Art Scene India

2 Nov 2018

Art News: Recounting Memories by Gurudas Shenoy in Bangalore

Recounting Memories by Gurudas Shenoy

at Sublime Art Galleria in Bangalore

Gurudas Shenoy’s urban spaces recount narratives constructed around places, their architecture and history to form visual chronicles. The irregular façades of structural forms conceal stories of life and living. An array of emotions, personal and collective sagas and memories lie embedded within the walls of settlements. Archives of human existence entrenched in every brick and piece of glass, the inanimate captures the living breath within its folds.

The evolution of the current series of cityscapes can be traced to his travels across India and Europe. A significant point in his artistic journey, the European visual and cultural environment opened up entirely new vistas for him. It triggered rigorous experimentations on canvas, and an expansiveness in his imagination and thought, resulting in a fresh vocabulary. Paris, Amsterdam and Prague amongst other cities, contributed to a refined aesthetic in terms of colours, lines, form, light and textures, leading him to explore the city in its vitality, sheer energy and its resplendence. His fascination with buildings, old and new, their historicity, and their silent role as witnesses to time and its transformation, their inhabitants and their lives with all its variations, became a muse.

Apart from the cityscapes, Shenoy’s newer works occupy a transitory space, where the structures from an urban skyline gently dissolve their linearity and are suggestive of memories of land and the surrounding environment. Undulating terrains, open skies and hints of topographical details speckle the surface and the works become calmer and unencumbered in their exploration. Perhaps, meditative too, reflecting Shenoy’s state of mind and a personal sense of serenity that he now embraces. The experimentations with colours and textures intensify, and he continues to gravitate further towards abstraction. He revisits landscapes - from places he has travelled to, and represents them as snapshots in time and space. The colours are vivid with strong and often dramatic brushstrokes that capture the essence of the memory – of land, its contours and colours, the play of light and the prevalent mood.

Nalini S Malaviya

Art Critic, Bangalore

Excerpt from the catalog essay Recounting Memories

All images are courtesy the artist

Recounting Memories by Gurudas Shenoy at Sublime Art Galleria in Bangalore previews on 2nd Nov and continues till 28th Nov, 2018.

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31 Oct 2018

Art News: ‘Art Bengaluru’ is back with its 8th Edition

‘Art Bengaluru 2018'– Bengaluru’s popular Art Festival is back with its 8th Edition

At UB City from 02 – 18 November 2018

The City of Protagonists by Saju Kunhan at Art Bengaluru 2018 at UB City, Bangalore,

Image courtesy Prestige Constructions

The media preview today of ‘Art Bengaluru’ offered glimpses into a well curated art exhibition, which brings together 17 Indian artists across 24 exhibits. With its inception in 2011, ‘Art Bengaluru’, the city’s first 10-day art festival was launched with the aim of celebrating art in its various forms. The idea behind it was to bring a multitude of artists and artforms from across India and the world under one roof, thus promoting art awareness as well as a deeper understanding of the arts. The 2014 edition featured artist Liu Bolin from China, popularly known as the 'The Invisible Man', and during the inaugural evening of Art Bengaluru, he performed and ‘disappeared’ into a bookshelf, even as the people watched (read about it here).

Over the years, the art festival has grown from strength to strength and has gravitated towards more serious art and artists. The exhibition this year includes artists Balan Nambiar, Gurudas Shenoy, Kavita Jaiswal, Vipta Kapadia, Parvathi Nayar, Pallon Daruwala, Romicon Revola & Saju Kunhan amongst others.

Painting by Gurudas Shenoy at Art Bengaluru 2018 at UB City, Bangalore, Image courtesy Prestige Constructions

Large stainless steel sculptures by Balan Nambiar at the entrance create a striking visual. The rest of the exhibits are distributed across floors, Gurudas Shenoy's paintings are on display on the ground floor and at Sublime Galleria. Overall, the display is cohesive and follows distinct narratives on each floor - abstracts around natural and urban landscapes, ephemeral abstractions, architectural renderings in the form of assemblages, digital recreations of mid-nineteenth century postcards and photographs that re-orient perspectives are some of the works that you should watch out for.

