Thursday, February 9, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Saffronart Breaks New Ground in Western Art with its Inaugural Auction of Impressionist and Modern Art
- The first ever auction of Western art in India features 73 works by 35 eminent western artists with a total estimate of US$ 3.3 million to 4.2 million.
- Leading the sale is Vincent van Gogh’s 1885 masterpiece, ‘L’allée aux deux promeneurs’, estimated at US$ 800,000-1million.
- The auction features exceptional works by Camille Pissarro, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dalí and Henri Matisse, among others.
- It will also feature a wide selection of limited edition, signed prints and an attractive group of ceramics by Pablo Picasso.
Mumbai, January 30, 2012: Saffronart, India’s leading auction house announces its entry into Western art with its Inaugural Auction of Impressionist and Modern Art. As part of its long-term commitment to provide art connoisseurs inIndia and across the globe with access to the finest art works, Saffronart now introduces this landmark auction of Western art, a first for India. The auction offers a unique opportunity for collectors to acquire significant works by the legends of the art world including Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Fernand Léger, and others.
With a total of 73 lots, the sale includes a wide variety of paintings, works on paper and sculptures of exceptional provenance and quality by leading Western artists. The auction will take place online at www.saffronart.com on February 15-16, 2012. A selection of lots from this auction will be previewed at Saffronart’s galleries in New Delhi and Mumbai.
On the cover of the catalogue is an exceptional early landscape by Vincent Van Gogh. L’allée aux deux promeneurs(Lane with Two Figures) was painted in the Dutch village of Neunen in 1885, where the 32 year old artist had returned to live after studying in The Hague. This was a pivotal year for the artist as he obsessively recorded his surroundings and the local farming community, culminating in the masterpiece of van Gogh's 'peasant period', The Potato Eaters in April of the same year.
An important work by one of the grand masters of Impressionism will also be included in the auction. The luxuriantLisière du bois (Edge of the Wood) by Camille Pissarro shows the artistic debt to his great friend Paul Cézanne and is a wonderful example of early Impressionism put into practice. Painted in sweeping strokes with the aid of a palette knife, this painting was most likely completed while Pissarro was sitting in the field en plein air recording the fleeting effects of light and wind on the landscape in front of him.
The Modern section includes several works by Pablo Picasso, including a vibrant oil painting titled Le Transformateur of 1953 (estimated at US$ 400,000-450,000). By the late 1940s, Picasso’s fame was widespread and he was the confirmed master of Western art. He moved to the small town of Vallauris in the South of France and a time of success, contentment and stability in his family life set in. He continued to paint and draw obsessively, depicting his wife and children but also adding to his repertoire the lush surroundings and houses near his villa, as shown in the present work.
Also in the sale is a large selection of ceramics by Picasso. Pottery became a significant new medium with which to express himself at around the same time in Vallauris and continued to preoccupy him for the rest of his life. He turned these everyday objects into charming and often amusing figures and animals, confirming again that Picasso’s artistic imagination was boundless.
Marc Chagall features in the auction with a very large and impressive watercolour called L'Echelle au ciel (Ladder to the Sky), estimated at US$ 280,000-350,000. It features some of Chagall’s most iconic symbols, including the artist lying before his easel while figures float above him, as if for artistic inspiration. A ladder bridges the earthly and heavenly worlds that are equally important to the artist and above him a bride and groom hover, perhaps signifying that marriage and love are the most significant inspiration of all.
The sale will also have on offer works by two of the most recognized sculptors, Henry Moore, and Lynn Chadwick.
The auction includes an attractive selection of prints by several of the twentieth century’s most respected Western artists including Joan Miró, Henry Moore, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein.
Caption for the image above: Salvador Dali, Hommage a Newton
Marc Quinn Announces Navin Thomas as the Winner of The ŠKODA Prize 2011
New Delhi: After the astounding success of The ŠKODA Prize 2010, ŠKODA Auto India and Seventy Event Media Group came together again to present the biggest and most prestigious award on the Indian visual arts scene, THE ŠKODA PRIZE for Indian Contemporary Art. The ŠKODA Prize is an annual celebration that recognizes outstanding work in Indian contemporary art.
