Wednesday, September 23, 2020

'Trashscapes' 
Photo Art by Kishan Meena

From 23rd to 30th Sept. 2020


Found objects from trash have for generations sparked the imagination of the artist. If nothing else then at least the idea of it. This is always reinforced with a title. There is also, some degree of alteration, modification by the artist, to create his own touch, values and political thought. This method is now being critically discussed, as any object taken from its real ‘purpose’ including ‘ready-mades’, constitutes modification of the object because it changes our perception of the utility and purpose of the same. This is exactly what Kishan Meena’s work tries to do.

Artists from India & round the world  have dealt with the subject of trash, waste water and other such general daily refuse that man creates, over and over again, in abundance and without much thought. Trash objects have been picked up and relocated in art galleries for a few decades.  One of the main objectives of the artist who picks out objects from trash heaps is to rearrange them to make a profound statement and give a new meaning.

Kishan Meena’s work is unique because he has not gone through heaps of trash and rearranged the objects as his eye has remained on flowing waste water in a small polluted river round the corner from where he lives. He has photographed flowing water with toxic waste and debris, stopping it just for the moment when it turns into an abstract visual. Unlike a trash artist he has not picked up anything, nor re arranged it to suit his vision, he has simply shown ‘what it is’. The only manipulation he has done is to mirror the images, and with that, like a magic wand has turned them it into intricate abstract images, almost unrecognizable from what they actually are. Even if critically examined, if not told what the images are about it is difficult to imagine the original source of them.

What is interesting about Kishan Meena’s ‘art’ is that he has taken a flow of extremely toxic waste water and frozen it in time. Unlike many, Meena has not titled any works and leaves them to the imagination of the viewer. One of the images, which has dry stems of grass sticking out, reminds one that nothing lives in this water. With his own humble eye he has made a political statement about life around his own living area showing from such minute detail where the world is going if we do not become more responsible. All the images are photographs, and disturbingly beautiful.


Written by Navroze Contractor

(photographer/ writer)

 






Venue : Juneja Art Gallery, C- 34 & 36, Road No.1, 22 Godown, Jaipur- 06

Ph. : 0141 4034964 ,    Web : www.artchill.com

 

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Inscrutable Layers 25th Jan - 7th Feb 2020 | Gallery Artchill Amber Fort, Jaipur



Contemporary readers, viewers and interlocutors are manifestly more willing than their counterparts thirty years ago to appreciate works that resist tightly defined analytical categories. Films with ambiguous characters, books with unsettled protagonists and plays with unstable trajectory have over the last decades attracted greater popular acceptance. Indeed, there has been a correspondence between greater understanding of the inescapability of ethical ambivalence and popular accommodation of grey as a tolerable idea. It would not be an overstatement anymore to claim that these days grey, or analogous conceptual horizons such as ambivalence or un-equivocation is no longer considered a negative attribute.

Artchill is delighted to showcase & unravel the abysmal depths of these Inscrutable Layers of latest works by these well known Indian artists- Shahid Parwez, Vijender Sharma, Ashish Shringi &  Asit Kumar Patnaik.


SHAHID  PARVEZ  -  Shahid has a unique style all of his own which has very little influence from others and makes his work very recognizably his. In much the same way that life is given to us in multiple layers, in his new works Shahid gives us paintings with increasingly complex and interlinked levels. His works present us with a series of simple overt images. However underlying that first level is a series of much more complex, intricate and interesting covert images and levels in multiple colored registrations creating surfaces of incredible richness and extravagance.




ASHISH SHRINGI -  Ashish's body of works in the last two decades has remained inspired by the Tantrik symbolism and traditional art forms of Rajasthan, thus the essence of his art always bears the fragrance of nativity. In his paintings he has widely used Tantrik Yantras and symbols contextualizing them with his personal experiences of human relationships. The freshness of his colors and textures creates vivid hues. His compositions are highly complex, multidimensional and inter-weaved with multiple perspectives. The feeling of serenity, love, romance, satisfaction, compassion and passion are the soul of his works. The originality of his ideas and style holds our mind to reflect on meaning of life. His works are celebration of human thoughts and emotions. To conclude one may say that the identity and purity of his works will always showcase the ethos of this land.

