Art News: Re-presentation of Reality in Contemporary Art

Re-presentation of Reality in Contemporary Art 

 22nd Nov at 5.30 pm at Reves Art Gallery, Bangalore

Introduction: All works of art are representations of reality, whether that reality is made up of sensory perceptions, an inner world or a fictitious account. The various styles or forms of art making suggest different ways of looking at reality.  In today's context, mediums such as television and film, and technology such as virtual reality offer transformative experiences with varied representations of the reality and of imaginary realms.

New media and technologies have opened up possibilities, breaking barriers of time and space in two dimensional media, making it possible to simulate experiences involved in viewing and engaging with art. It also allows an amalgamation of the personal and the popular in novel ways.
The all pervasive nature of the Internet and wide use of technology have impacted art production and consumption, allowing multiple ways of creating and engaging with contemporary art.

About the Panelists

Murali Cheeroth 

Murali Cheeroth has exhibited in over 100 significant shows across the globe in the last two decades. His visual works refer to a wide variety of sources in the cultural sphere and contain within them a deep conversation with the history of representation in visual media, fine art, cinema, music and architecture. Within the context of the history of visual representation, his current explorations include the architecture of the city, urbanization and urban cultures. He looks closely at the ideas of re-construction, infrastructure, technology, speed and change, intersections of local and the global, multiple layers of urban identities and so on.

Some of his major exhibitions include ‘Passage to India’ – the New Indian Art from the Frank Cohen collection in UK (2009); Indian Art summit in New Delhi, SH contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai, Chicago Art Fair and London Art Fair in 2010, Colombo Beinnale, 2012, Chalo India – A group show of Contemporary Indian Artists at Basel Art Centre, 2014. Hotel Maria Kapel Korte Achterstraat 2a1621 GA Hoorn NL-2015, Art fair in Torino, Italy2015, The 2nd international art exhibition of the Silk Road, Shanxi Art Museum, China-2015. His art education includes a BFA and MFA from Shantiniketan, West Bengal and advanced computer diploma in digital media.

Ravikumar Kashi 

Ravikumar Kashi is an artist who works in different mediums such as painting, sculpture, photography and installation. His works combine or cut across defined expectations from these mediums. His idea / concept driven works are layered and connect with the viewer in multiple ways. Desire, decay and death are a major concern in his works along with introspection.

Kashi was born in Bangalore in 1968. He completed his B.F.A. from College of Fine Arts, Bangalore in 1988; M.F.A. from Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda in 1990; and M.A. in English from Mysore University, in 1995. He learnt handmade papermaking from Glasgow School of Art, U.K. He also learnt Hanji, traditional Korean papermaking, from Jang Ji Bang, Korea. He has shown his works in solo shows and curated shows across the world in galleries, art fairs, biennales and museums. He has received National award from Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi and two awards from Karnataka Lalit Kala Academy and one from Karnataka Shilpa Kala Academy for his works. He writes on art in Kannada and English. Two of his books, 'Anukta' and 'Kannele' have been published from AkshsraPrakashana, Hegggodu. His book 'Kannele' has received Karnataka Sahitya Academy award. He teaches at RV School of Architecture and Acharya School of Design as adjunct visiting faculty.

Shanthamani. M

Shanthamani. M has done a Papermaking Course from Glasgow, Scotland after finishing her Master of Arts (Fine) in Painting from the M.S. University, Baroda. Her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting is from CAVA, Mysore University. Her solo exhibitions abroad were “Neither Tree nor Ash” at Suzanne Tarasieve Gallery, Paris, France in 2016 and “Carbon Myths” at Gallery, Helene Lamarque, curated by Anne Maniglier, Miami, Florida, the USA in 2010.

Her participation in the Kochi Muziris Biennale, India 2014, in Art Brussels, represented by Suzanne Tarasieve Gallery, Brussels, in India Art Fair, New Delhi 2012, in “Critical Mass” Tel Aviv Museum, curated by Tami Katz-Freiman, Rotem Ruff, Tel Aviv, Israel, in “River, Body & Legends” a corpus multimedia presentation with two Women artists at Matighar, Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, New Delhi 2003, in the two person show held at Galerie Muller & Plate, Munich 2001 and the 10th Triennale-India underline her credentials as a contemporary artist.

In 2017 she was Artist in Residence at Cité Des Arts, Paris and in 2013 she participated in the International Bamboo workshop with the students of Ensad, Paris, in Saline Royale.

Nalini S Malaviya

She is a Bangalore based art critic and consultant. She has been writing for the media since 2003, and has been an art columnist for Financial Times (Delhi and Bangalore) and Bangalore Mirror. She has contributed to Times of India, Sunday Herald, Art and Deal, Art Etc., Art Journal, Art Fair and Lalit Kala Contemporary.