The shortlist comprised of artists from various genres. With solo shows in London, Berlin, Chicago in 2010 Jitish Kallat, one of India’s most successful artists found his way into The ŠKODA Prize Shortlist. Navin Thomas hails from Bangalore and is known for mixing science and art in his creations. L.N. Tallur is known for his kinetic sculptures that combine a sharp wit along with a prodigious use of materials. “The Breakthrough Artist Award” nominees included upcoming names such as Srikanth Kolari, Madhuban Mitra & Manas Bhattacharya, Dhruv Malhotra and Prashant Pandey.
Navin Thomas was announced the winner of the second edition of The ŠKODA Prize at a ceremony at the Taj Palace hotel. World-famous British artist Marc Quinn handed over the Trophy and a cheque for Rs.10, 00,000 to Navin Thomas. Navin Thomas’ show “From the Town’s End…” was shown at GALLERYSKE in Banglore. The two Runners-up were awarded residencies in Switzerland, courtesy Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council. The inaugural “The Breakthrough Artist Award” was won by Madhuban Mitra & Manas Bhattacharya. The winner received a cheque of Rs 50,000, handed over by Mrs. Béatrice Latteier .The artworks of the top 20 artists are on display at the Lalit Kala Akademi till February 6, 2012.
The evening brought forth an eclectic mix of people from the world of art & culture and from the Delhi social circuit. Guests present at the evening were: Neville Tulli, Suhel Seth, Subodh Gupta, Jitish Kallat, L.N. Tallur, Navin Thomas, Mithu Sen, Rohit Gandhi, Nida Mahmood, Sumant Jayakrishnan, Vikram Baidyanath, Peter Nagy, Tasneem Mehta, Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra.
The Jury was headed by Mrs. Kiran Nadar, Chairperson of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. Other members of the Jury included Pooja Sood, Director of KHOJ International Artists’ Association, Vivan Sundaram, a renowned India contemporary artist, Heike Munder, Director and Curator of the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich and Martin Clark, Artistic Director of Tate St Ives. Apart from the Jury Panel, there is also an advisory committee headed by renowned art critic, Girish Shahane, who is also an Independent Writer based out of Mumbai. His articles on art, film and cultural politics have been published in leading newspapers and journals in India and abroad. He writes a fortnightly column for Yahoo! India.
“We are extremely proud of what The ŠKODA Prize has been able to achieve in its second year itself. And we are confident that from here on, it will grow stupendously in stature and popularity. The corner stone of success in second season for us has been to see more and more contemporary artists from beyond the metroes became a part of The ŠKODA Prize. ŠKODA will continue to provide its whole hearted support to this incredible platform, as we aim towards taking it to much greater heights in years to come.” – Nitisha Agrawal, Head of PR & Corporate Communications, ŠKODA Auto India.
Speaking on The ŠKODA Prize, Marc Quinn, Guest of Honor, said, “It is an honour to be asked to present this year’s ŠKODA Prize. Having visited India many times it is very exciting to be part of this prestigious event, which is now so integral to the Indian Contemporary Art scene”.
Martin da Costa, CEO, Seventy Event Media Group added “We were amazed at the success and impact of The ŠKODA Prize last year. But this year we were able to lift the benchmark even higher. We are constantly aiming to strive towards a more holistic target base and recognize talent from all strata of the industry right from debutantes to established artists. The inauguration of “The Breakthrough Artist Award” and giving the The ŠKODA Prize Longlist a platform to showcase their artworks with the annual exhibition has helped us achieve just that. We are delighted to be a part of this exciting journey that will soon be coming to a close with the announcement of the winner of THE ŠKODA PRIZE for Indian Contemporary Art.”