ASIT KUMAR PATNAIK - An equivocation that is particularly alluring about Asit Patnaik’s men and women is the tension between the wide variety in their juxtaposition and their unchanging physical features. In their microcosmic expansiveness, they can alternatively convey impressions of joy, sorrow, love, indifference, familiarity as well as inscrutability. They relive potentialities, they entail pensive pasts, they call up imagined futures and they even interrogate their own selves and suppositions. Patnaik has been working on the Relations series for quite some time now. It will be interesting, therefore, to explore the kind of selves articulated into the batch of works on the Relations series. 



VIJENDER  SHARMA - His mind-boggling works speak and walk the viewer into its story, speaking of the inner and outer worlds. It could be satirical, esoteric, psychological, innocent, spiritual, dreamy or surrealistic...many such deeper emotions that we could relate or connect with. A contemporary artist, yet realistic in his own way, his paintings speak volumes of his own search in life as also his understanding of the unknown. Vijender seems to be a melancholic modernist who creates works that fool the eye and have an added edge of surreal dimensions. His paintings, many of them are not muted in color, but they are bold and powerful and always carrying a story to narrate. The textures that he adds to each canvas echo the trials and tribulations of observations he ponders over in the everyday idiom of lifestyles and living.



Text compiled by Sangeeta Juneja from various articles written by Anirban Bandyopadhyay , Madan Meena , Uma Nair , Malcolm Grant, Geoffrey Mason & Shail Choyal.


Web Link : www.artchill.com  |   Facebook :  Artchill Galleries  |  Instagram : Artchill Galleries


Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Inner voices - outer masks | 1st - 30th May 2019 | Amber Fort, Jaipur


Inner voices - outer masks  | 133rd show by Gallery Artchill

Art, since prehistoric times, has influenced man. Art can speak where words fail. Nature offers us pictorial and aesthetic beauty as images and ideas. Today’s painters of the Contemporary World  seem to be  melancholic modernists who create works that trick the eye and have an added edge of surreal dimensions. Their paintings, Graphics or Sculptures may not be muted in color or form , but they are bold and powerful and always carrying a story to narrate. The textures that they add to each canvas echo the trials and tribulations of observations they all ponder over in the everyday idiom of lifestyles and living.

Inner voices- Outer masks,  surveys a body of work that leaves itself incisively open, somewhere between being created and wholly complete. For each of the artists, who create intimate glimpses of uncanny worlds and mindscapes suffused with an atmosphere of the unknown and paranoia , change is an inevitable development. Processes and the possibility of instability, openness, and perpetual transformation underlie the creation and understanding of all the exhibited works. After all you require quite a spiritual effort to effect an exact  transformation  of the raw life experience into palpable art .

Vijender Sharma, who excels in the Art of the figure has spent 2 decades probing for the hidden pulse behind appearances. He was particularly attracted to subjects and thinkers who looked beneath the surface of the modern world – to create corollaries where even a stone wall seems to have a secret life. Painted in over two formats of depth and abstraction the experimental stylization of figural form which he developed  has coalesced into a confident, subtle, yet deeply elegant visual archetype which recurs throughout his works, particularly as he returns form abstraction to figurative portrayals.


Some of the strongest & serious compositions in this show are works by PN CHOYAL a strong & committed artist, his multi-nuanced compositions have the vital rhythm of lived life. Also to create vitality& dynamism in an animate mass is a difficult proposition. This demands not only a good plastic sensibility but in addition the capacity to redo this same sensibility into objective material forms. P N CHOYAL deserves high praise for his expressive brushwork , the special realism, and even at the moments the psychological penetration . He has no intention to flatter humans, rather he rests out of the human frame , or out of any organic frame, images of power and movement , and of the feel of reality behind appearances.

Gazing at huge works of Jagdish Chander , we find that it is not normal portraiture, but a method of working out human faces wherein each detail is knit in a pattern, and that pattern overrules the separate details of a face. Apparently, the artist aimed to electrify the whole of his compositions, so that viewers strongly winced; for his work is not designed to be a polite, or pretty one, but the very foundational base of our being :in his work the heart is laid bare, tellingly. A sensory contact with an outer as well as inner mental environment occurs - which the deeper physical, emotional and the rational centers receive and interpret.