The art festival offers a great opportunity to visitors and shoppers to engage with art in a public space, and for its entire duration, anyone can walk into the premises and view a diverse spectrum of mediums and styles, displayed with museum-class display infrastructure under one roof.

According to Uzma Irfan, Conceptualizer / Organiser, Art Bengaluru & Director, Prestige Group, "The language of art, as expressed through sounds, colours, shapes, lines, and images, speaks in ways that words cannot. Whether you experience the arts as a creator / artist or as an art lover, you can gain great pleasure and enjoyment from all kinds of art.”

Ganesh Selvaraj - Doing the same expecting difference at Art Bengaluru 2018 at UB City, Bangalore, image courtesy prestige constructions

With curated art walks, the festival also aims to contribute to art education among both children and adults. Art Bengaluru 2018 has partnered with several schools (Parikrma Centre of Learning, Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology and Dr. Beltran’s Animation School, to name a few) to take their students through curated walks to help them better understand and appreciate the arts. Abhishek Naidu, Curator, Art Bengaluru 2018 offers, “Art Bengaluru’s aim has always been to aid in the Bangalorean front of that fight by bringing a selection of works from a diverse set of artists to UB City, thus bringing a much-needed injection of art to the city, along with a wonderfully disarming onslaught of emotion, insight, perspective and reflection that is unique to an enriching art experience.”

Art Bengaluru 2018 will start on 2nd Nov with an evening that will also include musical performances by Aman Mahajan (Pianist), Nush Lewis (Harpist), Raman Iyer (Saxophonist), and The Flying Drummers.

Edit: Updated 02 – 18 November 2018

10 Sept 2018

Art News: KMB 2018 - Kochi-Muziris Biennale releases curatorial note and expanded list of participating artists

Kochi-Muziris Biennale releases curatorial note and expanded list of participating artists

· The fourth edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale will be held from December 12, 2018 to March 29, 2019

Kochi, Sept. 7: With less than 100 days to go for the opening of the fourth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, the Kochi Biennale Foundation has released the Curatorial Note and an expanded list of participating artists for the largest contemporary art event in South Asia.

Curated by eminent contemporary artist Anita Dube, who is known for her politically-charged works, Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2018 will focus on the theme of “Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life”. The main exhibition, along with an ancillary programme of talks, seminars, workshops, film screenings, and music, will take place across multiple venues in Kochi, over a period of 108 days, beginning December 12, 2018.

“At the heart of my curatorial adventure lies a desire for liberation and comradeship (away from the master and slave model) where the possibilities for a non-alienated life could spill into a 'politics of friendship.' Where pleasure and pedagogy could sit together and share a drink, and where we could dance and sing and celebrate a dream together,” Dube said, in her curatorial note.

As an artist, Dube has consistently challenged cultural norms and championed critical engagement across media. Her vision for the upcoming Biennale carries forward, at its core, a spirit of ongoing and decentralised collaboration.

The expanded list of participating artists includes nearly 80 practitioners from Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia and the Americas.

Curatorial Note by Anita Dube:

“I remember Guy Debord’s warnings of a world mediated primarily through images—a society of the spectacle—as I write this note. That such a society is fascism’s main ally, we are all discovering in different parts of the world today.

Virtual hyper-connectivity has paradoxically alienated us from the warm solidarities of community—that place of embrace where we can enjoy our intelligence and beauty with others, where we can love—a place where we don’t need the 'other' as an enemy to feel connected.

At the heart of my curatorial adventure lies a desire for liberation and comradeship (away from the master and slave model) where the possibilities for a non-alienated life could spill into a 'politics of friendship.' Where pleasure and pedagogy could sit together and share a drink, and where we could dance and sing and celebrate a dream together.

In this dream, those pushed to the margins of dominant narratives will speak: not as victims, but as futurisms’ cunning and sentient sentinels.