The ŠKODA Prize is the largest and most prestigious award on the Indian visual arts scene. It recognises cutting-edge work demonstrating vision, innovation, and a mature understanding of material and form. The Prize brings to public notice exciting trends in contemporary art, highlighting the output of established mid-career artists as well as new voices. It is backed by jurors of impeccable credentials, renowned patron institutions, a dedicated group of advisors, and a management team of proven capability. The ŠKODA Prize is Seventy EMG's Arts Initiative.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Unmapped Territories
A few years back, when I visited Tate Modern in London, one of the few works which caught my attention was Joseph Beuy’s work Felt Suit besides his other works on display at the gallery.
The display caption for this work reads as below:
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It was almost two years back that Ashim Purkayastha had a solo show. His last show titled Family – Families was held at Vadehra Art Gallery between December 12, 2009 and January 9, 2010.
He rarely participates in group shows, primarily because he works at his own pace and creates fewer art works than many of his contemporaries do. So, it was a surprise to see his works in a group show which opened at Art Alive, Gurgaon on December 17. Few of his 2005 works from the butterfly series are also exhibited in this show.
But, what caught my eye was Ashim’s new work titled Inside Out, which was exhibited at the basement of the gallery.
Inside Out, as the artist has cleverly named his work, is a torn quilt. A torn quilt probably of no use to anyone and normally would be found in the dumps or garbage. There are remains of the red hued cloth, which hold the clouds of cotton inside. Ashim has, in places, stitched small patches of red cloth since most of the original material has worn out. Also additional support is given by threads to hold the cotton in place.
Ashim states that most of the people who migrate from West Bengal to the urban cities like New Delhi remain homeless for a long time. They pick menial jobs for survival and live on the streets, in the show of the humongous metropolis. Their only comfort is the quilt, which is used a bedding during the summer nights and a quilt to protect their bodies from bone-chilling cold in the winter. Most of them sleep in bus shelters and other temporary structures as roof over heads with the quilt acting as protection or comfort. The quilt becomes their protection and comfort throughout the year.
Artist Nancy Kay Turner writes about Joseph Beuy’s work:
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Saffronart and Volte Gallery Present a Solo Exhibition
Mumbai, December 5, 2011: Saffronart, India’s leading auction house, and Volte Gallery in Mumbai will present a solo exhibition of Ranbir Kaleka titled “Fables”. Ranbir Kaleka, an innovative contemporary Indian artist whose work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions all over the world, has achieved significant international saliency during the last decade. The exhibition will be at the Saffronart Gallery at The Oberoi Hotel, from December 16, 2011 to January 5, 2012.
Ranbir Kaleka’s “Fables” will be his first major exhibition in Delhi, since 1995. Ranbir is the only artist to be working in this ‘medium’ which is a segue between images on a canvas that are juxtaposed with video projections. His works collapse the boundaries between a painting with ‘static’ images and that of the video, moving images; he aims at creating a third visual experience. “Playing with the hyper image which I create by melding into one image the ‘physicality’ of the painted image and the ‘aura’ of image made by light, the other possibilities of opening a new space for making meaning through hybridity inherent in the new image,” says Kaleka.
Speaking of this exhibition, Dinesh Vazirani, CEO and Co-Founder of Saffronart said, “It is a great occasion to participate in the Ranbir Kaleka exhibition along with Volte Gallery, as Saffronart has always believed in contributing to the sustainable growth of the Indian art market. We are privileged to have the opportunity to present these unique visual essays by one of India’s most India’s experimental contemporary Indian artists.”
Tushar Jiwarajka, Founder and Director at Volte Gallery said, “Ranbir is a living genius, a sorcerer who takes you to his magical worlds through his phantasmagorical pieces. He is also widely acknowledged as one of the most significant artists of his generation. I am extremely delighted to partner with Saffronart to have Ranbir's solo show after such a long gap in Delhi.”
