Art News: Building Bridges at Gallery Sumukha

‘Building Bridges’ at Gallery Sumukha is an international project conceived by Ushmita Sahu in collaboration with Emergent Art Space (San Francisco). The project was conceived to unfold over a period of one year from March 2017 to March 2018 in various stages with an open call for submissions from individual freelance artists of up to 30 years in age, working in video, photography, performance and sound art genres from across the world. 

The unique angle to the project is that it was conceived, curated and executed via the virtual platform. None of the artists, the curator or the sponsors had ever met physically. All communication has been conducted over the internet. After artist’s selection, in the month of October 2017, EAS & the curator conducted a closed community blog as an intrinsic part of the project, which was hosted by Emergent Art on their website.

The aim of the blog was to foster exchange and to facilitate a deeper understanding and knowledge of the other, to create a dialogical process aimed at encouraging and exchanging thoughts, ideas, images and texts about their works and their experiences, getting to know each other, exploring the others’ worlds, the ones similar as well as those more distant, for background, experience, country and culture. The underlying intent was to look beyond stereotypes and build lasting bridges between differences and distant points. The blog saw regular posts and interaction by the artists on various concerns and topics ranging from gender and body issues, to post colonial identity, transmigration and many more.

After the month long blogging process each artist created new works for a tri-city show in India (Kolkata in January, Delhi in February & Bangalore in March 2018). All the works created are of digital format – whether photography, video, book art, augmented reality & animation or sound works, each has been created keeping in mind that the sharing process is also virtual in nature. The curator has been in constant touch over the internet, guiding and mentoring the artists. All the finalized works were sent to her, whereupon she downloaded them and got them ready in their physical avatar for the live shows.

According to Sahu, “Taking inspiration from Newton’s adage - We build too many walls and not enough bridges, Project BUILDING BRIDGES has aimed to encourage 13 young artists from across the globe to come together and foster a voice of reason and dialogue that will help create a platform for empathy, and understanding through art, creativity and exchange.”


Project BUILDING BRIDGES continues at Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore till 28th March 2018.

*press release

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• 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
• How to Create an Online Presence 

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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Also read,

• 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
• How to Create an Online Presence

A Tribute to Artist M.B. Patil

In this insightful article, H.A. Anil Kumar contemplates M.B. Patil’s artistic contribution to the arts, and discovers he has made a statement by just being the way he was and that for him, the act was more relevant than the product

It was already two decades since he had retired as an artist employed with the State Government (Department of Information and Broadcast), when M.B.Patil (born: Tikota, Bijapur, 1939-2017) passed away recently. When he had freshly retired in the late 1990s and held a solo show at ‘Images’ gallery, Bengaluru, another artist-friend of his, K.T.Shiva Prasad had inaugurated it and given a piece of advice to the exhibitor: “Patil has retired now as an employed-artist, let him be creative from now on”. Most in the crowd smiled, giggled and laughed at this tongue-in-cheek remark, while Patil himself had his usual smile, which was not easy to decipher. It was a prejudice that ‘an artist who is not a freelancer is not creative enough’ that was unveiled and vented out during this occasion. Artistic activities are bound to be defined by what art means in any given, specific situation.

Patil’s artistic works might be as mysterious as his smile was: his works can be broadly divided, style-wise, into three categories: the collages, folksy images and his demonstrations, mainly portraiture. The burnt-wood style, for which he has been often so remembered, squarely fits into his folksy style. Perhaps painterly folk representation was already a tradition among Karnataka artists. Like many of his contemporaries (Chandranath Acharya, R.M.Hadapad, S.G.Vasudev), he did meddle a bit with the art of art direction in a few docu-drama films. Often some artists of Karnataka have been so varied in their styles that any amount of categorization style-wise or otherwise, would become impossible (ex: the visual works of R.M.Hadapad and Shivarama Karantha’s literary oeuvre). On the contrary, some artists are so well known for their unique styles, that there are even too many imitators of them; and those who generated the style themselves get creatively imprisoned in this demand for the ‘politics-of-imitation’.