Her curatorial projects include Reimagining: (Un)Reality and Space, Irreverent Gene, Polynomials of Relevance and the ongoing Parallax of Visual Memories. She has published papers on Art, Artists and Society – Catalysing Social Change, and Linear Progressions: Tracing the Line in Karnataka for the Karnataka Lalithkala Academy Journal.

Some of her prefatory essays for art catalogues include 'Feeling Absence' a photography show by Shibu Arakkal, ‘Icons in our Midst’, New Delhi, essays for Yusuf Arakkal's catalogues and books and for artists Gurudas Shenoy, Milind Nayak and Suresh K Nair among others. She was on the Jury for the Lalit Kala Akademi National Exhibition 2017.

An occasional fiction writer, Nalini has published short stories as part of various anthologies, The Shrinking Woman, The Curse of the Bird and Bhelpuri. She publishes www.artsceneindia.com, a popular blog cum Ezine featuring art news, events and articles. She can be reached on nalini.indianart@gmail.com


Venue
Reves Art Gallery
Address;#32,Yedla's 3rd Floor,
100 ft Maranahalli Road,
Sangam Circle,8th Block Jayanagar
Bangalore -560082
Tel -080 48663224
Mob +91 9901931314

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Terra Firma in New Delhi

Looking for balance and harmony in nature

Terra Firma presents recent works by four leading artists of Karnataka - Milind Nayak, Gurudas Shenoy, Shirley Mathew and Praveen Kumar at the Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Their works relate to the existing urban scenario and reflect on issues related to humanity and its co-existence with nature. All four artists are proficient at expressing structural and natural forms, in various medium and distinctive colour palettes. Their paintings evoke poignancy and deep contemplation as they explore the urban landscape with all its inherent beauty and conflicts.

 

Art News: Heritage ‘per square feet’ at Venkatappa Art Gallery

 Measured per square feet from soil to sky!

Third in the Sambhrama series, Heritage ‘per square feet’, presents works by Mysore artists in an exhibition curated by Shoaib Chadkhan and Anil Chandran. The show offers paintings, performance, talk and panel discussion to probe, inquire and explore the subject in varied dimensions. The Karnataka artists' resistance to the adoption of Venkatappa Art Gallery (VAG) began in February 2016, and saw a series of artistic events and protests since then. 

As part of VAG Forum's ongoing artistic activities towards a creative reclamation of public space, organizing an art exhibition/event for 10 days once in 45 days, has been taken up by the VAG Forum, which comes under the name 'Sambhrama'.

Art News: Jaipur Art Summit 2017

5th edition of Jaipur Art Summit (Dec 14-18, 2017) planned on a much larger scale

Rajasthan and specifically Jaipur, which had always been an art, culture and heritage rich city in the world has now steadily and strongly made its presence felt on the world art scenario. Jaipur is creating an international language of art, literature and design and some of the festivals have been really instrumental in giving Jaipur an international and national presence, one of them being the Jaipur Art Summit. 

Over the past 4 years, the Jaipur Art Summit has been able to create a premier platform for modern and contemporary art in the state to display the work of masters as well as young and upcoming artists from the globe. The five day long event is a first of its kind in the state. 
Its effort is to take the rich legacy of the state in various art forms across many mediums and formats like painting, digital art, art installations, sculptures, interactive art and other contemporary and folk-centric expressions to a wider spectrum of audience. 

It includes an international painting exhibition, national seminars / talks on contemporary and traditional art related subjects by scholars of repute, international art camp, site specific art installations, live art demonstrations of rare art forms, video art screenings and art films apart from performing art forms. 

The prime objective of the summit is to bring together artists working in different mediums and genres, cultural art players, art historians, critics, institutions and galleries from the country and the globe to promote art and build an environment for appreciation for arts, exchange of peer learning and knowledge sharing. This will help in bringing together regional, national and international voices alongside a world view, fostering possibilities of partnerships and create newer pathways for art promotion globally. 

In this coming 5th edition of Jaipur Art Summit the event is planned on a much larger scale taking into its ambit many more dimensions of not only contemporary art but also tribal and traditional arts internationally, owing to the response in the 2016 edition.

In 2017, the scheduled dates for Jaipur Art Summit are 14-18 December and the Summit would include participation of international/ Indian artists, art colleges, literary figures, architects and interior designers in several distinctive art events like: 

• International Artists Camp and Artist Interactive Sessions 
• International Art Exhibition  and Galleries Show 
• Demonstration of Tribal and Traditional Arts 
• Site Specific Art Installations 
• Contemporary Art Talk and Discussions 
• Art Movies and Art Critics Session 
• Art Performance Shows 
• Creative Art Workshops
• Graffiti and Street Arts 
• Experimental Photography Shows 
• Digital and Multimedia Arts 
• Performing Arts (Folk/ Theatre/ Music/ Dance)

(press release)

Art News: Call for applications for Artist Residency in Manipal University

Call for applications for Artist Residency in Manipal University last date May 15, 2017