The exhibition comprises of 5 works, 3 still moving images (video projections on canvas with images) and 2 digital prints on canvas. The artist's practice revolves around producing art in an intermediate space between a painting and running visual (video), and his body of work has been said to ‘create a seemingly living tableau on a canvas and screen’.
The exhibition will be accompanied by an illustrated print catalogue, along with a preview in New Delhi. The exhibition will take place between December 16, 2011 and January 5, 2012, at the Saffronart Gallery at The Oberoi Hotel.
About Ranbir Kaleka:
Ranbir Kaleka , born in Patiala, Punjab University in Chandigarh, taught at the Punjabi university and College of Art in New Delhi. He later obtained his Master's degree in painting from the Royal College of Art in London. He has also taught in the college of art in Delhi.
Kaleka’s paintings, both on paper, canvas, in oils as well as more recently, his video projections on canvas, are almost surrealist in their treatment of scenes from everyday life. The lines are suggested, rather than sharply traced, and the colours almost deliberately restrained. Kaleka has also created and exhibited video projection on painting, oils on canvas and installations.
The artist’s work has been widely exhibited in India and abroad. His most recent solo and group shows include Expanded Cinema at the Museum of Modern Art Moscow, The Guangzhou Triennale in Guangdong, China, Chalo India at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, in 2008; a multi-media installation commissioned to the permanent collection of the Spertus Museum, Chicago, in 2007; the Sydney Biennale, 2008; Urban Manners at Hangar Bicocca, Milan, in 2007; New Narratives: Contemporary Art from India at the Chicago Cultural Center in 2007; Horn Please: The Narrative in Contemporary Indian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Berne, in 2007; Art Video Lounge at Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, in 2006; Hungry God: Indian Contemporary Art at Busan Museum of Modern Art, South Korea in 2006; iCon: India Contemporary at the Venice Biennale, 2005; Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India at the Asia Society, New York, in 2005; Culturgest-Lisbon in 2004; Zoom! Art in Contemporary India, Lisbon, in 2004; and subTerrain: Indian Contemporary Art at the House of World Culture, Berlin, in 2003.
Ranbir Kaleka currently lives and works in New Delhi, and is represented by Volte Gallery, Mumbai.
Saffronart to offer an Exceptional Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art at its 2011 Winter Online Auction
December 12-13, 2011
- Saffronart’s Winter Online Art Auction 2011 features 80 works by 36 modern and contemporary Indian artists with a total estimate of Rs 14.1 crore to Rs 17.8 crore (US$ 2.8 million to US$ 3.6 million)
- Leading the sale is F.N. Souza’s seminal 1953 painting ‘Man with Still Life’
- The auction also features modern works by Ram Kumar, S.H. Raza, Rameshwar Broota and Jehangir Sabavala alongside those of contemporary artists like Sudhir Patwardhan, N.S. Harsha, Anju Dodiya and Nataraj Sharma.
Mumbai, December 5, 2011: Saffronart, India’s leading auction house, will showcase the works of modern masters and contemporary artists at its annual Winter Online Art Auction. With a total of 80 lots, the sale includes a wide variety of paintings, works on paper and sculpture of exceptional provenance and quality by 36 leading artists, and will take place online at www.saffronart.com on December 12-13, 2011.
The auction catalogue includes a wide range of Indian artworks, including a selection of extraordinary paintings by modern masters including Ram Kumar, S.H. Raza, Rameshwar Broota and Jehangir Sabavala. In addition, the sale also features some outstanding works by contemporary artists Sudhir Patwardhan, N.S. Harsha, Anju Dodiya and Nataraj Sharma. All the lots in this auction catalogue have been carefully selected and competitively estimated, to engage both seasoned and emerging collectors
On the cover of the catalogue is F.N. Souza’s magnificent 1953 portrait, ‘Man with Still Life’. Painted in the same year as the two of the artist’s other seminal works, Mystic Repast and Man with Monstrance, this work combines Souza’s powerful figurative idiom with a regal still life. Influenced by the uneasy relationship that the artist shared with organised religion throughout his life, specifically Roman Catholicism, this painting critically interrogates the notion of divine sanction through the representatives and objects of this faith. The figure, likely a priest, is dressed in a dull gold tunic with a cross-hatched pattern at the neck. However, rather than a grand countenance to match his robe, Souza renders his subject’s face almost mask-like, with large, empty eye sockets, robbing him of all traces of humanness. Symbolic perhaps of a blind leader, he stands behind an altar-like platform on which ecclesiastical objects have been placed.
