vasudevan Akkitham,  Vasudha Thozhur, Veer Munshi, Vibha Galhotra and  Walter D’Souza.

The show is on view till 1st March 2014 at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.

Eclectic expressions

( work on display)

Lokayata Art gallery, New Delhi presents an eclectic mix of paintings. The show displays a range of art works by a group of artists from India and the rest of the world. 

The show displays works by artists Awtans, Jitender Murhadhya, John Luis Dias, Makhan Saha, Mukta Gupta, Ramesh Rana, RK Tatawat, Swatantra, Shikha Agnihotri, and Varsha Singh. The show commences on the 28th of February 2014.

The show is on view till 6th March 2014.

Indian landscapes

(work on display)

Malaka Spice, Pune presents an exhibition of paintings by Shamim Qureshi. 

Shamim Qureshi is a senior citizen with a strong passion for art. Influenced by European water colour artists, his Indian nature studies are depicted in English colours, an edge over the common and usual Indian colour scheme. He has to his credit a range of landscapes and cityscapes in water colour, which have received wonderful response from the fraternity and art lovers.

The show is on view till 28th February 2014.

Fete de la photo - Holi

(work on display)

Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad presents a show of photography by photographer Xavier Zimbardo. Today photography is practiced in many forms, as an artistic expression, a hobby, a social activity etc. We say that it has become the most popular Art form, at a time when all the mobile phones are equipped with cameras. Everybody can be a photographer and everyone can appreciate photography.Celebrating this the photographer has brought to the fore an exquisite collection of captures about the colourful festival of Holi.

The show is on from 7th March to 18th March  2014.

( News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE

Imagination on fire

‘Fire’, an exhibition of paintings by architect S. Gopakumar, is a tribute to the elements

(Work on display)

The antics of the birds that visit the Plumeria tree in S. Gopakumar’s garden provide a peaceful early morning ambience to complement his newspaper reading. And this scene of tranquillity was soon immortalised on canvas as ‘Morning Visitors’, one of the many works by him that are currently on display at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery as part of his exhibition, ‘Fire’.

Architect and artist

An architect by profession, Gopakumar has been painting since his college days. He had already received a Kerala Lalithakala Akademi award for his efforts by the time he completed his architecture course from the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, in 1970. Despite focusing more on his career since his move to Kochi from Thiruvananthapuram in 1976, Gopakumar says his passion for painting has not lessened in the slightest. “The exhibition is called ‘Fire’ because it represents inspiration. A while ago I felt the urge to paint again and ended up creating 12 works in a span of about two-and-a-half months,” he says.

The titular element is not lacking in his works either, with large sections of canvas devoted to late evening skies; large bands of red in its many hues streaking across the scene. ‘Angry Crab’ depicts a crustacean on a pristine white beach before broad strokes of colour are unleashed upon the eyes. ‘Island’ is a vision of a few skeletal trees feebly extending their leafless branches skyward as another crimson streaked sunset soaks the waters around them.

“For me, more than the result, it is the action of painting that elates the soul. I come from a family of artists and designers, and a family exhibition we held at Thiruvananthapuram in 2012 got me painting again,” says Gopakumar, before telling the story of how a kite seller he met in Chandigarh became the basis for his work of the same name.

Dedicated to Nature

His latest works are a series of five paintings dedicated to the five elements of Nature—fire, water, earth, sky and air. The serene reflection of the moon on a body of water contrasts the angry flame that occupies the canvas beside it. A brownish hue permeates Gopakumar’s vision of the earth, with giant buildings anchored by strong roots, while the sky dwarfs the buildings and trees that stand beneath it, painted with subtle hues of the fiery motif. A few overlapping swirls in smoky grey suffice to depict air.

Though most of the works have the undertones of Nature and the elements, a few stand out by not conforming to the theme. The ‘Space Cube’ goes for a light blue shade while ‘Silence Of The Leaves’ is a tapestry of green, with a tiger and a rabbit being its sole inhabitants. The last of the works on display, ‘Black Hole’, is an example of art extending beyond the canvas, or in this case right through it, as it includes a physical hole right in the middle of the work.

The exhibition is on at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery till February 28.

(Report by Sooraj Rajmohan for The Hindu)

Review - Tanmoy Samanta's All I have learned and forgotten and more news..