The intention of this Art Residency at Manipal University is to add to the public art and aesthetics of the University. The University has already taken a major step in art-advocacy by hosting the prestigious KK Hebbar Gallery, and wants to further extend its support to young and talented artists. This year the Resident is required to be a Sculptor. As the University is located in a culturally and ecologically distinct region, it is preferred if the selected Artist pays homage to this distinctness by working with material (for example, laterite) native to the region. The idea is to create works, individually or in exceptional cases as part of a group of 3-4, that dot the landscape of the many different types of Institutions (such as medical, engineering, hospitality etc )that constitute the University. The works should be clearly visible, and perhaps pinned in a way that they cannot be stolen. It is also a key requirement that the Artist be a good communicator, who is willing to take customized classes/demonstrations in these varied Institutions explaining the rationale, process, and the need for public visibility of art in non-museum spaces. Such an opportunity is a great incentive for the selected Artist—his or her work would literally be seen by thousands of young people every day, and would become part of their lives.

The University will also provide opportunities for the Artist to further curate and exhibit their work, and mentor interested and talented students. The Artists need to submit their CV, with photos/samples of their work, a statement of what they hope to achieve in the given time, and details of budget, materials and other requirements for their work. The remuneration offered to the main sculptor is Rs 50,000/- per month for 3 months, and if there are a few assistants, their remuneration may be up to Rs. 30,000 per month.

The K K HEBBAR ART FOUNDATION will select the artist for the Artist Residency Project.

Dr Nikhil Govind
HGAC MANIPAL

All applications to be directed to: raorekha460(at)gmail.com, rajanipras(at)yahoo.com
(Press release received from Rekha Rao)

Art News: Anita Dube declared curator of Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2018

Anita Dube declared curator of Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2018

Kochi, March 29: Anita Dube, one of India’s most provocative and versatile contemporary artists, was announced here today as the curator for the fourth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) beginning December 2018. The selection is in keeping with the Biennale’s long-standing tradition of being an artist-led exhibition. 

The reveal – made by Culture Minister Shri A.K. Balan during the KMB 2016 closing ceremony at Durbar Hall Wednesday evening – followed the unanimous decision made by a high-powered panel of renowned artists and prominent personalities to bring Dube’s unique artistic insights and sensibilities to the Biennale – the largest celebration of contemporary art in South Asia. 

“Through three editions, the KMB has gained a reputation for being one of the most important exhibitions of its kind around the world. It is an honour and a very big challenge to be declared curator of this wonderful platform. I am delighted that the jurors thought I can deliver. I accept the responsibility with excitement and humility. It is early days yet and my thoughts will no doubt undergo several changes going forward, but I view this as an opportunity to do something special,” said Dube, who was present at the function.

Dube takes over from Sudarshan Shetty, whose vision for the third edition of India’s only Biennale saw 97 artists from 31 countries showcase their production – across a variety of forms, styles and disciplines – over a 108-day period starting 12/12/16. Spread out across 12 venues, KMB 2016 received more than six lakh visitors.

Based out of the National Capital Region, Dube is renowned for her conceptually rich, politically charged works. An art historian and critic by training and a visual artist in practice, she has been widely exhibited across the Americas, Europe and Asia, including at the first edition of the KMB in 2012. Dube’s practice uses found objects and industrial materials, photography and ‘word architecture’ to critique contemporary socio-political realities.

Her aesthetic idiom, in many ways, reflects her background as a member of the Indian Radical Painters and Sculptors Association – a short-lived but hugely influential collection of artists and art students who rebelled against what they perceived to be the commodification of art in India.

In fact, Dube’s selection comes nearly three decades after she wrote the manifesto of the group’s seminal exhibition ‘Questions and Dialogue’ held in 1987 in the western state of Gujarat – that called for an explicitly radical, socially and politically conscious approach to art making. The group focused on inexpensive materials and found objects to produce works that resisted commercialisation and connected with working-class audiences.

Describing Dube as a ‘thinking artist’, KMB co-founder Bose Krishnamachari said, “Anita’s sensitivity towards materials, incorporating everyday objects derived from informal, craft and industrial sources and spaces, is profound. As is her wordplay and use of mediums, gestures and imageries – all of which will make for varied experiences and resonances in a space as adaptive and accommodating as the Biennale. Her oeuvre features both knowledgeable consideration and skillful melding of the sensibilities and styles of abstractions with real, contemporary concerns. This will doubtless be reflected in her curatorial vision.”

Krishnamachari, who is also President of the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) – the organisers of India’s only Biennale, was part of the ‘Artistic Advisory Committee’ that selected Dube as curator. The other panelists were KBF Secretary Riyas Komu, Velu Vishwanadhan, Sarat Maharaj, Ravi Agarwal, Dayanita Singh, Sadanand Menon, Kavita Singh and V. Sunil.

“Anita’s selection not only reinforces our commitment to having artists at the helm, but also our mission to address contemporary social-political-cultural concerns. Anita is a strong proponent of making art accessible to the public through effective political and social engagement. This is precisely what the Biennale tries to do,” Komu said.