Ram Kumar’s ‘Untitled’, painted in 1975, another modern masterpiece included in this auction catalogue, is representative of the zenith of the artist’s deconstructionist abstraction. This abstract visual vocabulary was neither intended to startle his viewers, nor to disconnect the artist from them and the rest of the world. Instead, it demands a pause and deep reflection, forging a bond between the work and the viewer. Transcending the familiar, Kumar’s large canvases like this one create a sense of timelessness that both emphasizes and absorbs the individual.
Also included in the catalogue is Rameshwar Broota’s epic and irreverent canvas, ‘Sewadar’. Painted in 1972, it is part of the artist's seminal ‘Ape’ series of works, which offer his satirical take on the leadership of the nation, with a particular focus on their conspicuous consumption despite the poverty of their people. Deeply aware of and affected by socio-political developments, Broota’s primitive figuration explores sociopolitical realities, pre-social existence, and the possibility of post-social man as a critique of economic and political corruption, and the excesses that cause it. Raising questions of corruption, power and justice, ‘Sewadar’ underscores the creeping rot that was consuming the country’s political establishment at the time.
Another highlight of the auction is Sudhir Patwardhan’s untitled 2006 cityscape, which communicates the simultaneously intimate and complex relationship that the artist has shared with his city, Mumbai, for several decades now. This monumental, densely populated canvas, like many of the artist's other paintings, draws from his collection of photographic images taken at various time and in various locations across the city.
The total lower and higher estimates for this auction are Rs 14.1 crore to Rs 17.8 crore (US$ 2.8 million to US$ 3.5 million). The sale will be accompanied by an illustrated print catalogue, also available online at www.saffronart.com, along with previews and viewings in London, New York, New Delhi and Mumbai. The sale will take place online on December 12-13. Collectors may also place bids via Saffronart’s proprietary Blackberry and iPhone mobile applications.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Announcement of the Sanskriti Awards 2011
New Delhi: Sanskriti is privileged to announce the 2011 Sanskriti Awards in the fields of literature, journalism, art, performing arts and Sscial Achievement. This is the 32nd successive year of the awards, which are now being announced on a national basis for the 21st consecutive year. Experts in their respective fields have selected the awardees. The distinctive feature of the Awards is that they are presented to young and emerging talent in the age group of 25-35 years. Each Award carries Rs 50,000.00 in cash and a citation.
The award for art will be presented today to Abhishek Hazra for Art (2011) in a function at IIC, New Delhi.
Abhishek (born 1977), a visual artist based in Bangalore, graduated from the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology. His work explores the intersections between technology and culture through animated shorts and performance pieces that often integrate textual fragments drawn from real and fictional scenarios. He is also interested in the social history of scientific practices in colonial India. Abhishek often refers to the idea of a ‘thought-experiment’ and ‘speculative fiction’ to refer to his works – a non-goal directed and completely useless exploration of little or no value and blissfully devoid of material trappings. However, he is still coming to terms with the fact that he will die without acquiring the mental apparatus required to appreciate Maxwell’s classic equations on electromagnetism. Nonetheless, he pretends to make ‘art and science’ noises and attempts to pass off his jokes as profundities. His most recent explorations into the intersections of art and science were conducted at SymbioticA, an art laboratory located within the University of Western Australia, Perth. His project engaging with the ambivalent nature of bio-materials was later exhibited at SymbioticA’s 2011 retrospective show at Trinity College, Dublin.
