Saturday, 28 November 2015

Peace in Abstraction: Paintings by Nital Bhuva



Nital Bhuva is one of the upcoming self-taught, hobby artist. Her passionfor painting developed in the teenage. Right from the day she held the brush for painting, abstract forms have been her kind of expression. Now she has established herself as a painter and continues her dedicated to abstraction. On asking her whether she tried hands in other styles, she abruptly said ‘No’. Her confidence in abstract is really amazing. For her abstraction is a pause; like a second chance at life or whatever is perceived, finding no mistakes. It’s a perfection in illusion. Further she says, “When a surface looks beautiful to me, it has a self-disciplinary effect, consoled for en number of ages .It gives me creative high and satisfaction.” What I admire about her is her strong belief in this style instead of trying various styles and then ending up as an abstract artist. She enjoys this style as it brings displacement   in memory and joy, for her it is an allusion as is desired to produce same amount of possibility from afar as well close up.

Artist : Nital Bhuva


She is professional trained in technical knowledge, being a student of Engineering initially it was difficult to migrate from technical to creative field. But her sensitive mind made it easy to be thoughtful towards exposed and subtle realities of life and now she has been painting since more than eight years. The forms are subjectively and non-subjectively connected on subtle level. 

Her paintings transcend from physical to spiritual. The texture, lines, colours together convey the feelings that flow in mind, these are the thoughts that you cannot put in words, liberated from physical bonds.

Along with being a painter she is also a good poetess. The poetry transcends into her painting. She has written English as well as a few Gujarati poems, the matter, sharpness and lucidity is very dear to her heart. It is a simplification of complexity. A few lines that projects upheaval of thoughts:



Recent works by Nital Bhuva
Deep in to the forests,
where life grows and rests; 

where wind blew clean and cool,
soothing wounds of even the dead; 

suddenly with a start,
I wake to the real; 

which never fails to lurk,
from behind the golden face; 

darkness of the hell,
has descended on this place; 

soot suffocates my heart,
already buried under the plastic carts; 

I gather this charred remains,
the mother earth in my hands; 

which once used to be a salve,
slips from my fingers now; 

and what was once a balm,
poisons my blood now; 

the ambrosia which I dreamed of,
evaporated in the air; 

and the right to be alive,
dead before the death.
- Nital Bhuva


Recent works by Nital Bhuva

Speaking about her creative process, she humbly says, “Till date, is like colder meals, a lot of freedom with surface experimentation, and different colours. I hope for late surge of expectations and more available discipline. Most of the time my creations develop from some kind of longing to see more of beauty.”
She prefers to work on Sunmica board and while working, is completely involved in bringing out the desired effect on its surface. Most of her creations are in blue and red. Both the medium and colours add to her perspective and there is a lot of emotional quotient involved. Her perspective can be interpreted subjectively according to individual experiences. Like a true abstract creations, her paintings give a lot of scope for individual interpretations. Her digitalis are equally mesmerizing. 

Coming up soon, the works of this passionate abstract- painter, self-taught artist. View and admire her first Solo show at  Art Gate Gallery, Mumbai.


 

By Pankaja JK.

ArtBlogazine.com

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

TARQ is delighted to present Pratap Morey’s first solo exhibition

TARQ is delighted to present Pratap Morey’s first solo exhibition — ‘measure | decipher.’ Comprising several new works, ‘measure | decipher’ seeks to examine the artist’s preoccupation with changing geographies of urban spaces. Pratap has lived and worked in Mumbai for the most part of his life, and has been constantly displaced by the city’s shifting façades. He seeks inspiration from his immediate surroundings, exploring the spatial existence of its residents and the dualism of a colossal urban sprawl where vacant spaces are rapidly transformed into formidable structures.
 
Artist: Pratap Morey

The artist uses a combination of digital photographic images, archival prints, architectural drawings and engravings in his intricate paper works. Each work delves into the overarching themes of construction, redevelopment and displacement — which are immediate concerns in a contemporary urban environment. The radical proliferation of urban spaces is an urgency that Pratap’s practice abstracts and presents to the viewer in his version of relief sculpture. The structural elevations in his works are restrained deliberations to amplify and reveal movement and metamorphosis as well as create an illusion of voids. He uses the structural nature of his works as a tool to create space, utilizing formal structures like corners and the three-point perspective to draw the viewer into each of his works.