Dube is also a board member at KHOJ, an international artists’ association she co-founded in 1997 in New Delhi. Over two decades, the initiative that began as a modest annual workshop has become one of the most important platforms shining a global spotlight on South Asian art, organising and hosting international ‘itinerant’ workshops, residencies and exhibitions.

Besides KMB 2012, she has been represented in various national and international biennales and festivals such as ‘Biennale Jogja XI’ (Indonesia, 2011), ‘Against Exclusion’ 3rd Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (2009), ‘iCon: India Contemporary’, Venice Biennale (Collateral event, 2005), ‘Yokohama Triennale’ (Japan, 2001) and the ‘7^th Havana Biennial’ (Cuba, 2000).

Dube was also a participant in the groundbreaking 2009 exhibition, ‘Indian Highway’, an itinerant collective show curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Julia Peyton-Jones and Gunnar B. Kvaran, which represented the growing importance of the sub-continent’s creative panorama – especially the vibrancy of its contemporary art scene – and the economic, social and cultural developments in the region over the past 20 years.

Art News (Bangalore) - Reimagining: (Un)Reality and Space

Reimagining: (Un)Reality and Space curated by Nalini S Malaviya marks the official launch of Yepart.com. The exhibition features recent works by Debraj Goswami, Kalyan S Rathore, Maripelly Praveen Goud, Muktinath Mondal, Murali Cheeroth and Venugopal VG

The show opens on 19 Nov 2016 at Hatworks Boulevard, Cunningham Road, Bengaluru and continues till 17 Dec 2016.

Reimagining: (Un)Reality and Space

Observation, truth and materiality interweave to create alternative realities that occupy a realm which is corporeal, yet fictitious, clouding lines of physicality of dimensions. The plurality inherent in existing and functioning within these coordinates, challenge and inspire individuals to examine the intrinsic harmony and conflict embedded in such systems, and simultaneously imagine new spaces. Notions of time and space amidst variables construct fresh associations and connotations, where the resulting topography is a visually enriching landscape capturing points of dissonance and accord, shifts in reality, and reimagined spaces.

The artists' critical engagement with the curatorial premise reimagining (un)reality and space, results in interventions, which explore and question notions of time, space, reality and the subjective relativity that pervades through these dimensions. Multiple realities emerge from stresses of urban living, where observation and truth is skewed and dependent on other dynamics. Ideologies contort for material gains and govern the present and the future. Cognitive and sensory perceptions distort from an altered state of consciousness. The time and space thus occupied is unreal and fabricated as a spontaneous outcome, which is ungoverned by design.

There is an attempt to delve into conflicts, and examine the inherent precariousness and fragility entrenched in natural systems, which are impacted by consumerism and materialistic trends. Reimagining spaces create virtual maps of imaginary loci, introspective journeys in search of the self and enquiries on the 'now' form intriguing visual chronicles of contemporary concerns.

Debraj Goswami contemplates an alternative state of reality that exists in parallel, blurring the boundaries of factual and unreal, and creating distorted dreamlike states. Subconscious preoccupations dictate existence, to assume a truth that is probably fictional and appears surreal. The complexities of living ensure that perceptions of real, unreal and simulated become indistinct and a machine made robotic existence dominates. Past, present and future concerns manipulate sensory reality to form a convoluted sense of the real, and living in the moment becomes a figment of imagination in unusual and often humorous ways.

Kalyan S Rathore’s sculptures exist in a metaphysical context, where time and space are no longer linear entities but transcend corporeal boundaries. The repetition of the sculptural unit akin to fractals in the universe, construct forms that are non-representational and non-specific to natural features. Conceptually based, they explore a fluid reality, while attempting to negotiate a labyrinth that forms life’s journey. The quest for the spiritual and transcendental leads to an introspective process that pauses for self-reflection, while encountering chaos and conflict during the course.

Maripelly Praveen Goud extends the materiality of the print medium to create virtual contours and linear graphs that map imaginary loci and places. Relying on scrunching the paper as a means to initiate cathartic release, the process spontaneously creates dimensions beyond the surface of the plane. The accidental lines morph into unspecified shapes, forms and maps allowing multiple readings - the markings could be representations of metaphorical sites or subconscious points of reference. The material and the medium combine to form layers of meanings within the conceptual maps.

Muktinath Mondal focuses on ecological imbalance, a disrupted equilibrium - a direct result of human interventions. He paints a stark image - black canvases that point to a dark reality, a glimpse into a bleak future that interrogates the very existence and survival of living beings. An increasingly fragile eco-system disintegrates and vanishes as a materialistic world prevails. Time as a distant phenomenon assumes vital relevance, and its catastrophic fate becomes inevitable, unless the current variables are harmonised. The red highlights in the paintings form the primordial link, the essential connective tissue between the various species including mankind, and which innately determines their coexistence.