He has previously exhibited and performed at HEART Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Denmark, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Casino Luxembourg Forum d’art Contemporain, Experiment Marathon Reykjavik, Reykjavik Art Museum and Kunst Museum Bern. His recent shows include a solo show (The Inheritance of Alphanumeric Characters) at Gallery SKE, Bangalore and a group show On Uncertainity at Bose Pacia, New York. Prior to this he has been an artist-in-residence at Gasworks, London and KHOJ, New Delhi, among others.
The other recipients of this award are Shahida Shabnum for literature, Rana Ayyub for journalism, Murad Ali for music and Vinayak Lohani for social achievement.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Lucian Freud, the foremost figurative artist of his generation, dies aged 88
By James Orr, and Raf Sanchez 21 Jul 2011 in The Telegraph, UK
In a statement his New York-based art dealer and close friend William Acquavella said the realist painter died on Wednesday following a brief illness, but gave no further details.
Freud was known for his intense realist portraits, particularly of nudes.
In recent years his paintings commanded huge prices at auction, including one called Naked Woman on a Sofa that sold for $33.6 million (£20.5million) in 2008. Last month, a portrait entitled Woman Smiling, 1958-59, sold for £4,745,250.
Mr Acquavella said he would mourn Freud “as one of the great painters of the twentieth century.”
“My family and I mourn Lucian Freud not only as one of the great painters of the twentieth century but also as a very dear friend,” he said.
“As the foremost figurative artist of his generation he imbued both portraiture and landscape with profound insight, drama and energy.
“In company he was exciting, humble, warm and witty. He lived to paint and painted until the day he died, far removed from the noise of the art world.”
Freud was well known for bucking the trends of the art world, insisting on using his realist approach even when it was out of favour with critics and collectors.
He stubbornly developed his own unique style, eventually winning recognition as one of the world's greatest painters.
“He certainly is considered one of the most important painters of the 20th and 21st Centuries,” said Brett Gorvy, deputy chairman of the postwar art department at Christie's auction house in New York.
“He stayed with his figurative approach even when it was extremely unpopular, when abstraction was the leading concept, and as time moved on his classic approach has proven to be very important. He fought the system and basically won.”
Freud, grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, was born in Berlin in 1922. His Jewish family was forced to flee the city in 1933 and he became a British citizen in 1939.
The artist was a member of the Order of Merit - one of Britain's most prestigious chivalry honours founded in 1902 by Edward VII. The honour is a special award presented to individuals of great achievement in the fields of the arts, learning, literature and science.
Current members include former prime minister Baroness Thatcher, naturalist Sir David Attenborough and inventor of the worldwide web Sir Timothy Berners-Lee. Members receive no rank or title apart from the initials OM after their name.
Freud’s most famous subject was arguably the supermodel Kate Moss, who he painted in the nude while she was pregnant. He named the painting Naked Portrait 2002.
He also painted a portrait of the Queen - completed in his characteristically uncompromising and unflattering style, with some commentators describing the Monarch's expression as "glum".
The Director of the Tate in London, Nicholas Serota, said: “The vitality of his nudes, the intensity of the still life paintings and the presence of his portraits of family and friends guarantee Lucian Freud a unique place in the pantheon of late twentieth century art.
His early paintings redefined British art and his later works stand comparison with the great figurative painters of any period.”
Freud's sister-in-law Ann, told the Daily Telegraph that neither she nor her husband Stephen, knew of the painter's illness and only learned of his death through TV reports.
Mrs Freud said: "We literally out found five minutes ago and it's a terrible shock. I didn't even know he was unwell. He wouldn't keep a telephone so no one could phone him directly.”
Monday, May 30, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Nature Morte Presents L.N. Tallur's show from April 4, 2011
Chromatophobia: The Fear of Money
L.N. Tallur
April 4- 30, 2011
Exhibition opens on Sunday, April 3rd from 6 to 8pm.
