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'.

Ganesha in Multiple Forms

Ganesha, symbolic of new beginnings, success, wisdom and generosity is worshipped on Ganesh Chaturthi, a Hindu festival that reveres the elephant God. The ten-day festival is celebrated starting on the fourth day of the Hindu luni-solar calendar month Bhadrapada, which typically falls in the months of August or September.

S.G.Vasudev, 31cms x 31cms, Relief in copper

The festival is marked with installation of Ganesha clay idols in homes, or in public spaces on elaborate pandals. It ends on the tenth day after start, wherein the idol is carried in a public procession with music and group chanting, then immersed in a nearby water body such as a river or ocean, thereafter the clay idol dissolves and Ganesha is believed to return to Mount Kailasha to Parvati and Shiva (source - Wikipedia)

With greater environmental awareness, there is an emphasis on eco-friendly materials  to minimise pollution of water bodies.

As the festival marks Ganesha's birthday, and celebrates him as the god of good beginnings, prosperity and obstacle remover, he is worshipped across the country with equal fervour during festivals, rituals and other celebrations.

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.

Reasons To Visit The 2017 Venice Biennale

Reasons To Visit The 2017 Venice Biennale

by 

Shraddha Rathi

Contemporary artist, Shraddha Rathi shares her experience from her recent visit to the Venice Biennale and discovers how this international art exhibition combines the performing and visual arts in an ideation lab to create an ambience that involves all the senses.

La Biennale de Venezia, the 57th international art exhibition titled ‘Viva Arte Viva’ curated by Christine Macel celebrates art, artists and the process of creation. Although, contemporary art documents and captures today's reality, the world itself is transforming and evolving with every passing moment. At this exhibition too, at times the exhibits reflect facts and reality, or give voice to a purpose, while at other moments it just celebrates the present.

This Biennale is mostly about an idea, where the material is a powerful medium of expression. The inventive use of materials to express an idea while playing with its strengths creates expansive, ingenious and successful forms of communication. In a cornucopia of materials, you experience a vast variety ranging from glass, bone, concrete, metal, wood, coffee and a whole lot of textile based works, apart from paintings, photographs and videos.