Curatorial Vision

Diversity – through ethnicity, colour, age etc. raises its head via many avatars.

Art practitioners, however, move beyond imposed boundaries to present their point of view and their perspective- in form, format & colour.

It is the artist plays the role of embracing & integrating differences by layering an inclusive and sensitized canvas.

In the second edition of ART OF INDIA, we celebrate & embrace the diversity of canvas, paper, bronze and clay.

From the bewitching landscape of Manu Parekh’s Benaras to Satish Gupta’s calligraphy which raises the query, “Does the wave, before dissolving on the shore, question its destiny?”..

From the powerful vibrancy of Sujata Bajaj’s abstracted gestures that open up pictorially layer by layer.. to the monochrome of Jaideep Mehrotra’s constructed cityscape depicting his pre occupation with socio-political issues..

From Lalitha Lajmi’s and Naynaa Kanodia’s personal narratives..

From Achuthan Kudallur’s deconstructed landscapes to Sudip Roy’s constructed ones, Inclusion and Diversity unfolds into a panorama of the Art of India.

‘Bharti’ presented in a unique format and scale, by Jayasri Barman is an ode to the energies and colours of the Feminine Divine.

Paresh Maity weaves his spell with ‘The Hero’ which is a testimony to the fearlessness of men in the face of dire situations.

Jatin Das carves his canvas with his minimal strokes and colors in ‘Dhyaan Magna.’

Rekha Rodwittiya’s metaphorical narrative is laid out on in a minimalistic fashion and Surendra Nair maintains a surrealistic vision.

‘Shakti’ a woodcut work from the posthumous retrospective of Rini Dhumal is haunting and will remain a testimony to the female Goddess. The late Akbar Padamsee’s pointillistic works and Ambadas’ pastel swirls remind us of a bygone era.

Inclusion & Diversity pays an ode to the artists who laid the foundation and substratum at a time when Indian art was still nascent. Akbar Padamsee, Ambadas, CN Karunakaran, Jeram Patel, Jai Zharotia, Prabhakar Barwe, Rabin Mondal, Ram Kumar, Vasant Wankhede, are some of those masters who passed, but formed their unique identities and left their indelible imprints on the History of Indian Art.

KG Subramanyan’s work on ceramic represents his characteristic style of folk art and European Modernism. Detailed figurative heads as etchings by Laxma Goud, Himmat Shah’s and Krishen Khanna’s drawings add a layer to this collection, with Indian Modernism. Jinsook Shinde mesmerises with her precise formations in cut and colour, while Vilas Shinde focuses on the expressionism found in nature.

Subhash Awchat in ‘The Sacred Garden’, paints from a nostalgia, a distant memory of the sacred forest in his childhood village of Otur, lost to a joyful past. Seema Kohli submits herself to Maya and moves to captivate the viewer with a work from ‘The Golden Womb.’ GR Iranna describes his practice as that centred on the inherent dualities of the world as he perceives it. His work in this show is strongly evocative.

Sheetal Gattani’s earthy textured paintings with a minimalistic vocabulary sometimes erupt on the surface, integrating in the viewer’s visual experience.

Bose Krishnamachari’s unrivalled Ghost series never fails to lasso us in. So does the spell binding ‘Mandala Conscious Beings’ of Mahirwan Mamtani.

Shuvaprasanna pays an ode to ‘The Golden Flute’ while Shipra Bhattacharya shifts her lens to ‘The Milky Way.’ Vrindavan Solanki surprises us with a vibrant color palette while Shola chooses to dig deeper into her relation with the hues of the sky.

Gurcharan Singh’s figuration is engaged with the tapestry of human life and their immediate interactions and Dileep Sharma employs strokes to bury into individual personae.

Laxman Aelay continues to capture the times and tales, alluding to the impoverished women in the village he hails from, usually in monochromes. Thota Vaikuntham on the other hand, portrays his Telangana women in a brightly hued narration. KS Radhakrishnan uses the medium of bronze to weave his stories about Musui as Freehold - playful and uninhibited in form and fable.

Ajay De romanticizes his city Mumbai and ‘ The Gateway of India’ in charcoal. Revati Sharma Singh’s Sacred Grain leaves us questioning the abundance & scarcity of it.

Having spent a lifetime living in cities by the sea, Vinita Karim’s multi-hued city and seascapes evoke reminiscences, while Shivani Dugar’s travels translate as her memories etched in pastels.

Sushma Jain’s realism focuses on the magic of the four legged world, while Puja Kshatriya stays enraptured with, ‘The Constant Gardener.’

In Digital Dopamine : Episode 21 by Jenny Bhatt the application of Augmented Reality adds a fascinating layer to the pop art; whereas Kiyomi Talaulicar with ‘Unity’ as a quilt, attempts to portray the cultural richness of India, held together by the thread of its spirit.

The paintings of Heeral Trivedi challenge us to use a metaphoric lens to examine perspectives while “Yeh to batao tum mere kaun ho” of Arunanshu Chowdhury propels us to pause and ponder.

In a post Covid era, Kanchan Chander, chooses to migrate towards a new series of works, which celebrate a new beginning, and  a portrayal of hope for the future. Jaya Lamba recreates her nostalgia about a young Portugese girl with, “Nina y Pez.”

Influenced  by his early years as the son of a blacksmith working in a coal mine, Birender Yadav’s work draws attention to the working class hierarchies. Prof Shivnath Ram on the other hand, says about his paintings, “ I come from a place where travesties and troubles of life do not allow me to paint a rose; my work depicts the very people to whom I belong.”

Dipti Pandey’s work from the series, ‘Beej’, symbolizes her pre occupation with the lineage of matter painting and the abstract notations of urban space, while Tejswini Sonawane raises the issue of women in a male dominated society with strong metaphors in her woodcut work.

‘Phantasia’ that was born as a bike, transformed into a dragonfly and metamorphosed into a hybrid scorpion, now suspended high, speaks about the ubiquitous and wildly witty sculptor Arzan Khambatta.

The renowned mural artist Suresh Muthukulam, having worked in temples across Kerala, now displays his acumen on glass by way of enchanting room screens.

Scaling the artworks of artists spanning 8 decades, the ART OF INDIA brings a dominant spotlight on Bengal Masters – Chitravano Mazumdar, Dharmanarayan Dasgupta, Ganesh Haloi, Jogen Chowdhury, Lalu Prasad Shaw, Mrityunjaya Mondal, Prokash Kormarkar, Rabin Mondal, Ramanando Bandhopadhya, Sanat Kar, Samir Mondal, Sanjay Bhattacharya, Shipra Bhattacharya, Shuvaprasanna, Shyamal Datta Ray, Suhas Roy,  and others.

Ceramics, has firmly claimed its space as a form of Fine Art on the art milieu, much admired and coveted. We bring some of the most well-known names amongst the ceramists of India in special works created for the occasion.

The FORGOTTEN series spotlights the works of 94 year old post war artist Naval Jijina in a memorable tribute, marking the event as one that goes beyond mere visual treat.

We are thankful to the generous artist community that came together for Art of India in such an overwhelming response, trusting us with several works made specifically for the event.

With paintings, sculptural works in different media, hand woven art carpets, video projections, 3 D walk throughs and an array of workshops, the ART OF INDIA brings Indian Art center stage on the cultural landscape and is an opportunity for an art lover of every genre to connect and collect.

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