Murali Cheeroth examines the notion of time as a relative value, with its meaning and intent evolving and transfiguring as a quotient of consciousness, application and relevance. Engaging with the interplay of text, material, texture and aesthetics, the concept of time morphs into multiple meanings and discourses, which reflect the subjectivity of viewing and reading into the artwork. Expressing time as a function of cognitive, linguistic and visual interactions, its reading draws from multiple standpoints, ranging from the personal to the historical. His performative artwork relates to issues linked to microcosmic spaces, which are intimate, act as receptacles of memories and share an indispensable interrelationship with the larger environment.

Venugopal VG explores the dichotomy inherent in situations emerging from urban living, and portrays complexities and dilemmas of reality. Pictorial elements indicating human emotions, desires and relationships construct paradoxes that emphasize the fragility of urban reality. Manipulating and combining physical, emotional and spatial derivatives, the narratives that are created are constructed to create a transmuted reality that is derived from factual components. Identity, migration, adaptability, and transformation are some of the critical issues that explore existential crisis to form imagery which warp representations of reality.

The exhibition will be available online on www.yepart.com from 19th November 2016.

Do visit the exhibition and share your thoughts in the comments section below or write on nalini.indianart@gmail.com.

If you would like to interview the artists, review or cover the event on your blog/website, or for any other media enquiries, please get in touch on nalini.indianart@gmail.com/ naozar@yepart.com/ +91 98450 06644 

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Art News: Gallery 9 launches in Bangalore with Serenity

Gallery 9 launches in Bangalore with 'Serenity', an art exhibition by renowned artists

Navrathan’s newly renamed art gallery, Gallery 9, is launching with an art exhibition by renowned artists on Friday 11th November, 2016. The title of the exhibition, Serenity, reflects the general theme of the works, highlighting inner strength in the face of the trials and tribulations of daily life. The lead image, of the Indian Feminine, illustrates this with her inner calm retaining exterior beauty; exemplified by the daily toil of village women multitasking in the fields and the domesticity of the home, children, nurturing, keeping body and soul together.

The 40 works also include abstracts from Bangalore’s newest artistic sensation, Andrew Paul. In a short space of 3 or 4 months of work, Andrew has already received extensive international recognition. His work, `Mighty My Saviour’ has recently been included in the Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Bible and the Arts, along with M. F. Husain’s `Mother Teresa’.

Andrew Paul

The Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Bible and the Arts, edited by Timothy Beal, published by Oxford University Press, 2015, page 378, discusses Andrew Paul’s painting `Mighty My Saviour’ in relation to M. F. Husain’s paintings of Mother Teresa. Husain’s paintings of the Mother are mostly faceless, but they are strongly evocative of the Madonna and the Pieta, where the child or the person being held in the lap is perhaps a representation of Christ.

The face in Paul’s painting is also hidden in agony, hair unkempt, blood streaming, eyes straining upwards, mouth agape like an open wound, the spiked crown of thorns, the ominous blue cross in the lower corner and a hand held up to the agonized face as though attempting to shut out something unspeakable. It is reminiscent of Munch’s scream. According to Paul the image appeared to him in a dream-vision following a charismatic retreat at Potta, Kerala.

Clara Joseph’s first book of poetry `The Face of the Other’ is published by the Interactive Press, Brisbane 2016. For the cover she chose another work by Andrew Paul, aptly titled `Redemption’. Richard Cohen’s review of this work strikes a chord and almost describes Paul’s `Saviour’, the awful predicament of a sensitive vulnerability at once broken and yet still hopeful. What comes through these enchanting words is a deep compassion, eyes open, bloodied, yet reaching out.

About the Exhibition ‘Serenity’

The pressures of society in the pursuit of success can often relegate the basic human necessities of introspection and tranquillity to a vague background. We are becoming hard-wired to the impatience of achieving increasingly more of the material world at the expense of essential communing with, and discovering, our soul, our inner self. We need to make time for ourselves and find a refuge within us for meditation and to reflect on our individual spirituality.

The present collection – serenity – suggests this space where the mind can communicate serenely with the soul. The signature image by Sachin Kharat reflects this need to look beyond ones individual desires for material consumption and discover the calm and tranquil which exists within us. His subject of the timeless Indian feminine combines with a palette which expresses the contemplative mysteries of the mind. The result is a soothing effect on the viewer’s senses, even if only for a brief moment in time.

Gallery 9 promises to break new ground with an outstanding programme of exhibitions, highlighting individual collectors and their collections as well as individual and group shows of established and emerging artists.