New Delhi: Nature Morte is pleased to present an exhibition of new sculptures by L.N. Tallur. The title ironically situates the artist’s practice within the intersections of desire, value, pedigree and psychology. Known for his kinetic sculptures which often comment on society and politics, the work of L.N. Tallur combines a sharp wit along with a prodigious use of materials.
Many of the works in the exhibition use the classical sculpture of India as their starting points. These “found objects” are then combined and manipulated, confounding the established categorizations with which we usually interpret art: figuration and abstraction, traditional and contemporary, decorative and functional, creative and destructive, religious and secular. It is as if each work is both and neither at the same time. Tallur’s works may appear quintessentially “Indian” at first, but they certainly participate in the most advanced dialogues surrounding sculpture today and reveal themselves to be both cosmopolitan and historically astute.
L.N. Tallur was born in 1971 in the south Indian state of Karnataka. He received a BFA degree in painting from the Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts in Mysore in 1996, an MFA degree in museology from the MS University in Baroda in 1998, and an MA in Fine Art from the Metropolitan University in Leeds, UK, in 2002. Solo shows of his works have been mounted at Arario Gallery, Beijing (2010); Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai (2009); Arario Gallery, New York (2008); Arario Gallery, Seoul (2007); Bose Pacia, New York (2000); and Chemould Gallery, Mumbai (1999). In addition to receiving the Sanskriti Award from the Sanskriti Foundation of New Delhi in 2003 and having his works included in many group exhibitions around the world, Tallur’s large-scale installation entitled “Souvenir Maker” was recently exhibited at the Devi Foundation in Gurgaon and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Singapore. The artist currently divides his time between India and South Korea.
The Red Room opens on April 1, 2011
The Red Room
A group show of Indian contemporary artists.
April 1-25, 2011
Gallery Ragini, Lado Sarai, New Delhi
New Delhi: A political trait, a revolutionary take, a comrade’s view, a passionate desire, a treacherous tyrant, a spiritual symbolism- an exploration of the various connotations of the colour red.
Red is a complex and powerful color and is considered to have the greatest impact on the human psyche, understanding its symbolic meaning, allows us to comprehend the subtext of the world in the idiom of color.
Red room as a show brings out the complexities and emotions of the colour red; different cultures have different views on the meaning of the color and can emphasize different things with mere thoughts of the color.
The works in The Red Room are by eight artists from different cultures and traditions, with diverse inspiration and intentions yet the common thread running through their artwork is the undeniable powerful reaction they invoke.
Once you enter the red room you are overwhelmed by the sensation of the room evoking you as a viewer to observe, absorb, and react to the works.
On one hand we have works by artists like Abul Kalam Azad, Anoop Kamath, Prasad Raghavan and Raghu Neware who have used red dominantly in their works as a symbolism for violence, strife, courage and spirituality. These artists use the strength and intensity of red to engage the viewer completely quite similar to the deliberate use of intense reds by Edvard Munch to enhance raw emotion and terror in his famous painting, The Scream.
On the other hand we have artists like Ravi Kashi and Dhanur Goyal who haven’t emphasized on the colour red in their works, they instead have very astutely added a subtext to their works; they represent in their works the message of non-violence, peaceful dialogue, tolerance, compromise and peace which are far removed from the emotions traditionally associated with the colour red.
Gargee Ghosh’s installation works bring into play, questions of authorship, of culture, and the endless journey of power struggle and feminist ideals. She tries to look out for emancipation of the cosmopolitan culture of glaze and glitter and the never ending consumerist culture. In the same manner Saptrshi Das’s works depicting hand pulled rickshaws and the hammer and sickle clearly talk about injustice and revolution. He believes that art is a part of socialism and it can raise questions on social issues and the unfair social structures and thereby bring about positive changes.
A walk through the red room is undoubtedly a journey of experiencing the various emotions and implications associated with the colour red which the artists have brilliantly put across through their works.
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