Akash Choyal’s life is art, his art is dream and the dream is his reality itself, says Sandro Orlandi the Italian Curator on his art -  The artworks are made of a never-ending alternation of reality and dream, art and life and so they create a dance that shows, hides and intertwine rationality, the deepest and most intimate ego and imagination. Using a Freudian terminology, Akash lives and creates in a state of “preconscious” that means it swings between conscious and unconscious creating a rare, uncertain, mysterious and above all sincere dimension. In the dream everything is possible, the mathematical rules, society’s strict limitations and the influences both cultural and physical are completely absent. The spirit is free to create wondering about this world, accessible only by who is able to dream, to lose control and so to be sincere and natural.

In this curated show  Akbar Padamsee’s magnetic watercolor with three faces with expressions as if in interlock, is on display alongside a mixed media early work by Paritosh Sen, who is known for his vivid illustrations of everyday urban life. His strokes are bold and stylized which help his human figures express a myriad of emotions.  In current scenario of TERROR  making its marks everywhere , Dharmendra Rathore’s works give a message to the youth- it is the duty of the new generation and the youth of the world to choose issues like world peace, green peace and adopting healthy environment over such violent and harmful options. We need to remove the band of glamour and misguidance from our eyes, as the misuse of strength and power always leads to the exploitation of the women and nature. Abbas Batliwala has an uncanny talent to combine complexity & simplicity to great visual effect in his amazing compositions. Surendra Pal Joshi’s work explores the leitmotif of the textural idioms which arouses an unbridled pleasure, it leads invariably to an addictive idiom of continuous stimulation-by-image & a loss of correspondence between real-world imperatives & inner-world fantasies: reflecting in some ways the conditions of artistic practices within the broader domain of expressive culture.


Dileep Sharma chooses to focus on the dynamic and dramatic changes in the field of sports, both on and off the field, as well as the gradual blurring of these once-separate realms. His work is a satirical take on sports figures who are today recognized more for their activities off the field than on it. The demi-god status of these icons is amplified through the positioning of smaller surrounding figures literally looking up at them in dazed wonderment. Jai Zharotia puts the real world on trial, masking and unmasking identities, subjugating the puppets to his will. Games of manipulation and illusion are not merely performed in the circus ring but also played out in social and political situations. For Jai the puppeteer, juggler and the clown represent the interface of the comic and tragic forces that co-exist in our daily life.

Shahid Parwez’s  sense of humour which arises from the perception & depiction of incongruities of existence rules  his work ,yet over all treatment is a subtle blend of an adult's experience & a child like fantasy. His satirical take in many works like  ‘Who wants to grow up’  & ‘Let me Judge you’ invite great admiration. Kanchan Chander’s powerful installations on NEW Goddess of today, the multitasking woman who perceives her varied roles & plays them to the hilt have as much impact as her works from series ‘Frida & Me’ .  The oil semi nude by Sumahendra, who since bygone ages is suffering silently behind the closed doors , powerless in every sense of the word : the brick structure indicates she has a secure home but in reality she has never owned any property nor  was she given any decision making power. His tempera work on ‘Sati’ the rooted woman in Indian traditions is an impactful work. Moumita Ghosh is also an unapologetically personal storyteller of reality, hyper reality and fantasy & every work  of hers has multiple elements, these are stories that coexist or interlock, just like simultaneous strands of life. So, what could have been a fragmented, dislocated vision becomes instead a slice from life's composite mosaic. At times she cakes the faces with opaque color or streaks them. In their 'make-up', the faces reveal a gamut of emotions. Some faces, like the clown's, defy iconographic conventions. 

Sant Kumar a young emerging painter portraying expressive ethereal smoky faces says , ‘ I take cue from smoky reflections of ME & YOU mirrored in illusions which sometimes flare up & sometimes extinguish….. these colored images pour down with a gust of wind & splatter of rain….I feel I am a drone in never ending season of colors’. Artist Ganga Singh  deftly uses elements of abstraction, distortion and simplification to create an alternative world and life where the physical and mystical co-inhabit. ‘’My paintings are based on my response to nature. They are modern designs with a strong primitive and tribal influence. Symmetry plays an important role in my painting with powerful and simplified forms.’’ Ashish Shringi’s body of works in the last two decades has remained inspired by the Tantrik symbolism and traditional art forms of Rajasthan. Living in Bundi the essence of his art always bears the fragrance of nativity. In his paintings he has widely used Tantrik Yantras and symbols contextualizing them with his personal experiences of human relationships. His compositions are highly complex, multidimensional and inter-weaved with multiple perspectives. 

