NEWS
Mapping Memories for Tomorrow’s Generation
(Reena Kallat's work at Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai)
Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum,
Mumbai attempts to ignite the interest and curiosity towards their city,
Mumbai, in youngsters this summer. A children’s workshop titled, “ Mapping
Memories”, inspired by Reena Kallat’s
artwork ‘Cobweb/ Crossings, which is on show at the moment at the Dr Bhau Daji
Lad City Museum gallery, plans to take the concept further to the younger
generation.
With references from
Kallat’s installation art, about Mumbai’s old forgotten streets, roads and
monuments is the point of departure for the workshop. Also it is an attempt to
make the participants record their own personalized memories regarding places
in the city by taking photos and mementos attached to the place. The workshop
attempts to instill a love for the nuances of Mumbai city in the younger
generation and a respect for its rich history.
This workshop is for
children above the age of 8, and will go on till the 14th of May 2013, 11:30 am
to 1:30 pm.
For registration the
email address is asadikot@bdlmuseum.org
or call on 23731234.
Cut & Paste -
When tradition meets imagination
(A Shekhavati style painting)
Chatterjee & Lal Gallery, Mumbai, in collaboration
with Aditya Ruia, presents a show of small format works rendered in the
Shekhawati style, patronized by the Marwari community of the North Eastern
Rajasthan. These works are assemblages from the 1930s and apply a cut-and-paste
technique. The show aptly called, ‘ Cut & Paste - Popular Mid 20th Century
Art’ displays this particular group of
works which are Chromo lithographs
produced either in Europe and America, overlaid by by indigenous prints printed
in Bengal at the time.
The sources of imagery for these works are so diverse
that they impart a magical quality to the works. Delving mostly into Hindu
mythology and the Vaishnavite traditions, the narratives remain true to the
epics but the variety is seen in the environments and backgrounds depicted in
the works, implying the aspirations and imagination of the creator and that of
the patrons.
These collages display great attention to detail creating
unique vignettes within the compositional structures of the assemblages. The
show is on view from the 10th of May 2013 to the 29th of June 2013.
Flavours of the City of Joy - Kolkata
(Ceramics celebrating Kolkata)
Kolkata based Gallery
Sanskriti presents an exclusive show of Ceramic Sculptures. The show is titled,
‘Kolkata - A Tale of a City’ and is on
view till the 16th of May 2013. The artists in this show hail from different
parts of the country and bring in their own perspectives and artistic flavour
and essence in their works.
The show is part of a
traveling series of shows of ceramic sculptures which will be displayed in
various cities of India. Each of these shows is an attempt to bring forth the
speciality of that particular city through sculptures and ceramic art. The show
attempts to involve the viewers to view their beloved city of residence through
the eyes of sculptors.
The participating
artists for this show are Aditi Saraogi, Ashish Chowdhury, Falguni Bhatt
Sanghvi, Partho Das Gupta from Kolkata, Niharika Dave from Vadodara, Rekha
Bajpe Agarwal and Usha Garodia from
Delhi, Shampa Shah from Bhopal.
Islands of optical illusion - Aakash Nihalani
(Akash Nihalai with his work)
Aakash Nihalani displays
his recent site specific art works at the Signal Art Gallery, New York. The
show titled, ‘Islands’ and is a series of site specific works done in
contrasting monochromatic, black and white tapes, unlike the artist’s usual
vibrant use of colour in his earlier works.
The work, simple
geometrical shapes, tend to create an illusion of space and the distortions
therein. Along one wall, there are two
distinct black masses which seem like some jigsaw puzzle formations which are
submerged into the architecture, elsewhere a row of geometrical black forms
emerge and dissolve simultaneously, depending on the perspective of the viewer.
Aakash has a
recognizable style and he works in a
wide variety of mediums. For these installations, he has used black and
white coloured tape, which usually features in his works. The effect is that of
precision and movement in his works, giving the two dimensional objects a third
and deeper dimension.
The show is on till the
14th of May 2013.