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Art News: New Art Gallery Opens in Bangalore

Iconic portrait of renowned singer MS Subbulakshmi painted by MF Husain to be displayed at ‘Art Bengaluru’ by Navrathan’s Art Gallery

MF Husain’s iconic portrait of MS Subbulakshmi, the world renowned singer and foremost proponent of Carnatic music, will be displayed by India’s newest art gallery, Navrathan’s of Bangalore. Navrathan jewellers have been a familiar destination for Bangaloreans since 1954. The sign of the iconic `nine jewels’ – the nine auspicious planetary gems – has lit up 18 MG road and attracted a stream of clients eager to acquire their signature gold jewellery. The man behind the legendary success of Navrathan jewellers is Mr. Gautam Chand Bafna, a connoisseur of arts, who has now extended his patronage to include fine and decorative arts; modern and contemporary Indian paintings, European paintings, antiques as well as interior décor, period-style furniture, porcelain, glass, silver and sculpture.

The painting of MS Subbulakshmi will be displayed in Bangalore thanks to the efforts of Mr. Gautam. As a sponsor of Bangalore’s premier annual art event – Art Bengaluru, which launches on 19th August at UB City, Navrathan will unveil and showcase Husain’s portrait of `M S’ as Subbulakshmi was affectionately known, as the centrepiece of their display.

Portrait of a Legend

Navrathan’s Art Gallery presents portrait of MS Subbulakshmi painted by MF Husain at ‘Art Bengaluru 2016’

The monumental portrait, 6 ft x 4 ft, an acrylic on canvas depicts the virtuoso singer holding her famous tambura. She wears a deep red sari, a conspicuous bindi, nose stud, ear rings and her hair is adorned with jasmine flowers. Husain has captioned the portrait “Subbulakshmi” in Tamil and has also signed it in Tamil. The portrait was painted by Husain in a flash of inspiration, the way he remembered her, when he heard the news of her passing. At the time, the artist had a major exhibition of his work, which he dedicated to the singer, in Chennai, where the portrait was originally unveiled. At the time Husain said that when he once heard her sing, for two minutes “It was so divine. I can never forget it in my life-time”. He heard of her passing on 11th December 2004 and painted the portrait in a day in Dubai. When he travelled to Chennai a few days later, he brought the painting and displayed it himself as the focal point of his exhibition at the Lakshana Museum of Arts.

The Queen of Music

Subbulakshmi’s music in films made her nationally famous. However, her devotional songs created even greater fame in India and internationally. Her voice interpreted the compositions of the three greats of Carnatic music, Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshiter and Shyam Sastri. Mahatma Gandhi was moved to tears when she sang his favourite bhajan Vaishnava Jana To Tene Kahiye Je Peer Parayee Jaane Re. When she sang at the United Nations Assembly, the New York Times wrote that Westerners could understand her message though it was delivered in a different language. She sang before Queen Elizabeth at London’s Royal Albert Hall. In 1954 Subbulakshmi received the Padma Bhushan and in 1969 received the title of Sangeetha Kalanidhi. She was the first woman to be honoured by the Madras Music Academy. In 1974 she received the Magsaysay Award and in 1975 she received the Padma Vibhushan. In 1990 she was awarded the Indira Gandhi Award for national integration. In 1998 she became the first musician to be honoured with the Bharat Ratna.

The United Nations has issued a stamp to mark Subbulakshmi’s birth centenary, coinciding with the celebration of India’s 70th Independence Day on 15th August 2016.

Navrathan’s is honoured and privileged to display this superb portrait of one of India’s greatest singers by one of India’s greatest artists.

Contact Michael Ludgrove, Navrathan’s Art Consultant on +91 99725 97430 and Chirag Chopra on +91 99006 85028 for all enquiries

Navrathan’s Art Gallery

Navrathan’s has taken up 35,000 square feet over three floors at 39 MG Road, perhaps the largest such

Mr. Gautam Chand Bafna 

space in India. The familiar logo of Navrathan’s, a lotus with nine variously coloured petals, following the colours of the nine jewels, can now be seen above an impressive heritage facade building.

The second floor of this paradise for the discerning interior décor enthusiasts, houses Mr. Gautam’s latest venture, an art gallery. A state-of-the-art picture hanging system has been installed in a 3,000 sq. ft. picture gallery dedicated to exhibitions of paintings, photography and other interesting genres. A series of exhibitions is planned and will commence in September, and will include Masters as well as newly discovered talents; Photography and other categories such as rare books, maps, jewellery design and watches will also be featured.

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Art News: Art Scene India Recommends

Art Scene India Recommends: 

Here's a round up of art exhibitions and events for you to visit - most of these are in Bangalore. Do visit them and let me know your views. Which ones resonated with you? Drop me a line here. I look forward to hearing from you.

Bengaluru 

June 21, 2016, Today


June 26, 2016, Sunday

Galerie Sara Arakkal presents Yusuf Arakkal's "FACES OF CREATIVITY", an exhibition of 135 Indian artists portrait with a Book launch.

Gallery Sumukha marks its 20th year since 1996 and celebrates with the opening of 'An Inner Retrospective'

Solo by K. Laxma Goud, with curatorial inputs from Marta Jakimowicz

‘The Limited Edition’ is an exhibition which pays homage to the art of printmaking. The exhibition consists of prints produced during a two week long printmaking workshop organized within the gallery space. The workshop brought together important pedagogies of Indian printmaking. Artists from Santiniketan, Baroda, Kheragarh, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Mysore were part of the atelier.