Manoj Mitra who mastered watercolors as well as oils decades ago is enchanted only by female forms amid natural surroundings. He feels that sometimes a very calm looking woman could be hiding smoldering fire within of high magnitude, or could be hiding several layers of shocking secrets whereas a beautiful person could be discovered as being flat in expression& totally devoid of emotion. Subrata’s paintings are like  celebrations of  a great human survival. The uncommon vibrancy and stimulance of each stroke of color, the passionate imagery of men or women are ageless and ethereal. That of a superior painter’s creative latitude so incessantly prolific which never appears a cliché or a repetitive chore. Living in current times Subrata recoils from the increasing materialism in our society as it is replete with disguise & beauty-masks .Sanjay Bhattacharya feels that any kind of material that women use to adorn their body makes them beautiful, for example I look at tribal ladies plucking flowers and leaves and weaving them into their hair, and then walking away sinuously. Chirayu Kumar Sinha’s ‘Chhamiya’  Sculpture head in the show indicates ladies who do not have good make-up sense, but they apply make-up materials without any taste and this beauty they feel because of that, creates some illusions within them & their walking style itself changes because now the illusion of beauty has taken root in their minds.

Srirupa Sen shapes teapots into forms in whom she sees signs of natural beauty: women, dancers, costumes that flow like liquid fire. ‘’This way, the fire in a way, nourishes this illusion. Life flickers into the teapot, bringing the dancers to life as steeped tea nourishes my soul as well, all of us dancing into life in the stillness of dawn.”

We are consciousness manifesting in physical form, shares Sculptress Sultana Khan. ‘’We are not our body and we are not our thoughts, we are pure energy that is here to experience life in a physical form. We have chosen to come to this planet in human form and we have chosen to take on the shape of what we call the human body. But that's not who we really are. This is where the illusion of reality comes into play.” The very impressive Serpentine like bronze by Dieter Kunz that seems both embedded in the stiletto as well as emerging from it , successfully conveys evil traits hidden behind the facade of today’s glamorous world. Some  significant works with minimal approach are the bronzes by Naga an emerging artist , which signify the need to protect the female child as there is immense pressure on Indian woman to produce a male child owing narrow mindset of some people & which also results in countless female foeticides in India.

The show ‘ Inner voices- Outer masks’ which is offering a holistic Art Experience ,comprises of over 125 artworks- Paintings, Reliefs , Serigraphs, Sculptures & 3D art spread in 5 lobbies at Gallery Artchill , inside the famous Heritage monument - Amber Fort  & is on view till 30th May.


Compiled & Curated by
Sangeeta Juneja 2019



Web Link : www.artchill.com  |   Facebook :  Artchill Galleries  |  Instagram : Artchill Galleries
E-Mail : sangeetajuneja@hotmail.com 

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Poetically Urban | 17th - 23rd Oct. 2018 | Juneja Art Gallery, Jaipur

Sangeeta Juneja presents 'Poetically Urban' which is 132nd show sponsored by Artchill





















Cities are like lovers

They welcome you, touch and caress you with the hands of their luminous streets and dark mysterious alleys, and their lamp posts seem like the signifiers of some unknown civilization. You could laugh, weep and dream with them and they will listen to you and never let you alone. They seem in perpetual waiting for those who are in love with them. The allurement of the city is such that if you enter it once, notwithstanding the complexities and hardships you come across, you will never go back, never leave it because, as the great Greek poet Cavafy says, the ‘city will always pursue you.’ 

Poetical renderings on canvass by 6 artists , each in love with his own city, pouring his love in each one's unique style.

  

Somenath Maity is a painter with a strong drawing base, his canvases are unique in their starkness and almost monochromatic quality. Invisibility of human beings in Somenath’s canvases is also a profound statement on the city life where imposing structures take the center-stage and people often become secondary, marginalized and negligible.