According to architect Kaiwan Mehta, “The absurdity of the gap between the real and the projected is played out as drawings sit on photographs, measuring and deciphering a reality that is everyday and there, yet not acknowledged, recognisable but never accounted, never drawn out as a documentation of the life and cities we occupy - making reality - unreal. As the real and unreal, material and surreal, shape our spaces of existence and living, the non-architectural architecture that shapes the city emerges in the concreteness of architectural drawings.
Recent work by Pratap Morey


The sense of distance we adopt towards our everyday living, finding refuge in landscapes of dream- trajectories, produces cities that exist (only) in the realms of near-fictional domains and topographies, while the everyday material world, with its material-reality gets relegated to a topography of denial, the urgent wish to de-recognise it out of some sense of shame or refutation. This space we exist (and live) in between insistent occupation of a projected fantasy and the hurried denial of the everyday reality produces citizens that have lost a sense of measure - the measure of what it means to participate in human worlds, life and death, reflections and arguments, files and books, sleepwalking and reading 

Recent work by Pratap Morey
we start living in delirious worlds! Morey's landscapes are an attempt to decipher these delirious worlds and cities we are all living in.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Pratap Morey is a Mumbai-based artist with a post-graduate diploma in Indian Aesthetics from Mumbai University and a graduate degree in Fine Art from Vasai Vikasini College of Visual Arts.


Pratap has participated in several curated group shows, including The Unbearable Closeness of Being at Gallery Engendered, New Delhi (2015); the Art on Paper biennale at the Weatherspoon Art Museum, North Carolina, USA (2014); Interstices at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2012); Stop Making Sense at False Ceiling Gallery, Mumbai (2012); and @rt Virtually Real at Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi (2012) among others. His art fair participation includes United Art Fair, curated by MeeraMenezes, New Delhi (2013), and India Art Fair, New Delhi (2013), represented by Art Alive Gallery.


He has participated in residencies at institutions such as the Harmony Art Foundation, India (2015); the Artists-In-Residence programme hosted by the President of India at the RashtrapatiBhavan, New Delhi (2014); CRACK International Residency, Bangladesh (2013); Space 118, Mumbai (2012); and Uttarayan Art Foundation, Vadodara (2012), and is also the recipient of the Bendre-Husain- Scholarship, India (2013) and the La Critique award at Salon des RéalitésNouvelles, France (2012).


TARQ
F35/36, DhanrajMahal, C.S.M. Marg, Apollo Bunder, Colaba, Mumbai 400 001 +91 22 6615 0424 | info@tarq.in | www.tarq.in
A division of Aurora Contemporary Art Pvt. Ltd.


Image courtesy: Abner Fernandes & TARQ

 

Monday, 19 October 2015

Clinging to manifest emotional ties - Pick one artist Solo show By Ashok Hinge

Ashok Hinge‘s involvement with black ink and one stroke paintings have worked wonders. With the time, his art has intensified to the extent that it seems he has developed his own language of ‘stroked alphabets’ especially drawn in black ink. I have been following his paintings and appreciate his spontaneous expressions. His passion for black has also made such an intense impression that it is hard to imagine the images in colour other than black ink.
(Artist Ashok Hinge file photo cop right Art Blogazine.com)

Coming up online solo exhibition at Pick-one artist online gallery is an extension of his established style of painting. All the paintings are done in Chinese black ink. In this series he presents his concepts in novel and unique way of twisting and turning creepers and climbers in human forms. These people seem to be in tête-à-tête with each other.

Though I know that he has passion for mundane activities and people, I still decided to peep in his thoughts for shaping creepers and climbers in such a unique way. He enthusiastically spoke about his work.

Like every other work it is a continuous entity, I had first thought of how to paint it till the end effect. The creepers from nature inspired me and shaped my images without break. Therefore you do not find layers of patches, whatever is created is at one go, keeping in mind that theme should also project the base i.e. the entirety of creepers. 