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'.

Bangalore Launch: 'Intelligent Field' by Surendra Kumar Sagar

'Intelligent Field' 

a new book by Surendra Kumar Sagar

'Intelligent Field` is Surendra Kumar Sagar's second book on science and philosophy with a similar objective as his first book 'SIX WORDS'  which aims to establish a model of philosophy that can lead towards convergence of religion with science to end conflicts and wars.

In Silence the Secret Speaks by Seema Kohli

The Golden Web

By 

Anjana Chandak

Anjana Chandak responds evocatively to the narrative performance by artist Seema Kohli, held recently at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) Bengaluru.

Poetry is not when you find a word rhyming with a word but poetry is created when you can find a word rhyming exactly with your feeling…And this is what artist Seema Kohli, who donned the cap of poetess made me feel, performing her poetic narration, ‘In Silence the Secret Speaks...’

The mirror pool at the NGMA provided the perfect womb to nurture the spirit of the artist who merged with the art through her own reflection. She transcended her paintings into verbal form through her palette of myriad emotions, painting it line by line; creating and narrating.

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 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

Film Review: Fig Fruit and the Wasps

Attihannu Mattu Kanaja (Fig Fruit and the Wasps) by Bangalore based artist MS Prakash Babu paints an abstract landscape

A series of abstract landscapes meld into one another, interrupted by rural topography, undulating fields and framed protagonists - the cinematic experience captivates you with its intensity. Fig Fruit and the Wasps, a full-fledged feature film in Kannada (with English subtitles) belongs to a different genre of cinema. Far from the cacophony and the song and dance routine that we have become used to, the film is a surprising rendition in restraint and silence.

The lone entry from India, Attihannu Mattu Kanaja was much applauded at the recently concluded Beijing International Film Festival. It was also awarded with the NETPAC Jury special mention at the 7th Bengaluru International Film Festival 2014 in the Asian Competition section. Directed and written by Bangalore based artist MS Prakash Babu, who completed his post-graduation in painting from Viswa Bharati University, Santiniketan. He explains, “Without adhering to any sloganeering, shouts, preaching and negating the readymade modes of storytelling, the film's narrative flows like a calm river maintaining its own natural rhythm. I am only facilitating that.”

It reminded me, albeit faintly of the minimalist and intense films of the early eighties, when Mahesh Bhatt was still making ‘art films’ and gave us gems like Arth and Saaransh. Although, one must point out that these films were high on narrative (as in storytelling), while the Fig Fruit is an abstract tale.

The film attempts to present a slice of life, there are no histrionics or undue emotion. The narrative lies in the visuals and the silence; lengthy pauses like photographic stills, with no twist in the plot waiting to unfold. Prakash Babu reaffirms, he has kept it deliberately minimal. His background in painting and sculpture is highly evident on his cinematic canvas.

He writes in his production note, “Topographically each space has its own rhythm. It is enmeshed with the culture, language and day-to-day life of the people living there. The space too has a kind of music. Both internal and external forces govern the patterns of that rhythm. Like a beautiful tree infested with the termite from within, the rhythm of this peaceful fertile land has been rendered hollow. It is not visible to the naked eye. Shallow from within, it still looks beautiful and charming from outside.” And, this is a space that the director and storyteller treads and explores.

The film follows Gouri, played by Bhavani Prakash (Prakash Babu’s wife), a documentary filmmaker who is trying to collect material for her documentary project on instrumental music. Along with a male friend, she visits a village to meet an instrumental musician, who has gone somewhere else to give a performance. Both of them are forced to stay in the village till the musician returns. Bhavani Prakash, a theatre artiste gives an admirable performance sans ‘theatrics’ as instructed by the director.

The 90 minute film is a series of images, which depicts their predicament as they wait endlessly for the musician to arrive. The never-ending road , the moving headlights of the car, the group of villagers standing like a sculptural installation, long silences, verses from the local poet, Vittal’s fascination with the poet - they all create a vocabulary that is both artistic and poignant. The pace in the first half an hour of the film makes you a little restless, but then it settles down into an easy rhythm.