Abstract art is not an imitation of reality or a parallel depiction of it, but it does have a relation with the reality which is often complex and dialectical in its nature. In the abstract art, realism gets transformed into what can be called a ‘higher or heightened realism’. 

Somenath’s canvases are superb examples of the dialectics of reality and abstraction, of the ‘heightened realism’ as they do not just provide  the exteriors, but depict the essence, the soul of the city.  Somenath’s Kolkata is much more  interiorized, it’s a Kolkata that transcends  its physical appearances, a  city within the city where geometrical shapes, angles and triangles, domes, turrets and minarets of a building, temple, church  or mosque, balconies, doors and railings of old and new houses  cast semblances upon each other and form another place. 

Somenath’s cityscapes are beautiful, illuminated, and enchanting visuals of the city that are quite layered and imposing, but they belong more to a ‘felt’ space rather than a ‘seen ‘one. They are solitary and dream-like too. They provide a visual treat, but what is more striking is that they seem to unfold some mystery to you and you wish to remain in front of them for as long as you can. This has been possible mainly due to Somenath’s masterly use of light in his colors. He has succeeded in producing the inherent light of each and every color he has used.  Somenath’s colors represent fascinating variations, layers and hazes of light and create a pervasive veil of atmosphere. In a number of his canvases we see a vast and stylized sky with various hues, clusters of stars and an occasional half moon, and all these images form a grand dream of atmosphere. The lights of the city at night were one of the first images Somenath came across as a boy from village. It’s no wonder that they remained with him and became a part of his consciousness and creations. Since then, he has been listening and talking to the city, walking round it, dreaming and lamenting with it and finding a world with every footstep. He dreams the city in lines, colors and lights, and creates poetry in his canvases.

    

The fusion of neon's, bright colors and the precision of lines speak vociferously of Suparna Mondal's work as it denotes her style and philosophy of the art produced. Art, in which traditional norms are broken, to liberate oneself to the spirit of experimentation. Contemporary artists are now open to experimentation  on new ways of visualization and Suparna has also explored fresh ideas & use of varied materials and medium. She has moved away from the narrative, towards stylized abstraction to portray the energy, pulse & dynamism in these Urban fantasies. My seven years at Viswa Bharati helped me to understand the harmony and coexistence between sound and silence.”

The collage of acrylic and mixed media, that have become intrinsic to her style, add essentials to understand each painting. Each of these paintings works as a timeline in the artist's journey. A transition in her life comes each time she looks out of the ‘window’, the window that plays a major role in her life. Suparna says, “windows have always held importance in this journey of mine. I have seen stories of different cities through it and have spoken to the beaming lights and their sounds too. My prime focus remained to be able to narrate stories of yesterday, today and tomorrow.”

Metros have now become home to the artist and the window substituted with the canvas on which she narrates tales of these cities as each city inspired and was creatively captured on these canvases by the artist - covering all the context from the streets to skyscrapers, nature to city heights, pace to peace and from shimmering lights to fragile windows with controlled drawing of lines , use of bright color tones and  use of interesting mixed media. These bubbles are waiting to burst with their spirit of energies to celebrate the ease, the play of colors, tones, lines and forms.  

In this cosmos, fascination with art and use of intense warm colors in these architectural urban scapes , SHE composes a rhythmical succession of the different features of the city life – living or nonliving to convey the feelings of emotional liberation which needs to be corrected in time.

 

Silhouetted against the experimental firmament of contemporary art of Rajasthan, Kiran Murdia, a representative modernist, reflects the influences of traditions of miniature painting in her works. Kiran as an artist of innovative nature weaves the themes that revolve around images and objects of her natural surroundings. Often the compositions are intricate but well structured and well-knit. The obdurate repetition creates a stylistic vein yet the transfiguration is creative - colorful and concrete.

Her infinite love of nature breathes life into the inanimate with soothing harmony of colors.  It is, at the same time, an escape from the mundane murky development of mad age for seeking solace in solitude. Her attempt is to rejuvenate the traditional pictorial idiom sufficed with a contemporary accent.

Through the last three decades by her constant craftsmanship she has carved for herself an abiding niche in the contemporary art scene of Rajasthan. In her present renderings of the various landscapes, she vehemently loads her imagery with layers of pigments using roller strokes in her artistic endeavor to delve deep into the nostalgic wealth of heritage and love for one's own terra-firma.