This work is the abstraction of creeper, weak steamed plants those can grow nicely with the support. We too are social animals and rely on each other for living and survival just like these plants. We, human beings also start growing with the support of Gurus and guides who help us grow and feel alive. Without support or guidance you keep struggling on the ground and sometimes you feel dead too. Life is beautiful when you are with good people and Gurus.  Otherwise you are no less than live-dead bodies.
(Recent work on www.pickoneartist.com)

But life is not just black and white, it is colourful. Painters express themselves using varied hues. I was curious to know his personal view about colours that play major role in creating the aura and emotional set up of the concept, and what was his take on using single black ink? Didn’t it put restrictions on emoting the feelings? To this, he was quickly reacted saying, No, limiting my work in black ink do not hinder the expressions. As I always say, displaying maximum using minimal has more lucidity. I love to make use of minimal widens the scope for viewers, as they have wider scope to analyse and admire paintings according to their sensibility. I am not against use of colours but at the moment if I use colours I will feel the escapist who is not able to state exactly what I feel.

(Ashok Hinge inspired by Illustrator Andy Warhol was one of the most prolific and popular artists of his time, using both avant-garde and highly commercial sensibilities.)  Copyright Photo courtesy by http://www.biography.com/

When asked about artists migrating in painting profession from commercial field, he said, I was also Commercial designer and did Calligraphy. One thing that we should not forget is that being in commercial field also involved creative thinking, but the only difference was that of approach- It was more target oriented. So I can say that creativity is not new and has continued till date, in fact became more matured in terms of expressing Self. The difference is, now I do not have target audience and viewers are free to interpret and admire my work at their will. USP doesn’t matter because it is entirely subjective concept whether accepted or not. Being in commercial creativity had not only extracted my creative output for targets, but during that phase I learnt abstractions of words with meanings associated to them and their charismatic allure drew me to put the words in images. Back then and till date I like simplicity in my images. To my bliss, people too liked this simplicity and complimented me by asking to see more of such creations. Thereon my journey as a painter started and now I am completely involved in it. My art is well supported by art-lovers and great contemporary artists. So indirectly, I can say I am a Shishyaof all my Gurus-critics (good/bad), who have guided and oriented me to be thoughtful throughout my career.

I enjoy this freedom of expression and plan to explore deeper in the mysteries of creativity. 

Pick one Artist invite 
Log on solo show: 1st Nov to 30th Nov 2015

www.pickoneartist.com



By Pankaja JK.
ArtBlogazine.com

Sunday, 11 October 2015

Poster

POP ART: REFLECTION OF THE PROCESS OF CHANGE.

As an artist, I evolved from painting popular images, contemporary miniatures to Sculpting exquisite bikinis and devising equally intricate chastity belts.

My creative and artistic impressions of the popular art all along, is social statement too. Artists live in a pluralistic world, reflecting and expressing this pluralism in their art. An artist like any other sensitive human being can be as disturbed by the suffering, natural calamities, death in humanity as he/she can draw inspiration from feminine beauty which is an integral part of pluralism.

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Tuesday, 6 October 2015

Compendium of Thoughts- Paintings by Vijay Achrekar


Nothing is larger than Life. Abstract art presents its definition and vastness metaphorically. “Let my art speak for me.”, was a subdued answer given by the artist to me, when I asked him to speak about his art. Truly, his visual expression is excellent and captivating. His thoughtfulness is clearly seen in his paintings. A gold medalist from LS. Raheja College was determined to be an artist from his early childhood. 

Starting with realistic expressions, he has now progressed onto express in abstract form. His entire career journey shows us that he is inspired to paint what he sees around, whether beauty or harsh realities. Paintings are his personal reactions and anticipations of situations.
He paints each and any subject that strikes his thoughts and urges him to express his thoughts on it, in visual form. The common vibe of all paintings are, the clarity and beauty. 

Expression are uncomplicated and can be easily interpreted without hassle. His experimentation with varied topics have been impressive because of the various techniques that he adopts. In this series we find that he has used mason’s tool, the trowel, not only for smoothening the texture of canvas, but its form is also seen in the painting that can be interpreted as the symbol of a reason or influence that would help levelling, spreading peace in upheaval order of today’s state of nation. 

 Artist Vijay Achrekar (copyright image by artist)

He is aware that people are distracted and disturbed by wrong influences and are getting detached from social interactions due to self-centred motives. This must be immediately controlled. No! But wiped away completely for having good will and peace around. To represent this thought, he paints triangles. Triangle is basically, a geometrically represented metaphor of developmental, cultural and social psychology.  It also shows relation between individuals and individual and society. In one of his paintings two triangles are joined at one angle, so it is quite possible that artist is hopeful to find a way to bring harmony in the society. Thus, anticipating the peaceful future.