And before speaking, they will listen, like K P Krishnakumar’s Boy Listening—to the stone and the flowers; to older women and wise men; to the queer community; to critical voices in the mainstream; to the whispers and warnings of nature—before it is too late.

If we desire a better life on this earth—our unique and beautiful planet—we must in all humility start to reject an existence in the service of capital. Through the potential of social action, coming together, we ask and search for questions, critical questions, in the hope of dialogue.”

K P Krishnakumar, Boy Listening, 1985. Painted cloth, fiberglass, plaster.

Expanded list of Participating Artists

Aernout Mik (Netherlands), Akram Zaatari (Lebanon), Arunkumar HG (India), Anju Dodiya (India), Annu Palakunnathu Matthew (India/US), Anoli Perera (Sri Lanka), Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook (Thailand), BV Suresh (India), Bapi Das (India), Barthélémy Toguo (Cameroon/France), Bracha Ettinger (Israel/France), Brook Andrew (Australia), Chandan Gomes (India), Chitra Ganesh (USA/India), Chittaprosad (India), Dennis Muraguri (Kenya), Domenec (Spain), EB Itso (Denmark), Goshka Macuga (Poland/UK), Guerrilla Girls (USA), Hassan Khan (Egypt), Heri Dono (Indonesia), Ines Doujak + John Barker (Austria + UK), Jitish Kallat (India), Julie Gough (Australia), Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba (Japan/Vietnam), Juul Kraijer (Netherlands), KP Krishnakumar (India), Kausik Mukhopadhyay (India), Madhvi Parekh (India), Marlene Dumas (Netherlands), Martha Rosler (USA), Marzia Farhana (Bangladesh), Mrinalini Mukherjee (India), Mochu (India), Monica Mayer (Mexico), Nathan Coley (UK), Nilima Sheikh (India), Otolith Group (UK), PR Satheesh (India), Pangrok Sulap (Malaysia), Prabhakar Pachpute (India), Priya Ravish Mehra (India), Probir Gupta (India), Radenko Milak (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Rana Hamadeh (Netherlands/Lebanon), Rehana Zaman (Pakistan), Rina Banerjee (US/India), Rula Halawani (Palestine), Santu Mofokeng (South Africa), Shambhavi Singh (India), Shilpa Gupta (India), Shirin Neshat (Iran/USA), Shubigi Rao (Singapore), Song Dong (China), Sonia Khurana (India), Subhash Singh Vyam + Durgabai Vyam (India), Sue Williamson (South Africa), Sunil Gupta + Charan Singh (India/UK), Sunil Janah (India), Tabita Rezaire (France/French Guyana/South Africa), Tania Bruguera (Cuba), Tania Candani (Mexico), Tejal Shah (India), Temsuyanger Longkumer (India/UK), Thomas Hirschhorn (Switzerland/France), VALIE EXPORT (Austria), Veda Thozhur Kolleri (India), Vicky Roy (India), Vinu VV (India), Vipin Dhanurdharan (India), Vivian Caccuri (Brazil), Walid Raad (Lebanon/USA), William Kentridge (South Africa), Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries (South Korea), Zanele Muholi (South Africa)

(Press Release)

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5 Sept 2018

Art News: 'Bend' - A solo exhibition of contemporary sculptures by Kalyan S Rathore

'Bend' - The Nature Of Change And The Order Of Repetition

A solo exhibition of contemporary sculptures by Kalyan S Rathore

Curated by Nalini S Malaviya

till September 29 at Gallery Manora, Bangalore

Aesthetics in Distortion

The preciseness of mathematical rules, the natural order in nature and the variants that occur during repetition, lie at the core of Kalyan Rathore’s art making. His sculptural installations derive inspiration from form, structure, space and aesthetics that occur in nature - as an innate incidence. Rathore explores elements of design, formation and spatial arrangement as observed in nature and their underlying patterns of morphology to recreate them in his sculptures.