Deepak Kumar -What enchants a viewer about his works which leave them spellbound is the surge of passionate strokes that stand vertically slash horizontally, weaving a lovely brightness of activity with silhouettes of skyline on top and on the lower planes the edge of dark deep abysmal sea that spreads like a band of solitude in contrast to the middle regions of his canvasses which also convey a sense of TIMELESSNESS and SPACE. The palette of his hues and variable tones ensures the merging of both with his energetic zestful strokes.

Bold strokes  depict his coastline erect themselves as colors define the mood of nature surrounding. These cityscapes are tranquil and serene in some and volatile in some as the skyline bows gracefully to the seas...

The Cityscapes along harbor as weaved by Sasanka Ghosh  trigger a dynamic process and compel us to look at reality as an Impressionistic illusion and dig deeper in his abstraction to translate what he has experienced over a period of years. It is almost as if the four winds gathered, teased his eye lending him a fervor, strength and vitality as he translates the depth of nature’s attributes evoking climates in consonance with the tangled strokes of the planar divisions of the sky-we can sense an inter connectivity of both the visible and the invisible.

His canvasses are modernist in nature with impressionistic undertones. His skill is evident in the way he creates imaginative and stunning cityscapes & harbor scenes – as molten images in various hues lending a strange luminosity to the skies and the reflections beneath in contrast to the thickly applied coastal images. 


Sanjay Baishnab His landscapes are picture postcard perfect. At first you are taken in by the sheer prettiness of it all. It is lush and luminescent, capturing with impressionistic fervor, nature at its photogenic best. The paintings are ethereal and lovely, swathed in blue-grey mist, his works on Benaras brim with the timeless energy of the Ghats.

In his paintings, the landscape is the center point of attention. It surges ahead with force and a startling sense of immediacy. Inside the canvas, the past and the present, ideas, people and monuments and nature melt to form a fecund world where boundaries are seamless. If lighting is used to enhance emotion and mood, color in his work is used to navigate a range of meaning. Bright and rich hues are evocative and lustrous.  The canvas is nourished with joyful energy & color. The temple pond and the devout bather converge, the pilgrims , the trees, palm shores and boats all mingle : it is hard to tell where the borders begin and where they end. A lot is happening on his canvas. It is usually bustling with activity and we get a feel of the imminent, as if we are about to witness events just about to unfurl upon the canvas. We aspire to live briefly in those moments of ephemeral loveliness as we keep our sense of splendor alive, our response to beautiful things are heightened because our everyday lives are moored to the world of mediocre imagery.

 

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E-Mail : sangeetajuneja@hotmail.com 

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Woven Together at Juneja Art Gallery

Jaipurites are going to witness a spectacular Grand Show , Which will be a blend of gigantic
magnificent Sculptural installation along with dance performance. An invite is attached along with a video & curatorial note for your kind appraisal.

Woven Together
1st Sept. 2018  at 6 .30 pm. Juneja Art Gallery – C – 34 & 36, Road No.1, Bais Godown, Jaipur.
Releasing and letting go to create a space.
A space that is both empty and ready to receive, where ideas come and go, watchful egos that float in and out. 

Senses that feel and emotions that rise and fall, like a wave that warmly caresses you, before you once again find your balance:


“Woven Together” is this, and more... 
It is not about me, not about you, nor about them “Woven Together” is about us.

Woven Together “ is a tangible creative outcome of a collaborative journey that was started over a year ago - 
“Mutthi - a fistful of Clay” 

Ruby Jhunjhunwala is trained at Alfred University, NY under the mentorship of Daniel Rhodes. She is one of the pioneering ceramic artists of the country, with over 40 years of experience.

Ruby transforms her studio Adipa once every month into a community space for people of different abilities, diverse backgrounds, and all ages; to connect and understand one another from a perspective other than their own. Together they play with clay and leave their identities in the form of a ‘Fistful of Clay’.
Hrishikesh Pawar, formally trained in Kathak, followed by over 8 years of study & practice of contemporary dance in Palucca Schule Dresden Germany, has moved beyond the classical dance boundaries to explore the various dimensions of the human body.


As Ruby and Hrishikesh have meandered through this creative journey, together they have imbibed the sentiments of the two different mediums, the soft, cool malleable clay, and the graceful movements of the dancing body.