 
(Recent work by Vijay Achrekar)
Along with the effective concept, artist also concentrates on basic necessity of abstract creation i.e. use of colours. He deliberately uses vibrant colours. Different colours are combined for perfect intensity and it becomes more effective with his improvised technique of smoothening the surface of canvas before painting, to give a free flow and suave effect.   

Right from his student days, his art has always made an impression on the viewer; provoking some or the other kind of reaction. Brushing off the positive or negative reaction, he is gratified by their interest in his creations. He carries on painting his thoughts with serenity without bothering about consequences. Since he does not follow any ‘ism’ or great artist, his art is free from any influence. Whatever strikes his mind and appeals him to express, is put on the canvas. He always experiments using new techniques to enhance his work. His overall journey as an artist shows his profound interest in realistic subjects and not imaginative or world of fantasy.  

By Pankaja JK.
ArtBlogazine.com

Monday, 21 September 2015

Devotion and Art for Social Welfare: By Pankaja Jk

Ganapati Bappa Morya!

Air is filled with this devotional call. It’s five days since Ganesh festival has started. There is peaceful aura and happiness all around, least the intrusion of loud, unbearable and non- devotional music and songs.

Every pandal and household having Ganesha, brings forth sense of spirituality. There is a kind of magical spell in the idols of this Lord of knowledge. The eyes seem to speak to devotees, understand their feelings and develop hope to have happiness and peace.

My content is not exactly about the beauty of Ganesha’s idol, but its social and environmental value. Much is spoken about environment- friendly Ganesha’s idol. Many people have realized the importance of buying idol made of soluble sand (Shadu- Devnagari script), instead of plaster-of-Paris.

What about social cause? There is an example set by simple, common yet social-sensitive lady.  The noble and eye-catching act that is making rounds on social-networking sites is the Ganesha’s idol made of Chocolate by the same lady to whom I am dedicating this article.

Unknown lady with great idea of making Lord Ganesha

The lady, maybe an artist herself, from Pune (unfortunately her name is not known) is said to create Ganesha’s of chocolate and she immerses this idol on the last day, as per ritual and custom, not in water but in milk! Yes, the chocolate idol is immersed in milk and after it is dissolved, she serves the same chocolate milk to poor children. What a noble act! It is an out-way-thought of spreading happiness.

Though we all know that by feeding the poor children with such milk, once in a year will not bring great change in their health. But here, worth considering is her consideration and social responsibility. Along with celebration she also gets involved in great act. Her Devotion, Celebration and Art is so admirable that it should be considered by people


 Lord Ganesha Visarjan 

Art is said to represent society, but if it is used to help and bring smile on faces then it is more valuable than its basic function. This lady has proved it by shaping chocolate into Ganesha’s idol and then feeding the same chocolate in milk to poor. . I am sure God and poor children must be showering loads of blessings on her.

I also know that at many places and every year idols are made of fruits, vegetable and eatable items. But that are huge idols, publicly displayed, generally to hoard publicity and display of art. Practically, art can be admired in galleries. Let it be. The point is these idols are not the personal ones, set at home, like this one. This lady has proved that devotion and art can be used for immediate good cause. I am and we all should be proud of such people. 

By Pankaja Jk

Thursday, 3 September 2015

Reena Kallat. Woven Chronicles, her solo project currently on display at Offsite, Vancouver Art Gallery has intrigued visitors from all over the world.

Woven Chronicles and Other Stories, An Encounter with Reena Kallat. Woven Chronicles, her solo project currently on display at Offsite, Vancouver Art Gallery has intrigued visitors from all over the world. Reena uses material very imaginatively imbuing it with conceptual nuances, incorporating drawing, photography, video and sculpture. She will discuss her work, and the thoughts and ideas that inspire it.


 The programme is part of the CSMVS and the JNAF'S efforts to engage more actively with practitioners of modern and contemporary art and provide a space for audiences to connect with them.


Do join us on the 16th of September at 5.30 pm at the Visitors' Centre. Tea will be served at 5pm.


Monday, 31 August 2015

Unpacking the Studio: Celebrating the Jehangir Sabavala Bequest.