REVIEW

Trajectory of Trash and Transmigration

A quiet world of subdued hues unravels in Tanmoy Samanta's works at Gallery Espace, in the solo, 'All I have learned and forgotten' made from traditional materials dowsed in untraditional thoughts, reviews Nisha Aggarwal

( A chair for nobody)

Two pronged antagonism indicted through the colours and sublunary objects, yet divulging the harmony, balance and symmetry. This is what lies at the surface of Tanmoy Samanta's paintings and 3D-book installations. It effuses into denser world of the artist, as one engages conversing to multiple layers of the works. I devolved into the artist's profound personal world, while visiting his third solo show at Gallery Espace, New Delhi, titled 'All I have learned and forgotten' from December 12, 2013 till January 11, 2014. 

The show engulfs 20 works soldering painting and 3D materials which take the viewer into evocation of time, space, memory and then beyond it. Tanmoy collects junked keys, locks, clocks, old books and maps that no longer keep their functional value. He ambles around flea markets and street shops in lost lang synes searching these 'out of time' objects. Then these objects are transformed into motifs that also appear often in his 2D works/paintings. Old books, glued the pages together, layered with rice paper, carved shapes out of the paper and added other objects to them evince another life they hold within. His recycled book 'shadow palace' shows how a colossal structure can disappear yet stay alive in the latent of one's mind. The protagonist here is a palace, which is symbolic of any building that has/had a denoting effect. It accosts that something dominion can be left behind just as a shadow without a body. 

(A Pair of goldfish)

Tanmoy's fervour of reading travelogues, indulgence with maps, globes, interest of tracing countries and continents exhorts in his work 'Cartographer's Paradox-I and II. He brings in all continents and countries together by rendering the dividing line invisible. Here, he becomes a mapmaker playfully making the 'jumbled up' maps without line and borders, tracing the inspiration from John Lennon's 'Imagine'. One hand, it questions the concept of political boundaries and on the other hand, gives them a new identity similar to his recycled books. He explicates these found materials both as an artifact and a medium. Thus, his artistic process becomes a metamorphosis to these objects giving them a new life, and manifold interpretations. His paintings also delineate the potential of umpteen testimonies. For instance, object like human figures, void like objects, eggs like void, unidentified objects like animals, weight that creates emptiness, and amorphous shapes seize the viewer into a zone of daze, arcanum, fantasy, poetry and philosophy. A sitting green figure holding a 'heavy' vacuum in one hand and a 'line' in other hand says what? A form lodged onto a red seated 'chair of nobody' is who? 'A pair of gold-fish' gives stance of tailor's scissors or tailor’s scissors are kept in an aquarium like bowl? A globe glares like an eclipsed moon or it's a shaky picture of a globe only? In 'at dusk' a bird is perched on a gun or on a branch? Watch dials encased in a 'bee-hive' shape makes 'the time hive', are examples of some 'visually created' questions to embroil the viewers. This 'visual play' becomes the interplay of a simultaneous act of remembering and forgetting, for artist and viewer both. 

( The Padlock)

Images, not of artistic imagination instead gathered from his surroundings create frozen narratives allowing the multiple readings. They are like statements of enlightened philosophers loaded with layers of meaning. Artist's control over line drawing makes him able to navigate images into one another, or transmigration of them. His technique has developed from the traditional Japanese school of painting where linearity is maintained while not losing the corpulence of figures. His training as a painter at Santiniketan is evident in the selection of traditional media like fragile rice paper, gouache, and pigments. It itself traces the history in the works of Abanindranath and Rabindranath Tagore both (artists of Santiniketan tradition). But the choice of traditional mediums has not impounded the relevance of his contemporary images and themes. 

( Shadow Palace)

Tanmoy's works expand into conceptual territory of magical realism, which is because he reads a lot. His parents belonging to the field of literature, exposed him to classics in his childhood itself and he continued reading them. A self-confessed fan of writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Franz Kafka, Tanmoy says that colours in his colour palette stem from his nature. His toned down and muted colours reflect him to be an introvert. He starts out with brighter and darker ones, but consciously mellows them down to subdue the cacophony of hues. Working on more than one canvas together, he creates multiple layers of the colours under the visible ones. He uses colour washes to get the fluidity of water-colours and the opaqueness of other paints. This way, his simple sounding works imbibe the complexity of process, meaning and interpretation. They dilate the level of epochal image-making from ordinary to extra-ordinary, and trace the trajectory of trash and transmigration, of images and objects both. 