 

Chennai

Want to cover art events for Art Scene India? Get in touch now at nalini.indianart@gmail.com

Also read,

• 10 Tips For Buying Art
• 6 Tips On How To Approach An Art Gallery And Find Gallery Representation
• Exhibiting Art in Non-Gallery Spaces
• Guide To Exhibiting Your Artworks
• How To Write An Artist Statement
• How to Create an Online Presence
• How to organize an art exhibition 

Art News: Art Scene India Recommends

Art Scene India Recommends: 

With so many art events happening, it can be a challenge to decide which exhibitions and events to visit, so I've handpicked a few for you - across India. I hope to add more cities and towns soon. Do visit those in your vicinity and let me know your views. Which ones resonated with you? Drop me a line here. I look forward to hearing from you.

Bangalore

NGMA Bengaluru, in collaboration with The Guild Art Gallery presents the exhibition "And the last shall be the first: G.R. Iranna Works 1995-2015", curated by Ranjit Hoskote, on view from 16th Jan - 16th Feb, 2016.

12th Annual Show at Galerie Sara Arakkal 

Show extended till January 30, 2016
Timing: 10am to 6pm on all working days

Mumbai

Tabiyat: Medicine and Healing in India

January 12 to March 28, 2016 | CSMVS, Mumbai

Medicine Corner’s centrepiece is an exhibition titled ‘Tabiyat: Medicine and Healing in India’, which examines the history and contemporary practice of sustaining human health in one of the world’s great civilisations. From January 12 to March 28, 2016, CSMVS, hosts dazzling antiquities and contemporary material culture assembled by Wellcome Collection, one of London’s most exciting new cultural spaces. Exhibits include the only known historical illustration of the interior of the human body as understood in Ayurveda. None of the antiquities have been exhibited before in their land of origin. The exhibition also features modern vernacular art in an aesthetically seductive, intellectually rich mix of art, science, history and the ordinary made extraordinary.

Kolkatta

‘The Piercing needle’ by Gopika Nath 

Gallery Sanskriti, Kolkata,
from 6th Jan to 6th Feb, 2016

About the Exhibition:

In ‘The Piercing needle’, Gopika Nath presents herself as an artist-craftsperson. A predominant image in much of her work is the teacup. Peering into her cup emptied of garam masala chai revealed over time an appreciation for the quotidian beauty of residue. Her meditation on these marks and stains from tea serve as a catalyst for introspective enquires as well as initiating new methods of staining and burning to translate the effects onto fabric. While discomforting experiences are recalled and examined, threads are unravelled and surfaces scorched, burning through and beyond the heart of the matter at hand.

Using embroidery as an artistic marker, with the needle as a natural substitute for a pencil or a brush, Gopika forges a link with the age-old traditions of hand-crafting in India, to see the work of the hand as part of human creative expression and by extension - a process of discovery of who we are. She uses the language of embroidery with stitch as a spiritual metaphor, where working with needle and thread becomes therapeutic and cathartic – a healer and balancer. Even though Gopika is an artist that embroiders, rather than paints, she adeptly imbues her work with the same aesthetics as found in fine art painting – the same finesse, sensibility, and aesthetic of understanding between hand and canvas, between mind and image, and between perspective and result.


Want to cover art events for Art Scene India? Get in touch now at nalini.indianart@gmail.com

Art News: ARTiculations - A workshop for artists, Bangalore

Coming Soon:

ARTiculations

Beyond the Image
A workshop for artists on Nov 22, 2015 at Talk Temple, Lavelle Road, Bangalore

 

Enhance your verbal and written communication skills

Learn about:
● Art marketing
● Tools to promote and support your art practice
● How to write an artist statement

Register early. Limited seats.

Mail me at nalini.indianart@gmail.com for more details.

Art Buzz: Bangalore Art Scene, October, 2015

Here's what you can do this October - visit these art events in Bangalore. And don't forget to tell me which ones you liked the most.

K.K. Hebbar Art Foundation | Harvest Of Talents | Rangoli Metro Art Centre | Thursday 1st October 2015

 

NGMA Bengaluru

"Celebrating Gandhi" on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on Saturday, 3rd October 2015 at 2.00 pm. The event includes drawing competition, sketching and doodling for children in the age group of 12-16 years. The theme of the event is 'Gandhi's Philosophy'.

 

Art Park on 4th Oct

 

"NIGHT FLOWERS", a solo exhibition by Tara Sabharwal, Gallery Sumukha

Artist Statement: My work, like my life, navigates through the real and the imagined. I am fascinated by the overlapping of time –how the time ‘present’, however physically real, incorporates both time past and the time to come. This continuous processing of time through memory and imagination is at the heart of my work. In recent paintings, the physicality of the real world recedes to make room for the incorporeal, allowing for an inherent multiplicity of experience.