There are two ‘dramatic’ scenes where a dead body is discovered and when Vittal strips and lies down next to Gauri. Despite the palpable tension the director intentionally chooses to not explore it further. In a couple of scenes where policemen enter the frame, the director again deliberately leaves it open for interpretation. As he says, “Sometimes “vision” isn’t what is visible, sound isn’t exactly what is heard.”

Devoid of a background score, the sound of the moving car, crickets buzzing at night and the thundering rain dominate the stillness. A silent sojourn that is sure to absorb you.

You can watch the trailer here http://youtu.be/1L05PFejrkg

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

Art Talk: 'Recollections Reconnections' by Artist SG Vasudev

Heavy textures gouge out a terrain that is undulating and sinuous, mapping a visual narrative in SG Vasudev's recent works. 

 

I met the well-known artist SG Vasudev at the December ArtPark event at Ravindra Kalashetra, right before the opening of his solo show. The ArtPark is an initiative by the veteran artist to encourage interaction between artists and the general public in an informal environment, outside a gallery setting. It allows visitors to talk to artists, watch them draw and paint and even buy art directly from them. The lush green park with its tall trees, tucked in a secluded corner away from the bustling streets of Bangalore, forms a perfect setting to mingle with your friends and enjoy the art.

We discussed Vasudev’s upcoming show, ‘Recollections Reconnections’, Ananya Drishya - a monthly event where artists and other members present their work, and the possibility of a visual art festival in Bangalore. The driving force behind many public art initiatives in the city, Vasudev is an active crusader in his attempts to popularize art and to position Bangalore as a significant art destination. “We clearly need support from all quarters, and the government and corporates must come forward and encourage art and culture activities,” he passionately argues.

Vasudev’s latest series of paintings shows a perceptible shift from his earlier works. Heavy textures gouge out a terrain that is undulating and sinuous, mapping a visual narrative. The transformation is evident in his visual vocabulary with the granular and textural backdrop assuming greater significance.

The imagery has also undergone subtle changes, shelving the rigidity of the form and progressing towards the abstract. Similarly, the muted colour palette allows greater interplay with the topography, while the embellishments play out like musical notes. Animals, trees, human figures and other elements from his previous works are all there, but have evolved and morphed into figures and forms where their edges fade and amalgamate with their surroundings. A delightful rhapsody that plays out on canvas.

Interestingly, Vasudev first builds layers of white pigment on canvas to form a thick textural background, and then adds colours, only to remove it systematically from most areas. An avid music aficionado, SG Vasudev listens to music as he paints and he likens the process of his painting to the notes in music. “It is similar to the ‘Raga, Taana and Pallavi’ process in Carnatic music, when a ‘raga’ plays out, it is complete by itself. But, when ‘taana’ starts, it initiates another element and when that completes, ‘pallavi’ starts, which normally has verses and it completes the concert,” he explains. And, so for Vasudev, it is the removal of colours which completes the painting.

The exhibition continues till January 10 at Gallery Sumukha.

   
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Art News: Transitions by Shraddha Rathi

A Solo Exhibition of paintings 'Transitions' by Shraddha Rathi from 

15th to 18th November 14 at The Taj West End, Bangalore

Trained as a Bharatnatyam dancer and educated as an architect, Shraddha Rathi explores an entirely new medium of expression through painting, coalescing key influences from both these creative fields. Through rhythmic forms, colours and textures Shraddha mesmerises with her thought provoking and inspiring paintings that combine Indian traditional values and modern experiences. 

"Every painting has a story to tell…. Painting to me is a language through which I express my thoughts. The three dimensions that I constantly build on, in my works are space, texture and expression. Time and my journey within, shape my thoughts which get reflected in my works. Developed over a period of time the current exhibition is a combination of three sets of works.