NEWS

2D3D - Flavour of the Contemporary

( Work on display)

Gallery-g, Bangalore presents a show titled, ‘2D3D’, a compelling overview of fusion art with paintings and sculptures as part of its 11th anniversary celebrations. This amalgamation of art and sculptures is showcased through Gallery-g’s own AIP (Artist Initiative Programme) platform that promotes and showcases art that has never been viewed before. It also offers first time artists and artisans a platform to bring out the best in them. The nine-day long show will take Gallery-g’s AIP to the next level by entering into three different styles of art. 

Gallery-g explores three new regions, Andhra Pradesh with Kandi Narasimalu, Maharashtra with Priti Singh and the South Asian Region with its first ever show with Sri Lankan artist, Leo Pasquale. The exhibition explores three major themes embraced by this new generation of artists. One can find an aroma of affinity and affection for the home land in the works by artist Nasimhulu Kandi the artist in a very stylistically rich manner celebrates the many moments and episodes from his village in his work. He recreates them on his canvas keeping the unpretentious and natural attractiveness of the village folk intact. What makes the Sri Lankan artist Leo Pasquale unique is his artistic creations. Multiplicity of themes and technical styles is one of the salient features of his art. Some themes seem to be expressive of his personal life experiences while some signify the socio-political realities of the time. Technically he uses methods that are possible only in the computer and digital age, and in a large group of his work the geometrical approach is used meaningfully.

The show is on view from 22nd February till 2nd March 2014.

Holla Mohalla

(Work on display)

Visual arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi presents a two person show of paintings and photography by artists Cop Shiva and Suresh Muhukulam.

The show titled, ‘Holla Mohalla’  intends to soothe the senses and delight in the creativity of the two artists.

While Cop Shiva is a freelance photographer, interested in documenting life around and representing the spirit of our times, on the other hand Suresh Muthukulam is a young mural artist who expanded the rich opulence of many centuries old Kerala mural paintings tradition from temple, church and royal courtyard walls to novel and wider canvases.

The show is on view till 24th February 2014.

The Sacred Universe

( Work on display)

Bliss Art Gallery, Pune presents a show titled, ‘The Sacred Universe’ displayingworks by artist Rakhi Torani. 

The paintings revolve around Life and Universe and attempt to capture different elements of the universe which affect each form of life. The artist’s canvas demonstrates the effect of the universal changes on moods and emotions through a plethora of colours. Through these paintings, the artist has let go and surrendered herself to the wondrous experience of the universe, soaking every experience through colours in her paint brush and spreading it over canvas.

The show is on view till 8th March 2014.

( News Reports by Sushma Sabnis)

Profile Pragati Dalvi, Nature Series, Rang De and more..

PROFILE

A Ballet of the Unuttered

A calmness ensues the hectic activity of things. Like a stray piece of paper performing a solo ballet under a street lamp on a dark morning to an only witness. A silent commune of energies in unuttered syllables. Probably the same nondescript piece of paper had been the centre of a midnight dust storm, an observer in complete stillness. At once a performer in the limelight and at once the unmoving spectator in a swirling dust tornado. This is how artist Pragati Dalvi’s work mutates from being an artist’s act and a silent reflection of events, observes Sushma Sabnis.

( Artist Pragati Dalvi)

Pragati Dalvi has a BFA degree in Painting and MFA in Creative Painting from Sir JJ School of Art, Mumbai. Her medium of making art varies from water colour to oils and inks on paper. She has recently stepped into the realm of experimental photography as well.

When one looks at the paintings by Pragati, one would be aware of the obvious influences of nature in them. It would be too easy to type cast them as nature abstracts, but on closer observation, one could see the interplay of metaphors and a conscious study of the subject at hand. Most of them are rendered as abstractions of sensory stimuli and memory sources, but what takes them a step further would be their multiple implications. The artist tries to capture an emotion exactly as it was experienced, an intangible ethereal emotion she has felt at the instant in response to the external stimulus. Hence the works can either appear as if painted hurriedly or at leisure as if savouring a moment of beauty and sensitivity to make it last much longer than its original occurrence.

( Blue After Rain -I)

Also captured in the works are multiple essences of an experience. In an interview Pragati talks about the sensorial aspects of an experience. As an artist she tries to capture what the senses say initially and then she urges the viewer to take this sensory response to a transcended level of a lingering moment. A midnight sky, may appear in the mind’s eye as  black or dark grey to most, but to Pragati this very midnight sky is a palette of blues, purples, mauves and violet shades. This palette is kept to a minimum of colours and most of her works in the ‘Pause’ series are an interpretation of the influence of this muse of memory of one moment in time. 