(News Reports by Sushma Sabnis)
FIRST
PERSON- Sabrina Osborne
Dislocation,
Relocation and Isolation
(Sabrina Osborne)
Sabrina
Osborne, an Indian artist who lives in London speaks of her ideas about
dislocation, relocation and isolation felt by the migrant communities. She
gives them visual manifestations in her photographic works.
We
live in an era of perpetual dislocation. In today’s world of globalization we
can experience London in New Delhi and New Delhi in London. This makes the
meaning of location more complex. How it really affects the emotional struggle
of migrating communities that try to relocate themselves in new environments
and cultural spaces where a lot is familiar and yet unknown.
(Photograph by Sabrina Osborne)
(photographs by Sabrina Osborne)
I
moved from New Delhi to London in 2007.Since then dislocation, relocation and
isolation have become main subjects in my work. I try to records the
unconscious stair of the human mind, which randomly captures and stores. These
works are beguiling amalgamations of fragmented constructions of juxtaposed
spaces and times, creating a non-narrative, disorientating experience for the
viewer. It is like piecing together a puzzle by running through a maze of
memory lanes. These images were captured on my visits to India and European
countries: gardens, museums, mansion houses, streets, beaches, churches and
market places etc., still somehow the images have a generic feel along with a
complex sense of belonging. These places become A Place: which could be some
place, one place or any place. How do we negotiate and navigate the readings of
these juxtaposed images which carry within them threads of connections.Through
this montage, I aim to make the viewer struggle to locate, make connections,
assimilate meanings and get immersed in the process of identifying the familiar
and building associations. My self-referential works are tinted with concerns
of identity, memory, melancholia, loss and home.
SPECIAL FEATURE
Galleries Could Do This: A Moral Story
(Image for representational purpose only)
This is a small story about a gallerist. Perhaps, all the
gallerists should follow her foot steps. In this story I too am a part. It
starts like this. One day...
One day I was walking hurriedly towards one of the galleries
in Laddo Sarai, where many of the galleries are located these days. This
gallerist, an elderly lady was standing outside her gallery and was watching me
walking under the sharp sunlight. She came to me with a broad smile on her face
and invited me into her gallery. To tell you the truth, her choice of art is
not my choice of art. But I respect her for the simple reason that she calls
herself a commercial gallerist, buys works from the artists directly and sells
them adding a gallery commission to the original price. As she buys her wares
she has the freedom to offer as much discount as the clients want from her.
She comes to the gallery at 11 am and stays there till 6 pm.
She sells works of art which she calls ‘Behind the sofa’ pieces. “People want
soothing pictures, happy paintings and pleasant sculptures.” The works on
display in her gallery cater to the clients’ mindset and aesthetical approach.
“What is the problem in that?” I ask her. In fact a gallerist should sell what
her clients need. Each gallery should cater to the demands of their niche
clients. Besides, if the gallerists could buy the works directly from the
artists and sell them to their clients it would have been great. But art market
has become a place for gambling.
Then she told me a story. In a crowded market near her home,
there were four medical shops in a row. She used to wonder why they were
located at the same place. Had it been in different corners wouldn’t they have got more patrons? But her
husband had told her the real reason. When there are four shops in row, all the
shops do good business because all the patrons come to the same place and
choose the shop of their liking.
In that sense, having all the galleries in one street is a
good idea. Potential clients need not run around a city to find their kind of
gallery. They just need to drop into the same street, browse through the art
works on display in various galleries and find their kind of art, purchase and
go. It helps in a great way. But the problem is most of the galleries are
pretentious places. The owners of these galleries pose themselves as
intellectuals. They call our lady ‘commercial’. But everyone is here to sell.
It all depends on the taste of the buyer. Why can’t then all the galleries be
just commercial? Why do they pretend that they are intellectual galleries?
May be all the galleries could do what this lady does. Buy
the works from the artists for a good but cheap price and sell it as per
demand. In this way artists would get their money and the limited amount of it
would keep their ego under check. Promote only those artists who have the
ability to go further. Also promote those artists who do happy paintings/works.
But every gallery need not do everything. Fix the priorities and work
accordingly. Then things will be alright in the art market.
(by JohnyML)
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