Shadows - My affinity to architecture resulted in the series of paintings called Shadows. I worked on themes that lend themselves to perspective and space. It is an attempt to capture the beautifully crafted and carved stonework in our historical past. I love the subject for its sheer contrast, the moment I add shadows the image starts coming alive to me. I have used visible brush strokes, unusual visual angles and light in its changing qualities in a monochromatic colour scheme.

A journey within - These set of works focus on my thoughts and ideas of Indian culture and teachings of Buddha. ‘What we think we become’, depicting Buddha in white, a colour that encompasses spirit of purity and evolution. The colourful images in this series, came forth as repetitive patterns, reflected themes from my subconscious mind, based on life and symbolic relationship between man and his thoughts. And how the ongoing process of thoughts designs our life.

Rhythm of colour - For an artist, the transition from narrative to abstract is a leap of faith…. Change is inevitable. From form to formless and monochrome to colourful. Yet another effort to convey myself, this time through basic design. I have used Line as an element in all its variations. Free flowing forms that overlap and merge into each other in many intricate sections. These works have an essence of movement in them. They refer to urbanscapes, rhythmic patterns, or may be, threads on a grid to be woven into fabric ……and allow the viewer to explore the works from a very personal perspective." Shraddha Rathi.

The exhibition is on view from 15th-18th November at The Taj West End, Bangalore

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Art News: An Eclectic Collection

The eleventh annual show at Galerie Sara Arakkal, Bangalore has some interesting works on display.

In Bangalore, the annual show by Galerie Sara Arakkal has attained a ritualistic flavour and is held sometime between August and September every year. It has become a meeting point of artists of all ages and from across the length and breadth of the country. In its eleventh edition this year, the exhibition once again brings together contemporary artists from Bangalore and elsewhere to showcase their works.

Some of the artists whose works are included in the show are Adimoolam K M, Anjoli Ela Menon, Azis T M, Bharathi Sagar, C F John, Gopinath S, Gurudas Shenoy, Jasu Rawal, Mridul Chandra, Md. Rizwan, Rekha Rao, Shanthamani M, Shirley Mathew, Seema Kohli, S G Vasudev, Venugopal V G and Yusuf Arakkal. This year Galerie Sara Arakkal has introduced four new artists Aishwaryan K, Lokesh B H, Nedunchelian and Thirumala Thirupathi.

 
There are some very good works on show and the pricing is also on the affordable side. On the whole, this exhibition is interesting because it brings together such diverse artists together on a single platform, but the lack of a curatorial intervention is quite evident.

One feels that there is huge potential to turn it into a major forum in Southern India for showcasing some of the finest art from a select group of artists. And, one hopes that this is taken into account when planning for next year’s annual event.

 The show will continue daily at Galerie Sara Arakkal till 31st October 2014

Let me know if you visit the show. And, which works did you like?

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Raja Ravi Varma’s Oleographs: Glimpses from the Past

Raja Ravi Varma's oleographs offer insights into a significant cultural phase of the late 19th century India

An exhibition of rare oleographs by Raja Ravi Varma opens tomorrow (Oct 16) in Bangalore. Titled Emotions; Relations; Reflections, these select oleographs from the Ravi Varma Press belong to the private collection of Sachin Kaluskar from Vadodara.

The exhibition has also been curated by Sachin who has adopted a thematic approach in categorising them. Sachin started collecting oleographs purely by chance when a print of ‘Saraswati’ turned out to bear a mark from the Ravi Varma press. His curiosity piqued, Sachin researched on Ravi Varma’s oleographs and was fascinated by what he read. He then went on to collect these prints from friends, royal families in Saurashtra and even temples. He has now been collecting oleographs for the last eight years and has amassed a large collection, parts of which he has exhibited in various places.

According to Sachin, Ravi Varma’s paintings depict multiple emotions such as devotion, love, pain, anguish, innocence and power, amongst others. This exhibition of oleographs too portrays gods and goddesses in a human form, and are depicted experiencing myriad emotions - in effect every oleograph has a unique story to narrate.