(Red in Rain)

For example, a sunset in the summer induces far different feelings in the viewer than a sunset in the monsoon or winter. Moreover the location from where it would be experienced and with whom, would impart a new meaning to this experience. Intermingled with a liberal dose of emotional catalysts, the images that emerge are a blend of the sensorial, the reactionary and the imagined in complete aesthetical harmony.

(Blue After Rain - II)

In her works, ‘Blue After Rain I and II’, ‘Red in Rain’, ‘Blue and Warm’, ‘A touch of Blue’ the images suggest the dominance of a colour as well as an emotion, possibly a moment spent in solitude. ‘Witnessing a Change’ hints at the seasonal changes or it could also subtly hint at the artist’s state of mind to a more optimistic outlook towards life. 

(Witnessing a Change)

Most of her works have a suggestive ‘moving on to something-ness’ in them. This would be possible only when all the nuances of a reaction to a stimulus are not closed. Pragati leaves a few unexplored areas, intentionally, in the form of empty spaces or white spots or addition of small bits of tissue paper, which probably is her way of keeping the mystery of her work intact, veiling it. When asked about the  curious usage of tissue paper in her works she reveals that it could be that the emotion experienced then was not a positive one, hence the tissue implies a ‘cleansing’ logic. So it is not about just veiling a negative emotion, but wiping it off from the psyche. The artist revisits her inspiration in nature and according to her, nature often is in a flux, a moving, evolving state which reflects in the regenerative ability. In spite of all the abuse nature is going through from various causes, She survives,  retaliates or resurfaces for the better, restoring the balance. Pragati tries to capture these subtle unseen intuitive qualities of nature in her works, ensuring that anyone who views the works would take with them a sense of harmony and balance in their lives, like Mother Nature offers.

Pragati Dali lives and works in Bangalore.

NEWS

Nature Series at Tangerine

(Work by Sripad Kulkarni)

Tangerine, Bangalore, presents its first artist for 2014, Sripad Kulkarni. A graduate from the Karnataka Chitra Kala Parishad, Sripad's latest exhibition at Tangerine titled 'Nature Series', displays paintings that are influenced from nature and inspired from Indian paintings to the extent that the figures are drawn in the same form and all his work depicts forms of either the butterfly, fish or the horse. 

Having conducted a number of group shows and solo shows, notable being his solo at the Chitrakala Parishad in 2012 and at the Udupi Art Foundation in 2013, Sripad believes, 'There has to be a certain freshness and newness in one's art, otherwise it's pointless to pursue it. To be different means doing something you have never done before’. Strong yet inspiring words that influence the way you work, Sripad Kulkarni is one such artist inspired to create a different perspective. His drawings reveal his predilection for form: forms that consist in tone rather than line, carefully expressing the textural effects of various mediums. 

Sripad’s works are on display till 10th February 2014.

National Art Katta 

The Art Katta, Pune presents a national level art exhibition every year starting from 2014. This is the first ever national level exhibition organized by The Art Katta and they are happy to have it in the cultural capital of Maharashtra. The idea is to maintain the diversity in display so the people could get a chance to see the variety of artworks. 

There will be more than 40 selected artworks on display by various artists from various parts of India such as Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ratnagiri, Delhi, Surat, Ahmednagar, Vishakhapattanam, Goa, Kolhapur, Patna and Hyderabad.

The show is on view till 4th February 2014.

Rang De

( Work by Reha Shisodia. Image courtesy Pradarshak Gallery)

Gallery Pradarshak, Mumbai presents a solo art show of self taught painter, Reha Shisodia. The show titled, ‘Rang De’ displays the artists abstract renditions on canvas in acrylic and mixed media.

Her work can be classified as Abstract Expressionist. Each of the canvases communicate with the viewer in a bold rush of colour and intensity, taking the viewer deeper into their journey, sometimes playing the field, merging into each other, and at other times standing loftily apart.

“Rang De” is the artist’s tribute to the season of joy that begins with the harvesting season in January and culminates in Holi in March. 

The show is on view till 15th February 2014.

Kaleidoscopic Art

( Work by Burhan N Nagarwala)

Malaka Spice Art space, Pune presents an exhibition of paintings by Burhan N Nagarwala. Burhan holds a degree in Fine Arts and is doing his Masters from Bharati Vidyapeeth, Pune. All of 27 years, he is already imparting art to others. He is inspired by what he sees in real life , and captures what touches his heart, on canvas. 

His works vary from horses to people to nature and also still life and objects. His paintings reveal boldness as well as, an inner strength. His palette leans towards red and black in expression and renditions.

The show is on view till 15th February 2014.

( News reports by Sushma Sabnis)