Atul Padia and White Sanctum art gallery present an exhibition titled "108 Vinayaka 108 Kalavinayaka" - 4-7th Oct at White Sanctum Art Gallery

Ananya Drishya - October | Tara Sabharwal | 6 - October - 2015 at 6pm | Venkatappa Art Gallery

If you are organizing an art event and would like it to be listed here, send me a note well in advance. Include the evite (less than 100KB, jpg) which has all the details, 2-3 images (not more than 100KB, jpg, no phone camera photographs please), a caption that captures the essentials - What/Title, Who, When and Time/Duration. Mail it here.

Want to cover art events for Art Scene India? Drop me a line here

Art News: Presentation on "The art market and the Bangalore visual art scene"

"The art market and the Bangalore visual art scene" at BIC on Thursday, 28th May, 2015 at 6.30 PM.

Bangalore International Centre

(A TERI Initiative)

cordially invites you to a Presentation on

The art market and the

Bangalore visual art scene

By

Nalini Malaviya

Well-known Art Consultant, Writer and Blogger

On

Thursday, 28th May, 2015 at 6:30 pm

Tea will be served at 6.00 pm

RSVP

Bangalore International Centre

Phone: 98865 99675

Venue details

Auditorium,

Bangalore International Centre

TERI Complex, 4th Main, 2nd Cross, Domlur II Stage,

Bangalore – 560 071

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Presentation

An orientation to the visual arts scene in our city, the presentation will provide an overview of the art market in the Indian context with a look at gallery functioning and some of the factors involved in pricing of art. It will include tips on buying art, and on displaying artworks and maintaining them to prevent damage. The art market will be explored further through the art scene in Bangalore, and will look at some of the public and private spaces in the city that one could visit to view art exhibitions, learn about art and buy art. The session will conclude with a brief mention of select Bangalore based artists, who have made significant contributions through their work.

About Nalini Malaviya
Nalini Malaviya is a Bangalore based art consultant, writer and blogger. She has been writing for the media since 2003, and has been an art columnist for Financial Times (Delhi and Bangalore) and Bangalore Mirror. Nalini writes primarily on visual arts, but has also written on health and lifestyle. She has contributed to Times of India, Femina and several other publications including art magazines and catalogs. Some of her prefatory essays for art catalogs are 'Irreverent Gene', curated for Crimson Art Gallery, 'Feeling Absence' a photography show by Shibu Arakkal, ‘Icons in our Midst’ a group show at Artspeaks India, New Delhi, ‘Sounds, Resonance and Imagery’ on musical drawings by Suresh Nair, and several of Yusuf Arakkal's catalogs and books.
An occasional fiction writer, Nalini has published short stories as part of anthologies, such as, The Shrinking Woman, The Curse of the Bird and Bhelpuri. She publishes www.artsceneindia.com, a popular blog cum Ezine featuring art news, events and articles. The website functions as an artist resource and also promotes artists. Currently, she is working on creating an eBook from her published articles.

Art News: Milind Nayak's exhibition in Bangalore

Fragments from an Unstructured Existence by Milind Nayak

Artist Milind Nayak's mini retrospective  'Fragments from an Unstructured Existence ' is on at the Rangoli Art Center on M G Road Bangalore and will be on view till the first of February. It includes paintings from a fifteen year period from 1999 to 2014.

"Each painting is an evocative rendering of fragments, remnants and snapshots of nature. The idyllic landscapes from his childhood, the monsoon, the garden adjoining the artist’s studio or the lotus pond that acts as a source of rejuvenation - at times a wellspring of ideas and at others an oasis of sustenance, every image encapsulates an ephemeral moment. And, Nayak adopts a non-structured approach tenderly channeling this space, simply facilitating the process and allowing the imagery to emerge spontaneously. His paintings are intuitive renderings with a philosophic weave creating portraits in time and space and, as he describes it, an act of faith." (excerpt from catalog essay 'Imagined Spaces of Paradisiacal Existence' by Nalini Malaviya)

According to Milind, "My painting usually shifts between landscapes and abstracts. There have been periods where the paintings have been calm as placid waters, and times where they seem to be the eye of a storm. These are virtually situations which an artist works with. I have rejected the idea of stylistic consistency, in favour of embracing change and evolving constantly. The show includes different mediums like watercolours, soft and oil pastels, graphite’s and oil on canvas."

The exhibition (8^th Jan 2015 to 1^st Feb 2015) will be on view between 11am to 7.30pm at Rangoli Art Center on M G Road Bangalore.

Outreach programs: 

Gallery walks by the artist on 23^rd and 30^th January at 4pm.

There will also be a slide show by the artist featuring works which are not in the show, along with a demonstration of the artist’s painting techniques on the 17^th of January at 6 pm.

Related posts,
Studio Visit: Milind Nayak

KG Subramanyan at NGMA, Bangalore

This was recently published in Times of India, Bangalore.