Ravi Varma (1848 –1906) born in Kilimanoor, present day Kerala was a prolific painter who depicted scenes from the epics and mythology, and also painted portraits of royal families. He was the first Indian artist to depict cultural themes through European painting techniques and was also one of the first artists to use oil as a medium of painting. His paintings of gods and goddesses and vignettes from mythological tales are well recognized and reproduced even today.

Ravi Varma’s oleographs also called chromolithographs were instrumental in taking art to the masses. Oleography (oleo means oil) in essence is a process of reproducing an oil painting on paper to match the exact colours and brushstrokes with the objective of making it look like an oil painting. The technique was pioneered in the 1830s by an Englishman George Boxter but came into wide commercial use only in the 1860s. Oleography was the most popular method of colour reproduction until the end of the 19th century, when more efficient techniques rendered it obsolete.

It is believed that Ravi Varma started the lithographic printing press on the advice of Dewan Madav Rao in Mumbai in 1894 and it was managed by his brother, Raja Varma. The printing press was procured from Germany and the technicians to operate the press were also from Europe. The oleographs were mostly of Hindu dieties and depict scenes from the Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Puranas. The oleographs were very popular and continued to be printed even after Ravi Varma's death in 1906*.

136 oleographs will be presented in this exhibition and a few of them show the effects of ageing on them, which is no surprise given that they are almost 100 years old. Damyanti, Maneka and Vishvamitra, Nal Damyanti Vanvas and Radha Vilas are some of the prints which will be on display here.

The exhibition is on view at Phoenix Market City from October 16-22, 2014.

*Wikipedia 

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Studio Visit: Milind Nayak

Studio visits offer fresh insights into the process of art making.

This week’s post is an informal update on my visit to artist Milind Nayak’s studio. Milind, who is recovering remarkably well from a recent health scare, is back at his easel and doing what he does best - paint these amazing landscapes! Right now, he’s working on a new series, where he explores the ‘ripple’ effect, both literally and metaphorically. But, more on that some other time. Some of the large canvasses are truly spectacular and I look forward to seeing them on gallery walls soon.

We talked about various things as we looked at his early works – some from the 1970s, when he was closely associated with the veteran artist GS Shenoy, who is no more. It’s always fascinating to revisit old works and see the kind of influences that existed at the time, and then to observe how the evolution occurs, and changes in form, colours and textures take place organically over the years.

Studio visits are always exciting and give greater awareness about an artist’s work, not only is one listening to the artist’s words and his/her interpretations, but one also gets insights into the process of art production.

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Art News: Multiple Visages - Narratives of Existence

INVITATION | ANANYA DRISHYA | BHARATI SAGAR & MRIDUL CHANDRA | MODERATED BY NALINI MALAVIYA | 27 SEPTEMBER, 6PM | VENKATAPPA ART GALLERY

 

Multiple Visages: Narratives of Existence

In the depth of my soul there is
A wordless song - a song that lives
In the seed of my heart

- Khalil Gibran

A million slivers of life exist around us - in the numerous stories that await discovery.  Stories of joy, celebration, sorrow and grief. Of ordinary people and their daily lives. Stories that resonate and stay with us and which alter our reality as we reflect and assimilate. Reinvented and retold, these emerge as wordless songs on canvas narrating multiple visages of life, and existence. Bharati Sagar and Mridul Chandra draw inspiration from everyday life and capture these vignettes in their paintings. 

About

Bharati Sagar learnt Commercial Art by correspondence from the British Institute, Mumbai at the tender age of 13 and then studied fine arts at The Fine Arts and Architecture College, Hydrabad. She also learnt Ceramics at The Lalit Kala Academy –Kolkata. She is well versed in landscape painting especially seascapes, has dabbled in
abstract art though she is better known for her sensitive portrayal of women and children.
Bharati has had solo shows and participated in several group shows in metros in India and abroad for more than 3 decades. Her most recent shows were in New York - 2012 and 2014 at a group show, where two of her works were projected on the buildings around Time Square-NY. In 2013, 10 of her paintings were projected on big screens at a gallery in Miami. 