Rathore has been working as an industrial designer and has conceptualised and created several large scale installations, which have been based on mathematical algorithms, and employ multimedia. Applying principles of progressive distortion, he repeats patterns to create motifs that resemble flora, fauna and naturally occurring elements. The sculptural forms appear to grow organically in a sequential manner, mimicking growth and patterns in nature, yet are reduced to a minimalist form that captures the essentials - the essence of the shape, form and motif in a geometric layout.

Serendipity from 'Bend' - A solo exhibition of contemporary sculpture by Kalyan S Rathore Curated by Nalini S Malaviya

‘Bend’ explores the variant that alters the mathematical code at the fundamental level, albeit from an artistic perspective, while applying mathematical rules such as the Fibonacci sequence and other relevant formulae responsible for the progression. For instance, the fractal defines a form created by repetitive application of a mathematical rule, where the form does not have to be homogenous, but it is precise. In the event of an error or variation introduced in the rule, the precision gives way to a slight distortion of the form, while retaining its essence, which is close to what is found in nature.

In the current suite of works, ‘Bend’ employs stellation to build the polytopes with new figures and forms - the essence of floral and animal figures, and patterns prevailing in nature. The sculptures explore plurality of probable motifs, genesis of natural forms, germination of organic life, and a multitude of possibilities that manifests in nature as an intuitive process.

Nalini S Malaviya

Curator

Bangalore

August, 2018

(excerpt from the curatorial essay)

Artist’s Statement:

Reality is warped. Straight lines are ‘straight’ only under the frame of reference we choose to adhere to. Mass is the summation of energy and Energy is an equally distorted idea too. We are left with no friendly-concepts in science when Quantum-physics walks into the room. The more we explore the more we push the wrinkles of uncertainty around the corner. This is not just a metaphorical position but one that rings true in the scientific communities as well.

‘BEND’ is my ode to the world of distortion. Distortion by design and Design by repetitions. Mutations that are born out of repetition and change.

Plural from 'Bend' - A solo exhibition of contemporary sculpture by Kalyan S Rathore Curated by Nalini S Malaviya

Perhaps the key to chaos is in Order. Can this order be harnessed and explained? The answers may lie in nature. Where nature chooses Geometry as a guiding template to render herself. I seek to find the common elements in every form; from an Atom to the Universe. In flora and fauna this seeming waywardness is apparent. On deeper inspection strict mathematical principles seem to govern the recipe for growth, structure and aesthetics. Geometry it appears is the solution nature turns to in order to negotiate and resolve the need for resources.

The sculptor in me wants to pin down a ‘minimum fundamental form’ that applies itself by replicating and changing at the same time. I present to you my series called BEND; The Nature of change and the order of repetition which is an ongoing exploration of Nature inspired structures.

The exhibition continues till September 29 at Gallery Manora, Indira Nagar, Bangalore

Please share this article using the social media widgets at the bottom and do subscribe to receive regular updates from Art Scene India.

To contribute articles, please get in touch at nalini.indianart@gmail.com

Also read,

Art News: Grazie Infinite by Shraddha Rathi in Bangalore
Art Mumbai: Written on Water curated by Sanjeev Sonpimpare
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Art and the Question of Authorship and Ownership in the Internet Era by Narendra Raghunath
The 'Reality' of Photo Art Today by Shibu Arakkal
A Tribute to Artist M.B. Patil by H.A. Anil Kumar
Art News: apexart Open Call for Group Exhibitions 2018-19
5 Reasons a Good Catalogue Text is Essential for Your Art
How To Write An Artist Statement
6 Tips On How To Approach An Art Gallery And Find Gallery Representation
Exhibiting Art in Non-Gallery Spaces
Guide To Exhibiting Your Artworks
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31 Jul 2018

Art News: Grazie Infinite by Shraddha Rathi in Bangalore

Grazie Infinite by Shraddha Rathi in Bangalore, Art Scene India

Intersections of Infinite Possibilities

Shraddha Rathi explores the concept of gratitude, an expressive emotion towards an appreciation of life and for tangible and intangible gifts, in her new suite of works. She creates a narrative which is rich in emotional content and universal in its reach. From personal notes to community messages, the expanse of storytelling weaves a rich tapestry of chronicles, patterns and motifs of human sentiments, moments and memories.