42 Artists from across the globe have worked with a sense of oneness, giving Ruby the freedom to curate and weave together their work into fabric like forms speaking a single language- a language of love, caring and acceptance.

Hence, “Woven Together” is an experiential installation that aspires to take back the viewer to the basics, it almost endears you to move within and explore your own feelings and realizations.

Ruby works to bring an acceptance of differently abled members into the mainstream system, so also Hrishikesh invests his artistic energies with Parkinson's patients to facilitate them to dance and accept their body.  It is obvious that both Ruby & Hrishikesh desire to expand their expression beyond just clay or dance.

The collaboration “Woven together” is just the beginning of this journey...

Using the elements of ceramics, imagery, dance, movement, music and community, the collaborative work triggers a sense of awareness and curiosity that eventually leads to ‘acceptance’.

Show is on view from 1st to 22nd Sept. 2018



Saturday, August 25, 2018

'INTO THE BOX' by 11 Sculptors at GALLERY ARTCHILL, Amer Fort








I N T O     T H E      B O X


“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in our hearts’’
In our quest of achievement and success we often forget the smaller things in life. We forget that small is beautiful and that is powerful. Well the pen is mightier than the sword. Similarly, we have always been encouraged to think out -of -the –box and in turn to accomplish as a result that is out –of – box. This has been a constant conditioning since childhood.
So, in the spirit of thinking out –of –the-box, we thought it would be a challenge to create works that fit into the box, where in the largest box is a 10” cube and the smallest 7 ‘’cube. The artist is encouraged to deconstruct, think small-yet powerful and create works that fit literally into the box. This can be a task as specially in the world of art, where the bigger is better it is!
A lot of care was taken while choosing the artists, each one having their own speciality where in they have given justice to the concept. Anju Pawar and Rutvij Mistry have both worked on birds, where in for the former the birds are symbolisms of piousness of the soul and pure consciousness. She has used the traditional Japanese method of naked raku firing. Rutvij, on the other hand feels doves best represent love and peace which the humans need all over the world. Yashashari Shildhankar, on the other hand, is inspired by the clean lines of modern shapes and alternation and reconstruction of these shapes. Her black and white and single colour forms are dramatic, simple yet impactful.
Decorative is what Sushma Anand’s work seems at first glance. Her Indian teapots, though are functional and have the ‘jaalis’ and the inlay patterns of the mahals on their form through a process which allows her to transfer drawings as well as to print on clay. Nalini Thyagarajan’s elegant bowls are simply there for their own sake. Functional in nature, simply there to delight. The bowls have Nalini’s brushstrokes and are wood fired. Neha Pullarwar, through her work questions the human’s need to build without thinking and remorse and feels we need to need from the animal kingdom where their dwellings are environment friendly and are biodegradable. Her work of mixed media is rather strong and thought provoking.
Shayonti Salvi, on the other hand is amazed by the seed pods, who nurture and harbour life. These seed pods while breaking open are symbolic of life and hope. She has used too the naked Raku process, along with the traditional smoke firing method and porcelain. Khushboo Madnani work’s is also defined by the landscapes and assymetrical and symmetrical forms of nature. Her powerful works though were created in Mumbai, were wood fired in Australia telling their own little stories. Rashi Jain’s works are meditative figures which explore the process of awareness of the Self. Her porcelain figurines speak volumes with all their detailing and use of gold.
Aditi Saraogi’s work values the abtract treasures of love, joy, peace, respect, freedom and care which according are most important jewels. She has worked with porcelain for its transluscence as well as used the smoke firing process too. Vinod Daroz draws inspiration from the mundane mortar and pestle from the traditional kitchens of India. These help in food preparation thereby symbolizing creation. His works are slip cast porcelain with the use of decals, gold and silver lustres.
Curated by ADITI SARAOGI & SHAYONTI SALVI
Artists -
ADITI SARAOGI, ANJU PAWAR, KHUSHBOO MADNANI, NALINI TYAGRAJAN, NEHA PULLARWAR, RASHI JAIN, RUTVIJ MISTRY ,SHAYONTI SALVI, SUSHMA ANANDVINOD DAROZ & YASHASHARI SHILDHANKAR.