Mridul Chandra graduated from the JJ School of Art (Mumbai) in 1978. She worked with the Sharat Das Consortium (architects for Indraprastha Stadium, Delhi Asiad 1982) and designed furniture and interiors for the stadium. She pursued graphics for a while, before getting into fine arts on a full time basis and has taught I.B. Art to the students of Canadian International School, Bangalore.
She derives inspiration for her works from travel, allowing her to juxtapose various scenes in a figurative format with textured backgrounds. The scenes narrate the reality of what she observes during her travels: migrant worker, laundry man, chai shop, teeming cities and towns – the pageant of the human being in an urban context, thus communicating her insights. Portraiture is her favourite medium and her compositions have a sense of celebration and renewal. 

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. She has contributed to Times of India, Femina and several other publications including art magazines and catalogs. An occasional fiction writer, Nalini has published short stories as part of various anthologies. She also curates shows and conducts workshops for artists. 

Nalini runs 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.

Liu Bolin Brings 'Hiding in the City' to Bangalore

I met artist Liu Bolin from China in the parking lot of UB city, Bangalore as he wrapped up the photo shoot involving auto drivers. Bolin widely known as ‘The Invisible Man’ thanks to the popularity of his series ‘Hiding in the City’ was in Bangalore recently to participate in ‘Art Bengaluru 2014’.

One of his works, an installation from the Charger Series made out of mobile charges was exhibited as part of the 10-day event. Human forms appear to be suspended from the wall with innumerable wires dangling from them. Bolin's artwork is a comment on the materialist culture that now pervades every society, feeding an unending well of desire. It is making the human race more machine like, as we trade humane qualities for inanimate objects. During the inaugural evening of Art Bengaluru, Bolin also performed and ‘disappeared’ into a bookshelf, even as the people watched!

‘In 2006 Liu Bolin, a prominent Chinese contemporary artist inspired by the Chinese government’s demolition of the Suo Jia Cun Artist Village in Beijing camouflaged himself in the series of photographs, Hiding in the City by painting himself as part of the urban landscape. Bolin has become famous as the invisible man after he decided to use his art as a means of silent protest. Using his own body to paint himself and merge into various urban settings in Beijing, Bolin attempts to comment on the fragile status of artists and their living conditions’(excerpted from Protest Art in China by Nalini S Malaviya, Art Etc.)

Bolin seemed to have enjoyed his first visit to India and found a lot of similarities between the people here and in China. During his brief stay in Bangalore, Bolin continued to work with the idea of camouflage to highlight social issues and ‘imbalances’ peculiar to the societal and cultural landscape of India and particularly Bangalore. As an extension of ‘Hiding in the City’, Bolin worked with slum dwellers, school children and auto drivers to underline problems specific to each of these groups. For instance, the blue coloured canvas tents of the slums in Marathahalli stand conspicuous against high-rise buildings and highlight the enormous disparity between the rich and poor. According to Bolin, “The purpose of this shoot was to blend these people into their background, at the same time emphasizing their presence by making them the subject of the work. The idea was to draw attention to them and give a wake up call to the more privileged members of society to come forward to do their bit to help give these people a better future.”

In his other photoshoot with children, Bolin worked with an important and highly relevant issue that has assumed epidemic proportions in India - crimes against women and children. Performed in a playground, a single girl child was camouflaged as she disappeared into the background to become invisible, while other children around her continued to play and enjoy their activities. The world around her went on with its routine, oblivious to her and her plight - which unfortunately is the reality today! In his  last photoshoot, Bolin created an artwork with 10 auto drivers - an attempt to highlight ‘perpetual traffic issues and subsequent smoke and pollution inflicting the city’. Incidentally, Bangalore is amongst the most polluted mega cities in the world!

It was great to meet Bolin and even though communication was a little stilted (through a translator), it was heartening to see that he had managed to capture the pulse of Bangalore in his artworks. He mentioned that although there was initial resistance from participants to get painted and be a part of his performance art, the idea did grow on them and they were eventually quite enthusiastic to become the living artworks!

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