Adopting a multi-media approach, Rathi, a practicing artist for more than fifteen years now, presents photographs, installations, paintings and a video projection in this exhibition. With this series, she emerges from the confines of traditional bounds and expands her artistic and conceptual horizons to put forth a body of work that has meaningful associations on a personal front and has implications for a larger context.

In a significant shift this year, she created a gratitude bench with engravings of phrases and personal messages of thankfulness and appreciation. This bench organically evolved into the present suite of works and forms the cornerstone for her current engagement. Coincidentally, earlier this year she sighted the benches in Central Park, New York with their plaques that read out messages of gratitude, love, celebration and nostalgia.

Thus, innumerable stories that are intimate and personal, which celebrate the joy of living and memories of life and loved ones, and that effectively translate this personal form of gratitude into community efforts, have coalesced to materialise in the artworks for Rathi’s exhibition. Photographs of plaques, benches and the surrounding landscape from Central Park form the artwork. In addition, inscribed messages on wooden benches, swings and a see-saw, and a video projection mapping of gratitude notes that projects the text onto various surfaces, including the witness/participant, are on display. Contextualising and integrating the notion of gratitude and its universality to Bangalore’s public spaces, conceptual maps of parks are represented in the paintings. The minimalist mappings offer points of reference to local contexts and create possibilities of artistic interventions.

The theoretical premise behind ‘Grazie Infinite’ is two-fold, to reiterate and acknowledge positivity as an indispensable emotion and to extend this engagement via site specific projects to the public arena. Rathi’s practice with this shift towards conceptual art and a minimalist aesthetics lies at the intersections of infinite possibilities, employing mixed media narratives and interactive experiences, while situating them within and outside the frameworks of conventional art locations.

Nalini S Malaviya
Art Critic
Bangalore, July, 2018

All images are courtesy the artist

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2 Jul 2018

Art in Decor: Art for Open Spaces

Art need not be limited to interiors of homes and can also be displayed in the garden or terrace

When we think of art for our homes, we tend to restrict ourselves to conventional art forms such as paintings for the interiors, and often neglect exterior walls, terraces and other open spaces. Canvas paintings may not be the best choice for areas that are exposed to weather conditions but there are several other options which can be explored for open spaces such as the terrace, garden and large balconies.

These areas are also used for socializing and interacting with guests, especially when the mercury rises and warmer temperatures make the outdoors more attractive and appropriate for entertaining. Instead of bare spaces devoid of art, artefacts or accessories a well decorated area makes it more intimate and pleasant.

Art in Decor: Art for Open Spaces, Art Scene India

From traditional folk and tribal art to contemporary sculptures and installations, there are multiple options which are suitable for open spaces. Over the years, art from recycled material has also grown in popularity as a display piece in the open air.

As these artworks will be exposed to different weather conditions and will have to withstand fluctuating temperatures and rain for a prolonged period, it is important to select them with care.

Sculpting Evolution by Kalyan S Rathore

Selection

When buying or commissioning artworks for open spaces one must consider the medium and the material which is used.
For instance, stone, fiberglass and metals which have been treated are more suitable for the outdoors.
Instead of buying multiple artworks, focus on one or two larger pieces that are likely to create a more striking impact.
It may also be a good idea to opt for customized art as an extension of the existing theme to create a cohesive effect.

Display

In open areas, art can be displayed on the wall, floor or ground and may also be suspended from a beam.
Murals can be painted directly on the walls or three dimensional artworks can be secured onto the wall.
Large sculptures are ideal for open areas and are extremely versatile when it comes to their display.
Installations, particularly multimedia and those involving light, water and sound can be especially stunning for large open spaces and form the perfect backdrop for a dramatic setting.

Open areas in homes are primarily informal spaces which may also be used for socializing and therefore it is essential to infuse a sense of fun and vibrancy through the choice of art. Vivid colours can make the place animated and cheerful. However, in rare instances when a formal décor theme is extended onto the open area, abstract and conceptual artworks are ideal for display.

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