We are delighted to invite you to attend the opening of the next exhibition at the Jehangir Nicholson Gallery
Unpacking the Studio: Celebrating the Jehangir Sabavala  Bequest.  Mrs. Shirin Sabavala’s generous donation to the CSMVS, of her husband’s rich archive of diaries, sketchbooks, portfolio of drawings, books and photographs, has made this exhibition possible.
The show has been curated by his biographer Ranjit Hoskote, and dramatizes the intimate relationship between the studio, the academy and the gallery in Sabavala’s career.
Do join us for the opening on 15th September at the Seminar hall, on the first floor of the Museum, followed by tea and a viewing of the exhibition at the Jehangir Nicholson gallery, on the second floor.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya,
159/161 Mahatma Gandhi Road,
Fort, Mumbai - 400023

Saturday, 29 August 2015

I am a firm believer in letting my work speak for itself,” Durga Kainthola

Artist Durga Kainthola may very well be India’s answer to Andy Warhol , exhibited her paintings in a Solo exhibition at gallery 7 in 2005 “The Art Factory 2" ,tribute to the great American pop artist Andy Warhol. The modern  artist’s first International Solo Exhibition in the year 2004 at Holland Art Gallery, Amsterdam" Art Factory-I ". The organisers of the exhibition were overawed by the universal appeal of Kainthola’s miniatures in gouache on hand-made paper and bought all the fifty works she exhibited .The gallery made 200 silkscreen of one of her work . On her admiration for Warhol, Kainthola says, “It was in 1982 that I first saw a Marilyn Monroe diptych by Warhol in a book at the Sir.J.J.school of Art library.However, understanding the spirit of Warhol’s work and letting it seep into my work was a   journey My miniatures is a culmination of that journey.” Like Warhol, Kainthola too keeps the context of her work contemporary while Warhol’s portrayals ranged from  Monroe to politics to Campbell soup cans, Kainthola’s range from New York burning 9/11 to the Myriad moods from all over the world  and India at it's best.
Durga Kainthola

A Subtle Shade of Humour runs though her paintings. In The Painter’s Studio, Kainthola’s own face acts as the canvas.Goddess Comes To New York, the first piece in the ‘Art Factory’ series, is a forerunner of the digitally enhanced works to come “My dream of going to New York remains unfulfilled. So I sent the Goddess Shakti there, “Says Kainthola. With a glint  of mischief in her eyes. Warhol is omnipresent in most works of this series. For example, The Last Judgement is Kainthola’s  version of Eve being banished from paradise with Dali’s soft clock in the centre of the canvas – a  reminder of time standing still, not just for Eve but for women in general. Warhole remains in the background, as a reminder of the higher



side of life. “My work s grounded in history, but its context is contemporary life. I am a firm believer in letting my work speak for itself,” observes Kainthola of the stimulating juxtaposition of ancient history and contemporary symbolism in her  work.The artist’s canvas boasts a varled vocabulary. Picasso’s Guernica, Saddam Hussain’s hand holding up a gun, Vermeer, Amrita Shergil, Aishwarya Rai, Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, Salvador Dali, Shakti, Nefertiti etc are all deeply entrenched in her  renditions. So what prompts Kainthola to depict a particular personality or event in her work? “They Have to capture my imagination before I can capture them in my art,” surmises Kainthola succinctly.


Recent works by Durga Kainthola 

My work is documenting history as a reflexion of the process of change: Exploring myriad levels of visual imagery, juxtaposing iconographic detail drawn from the ancient and modern art both Indian and from the west, then moved into the fluid realm of active, syncopated three-dimensional visualization sequencing idiosyncratic language and perception. 

This journey into multi-media, moving imagery carries the broader dimensions of energy infused with contemporary metaphor. Mirrored in the highly polychrome written and painted signboards, modern enactments of miniatures, illuminated neon lit sign, the quotidian transforms into the surreal. Inspired by the works of not just the great artists of the world but by popular culture as well.

Relating to images that impinge on my consciousness with an analytic eye and a wry sense of humour. Thecontemporary miniature in gouache titled “Warhol and the History of Art” form part of an ongoing series since 2001,incorporating elements of theatricality of iconic figures from several epochs and cultures. 

With each passing years, my subjects of popular images have gradually diverged from painting to social statements wherein female beauty with time has metamorphosed into a marketable commodity, widely advertised across the globe under the thinly veiled guise of contests by multinational corporate and women magazines.Many of us are conditioned within the patriarchal mindset . 
Exploring multi-media into my work of art, through new media my work has evolved to a spontaneous and dramatic re-interpretation “Samkaleen Adunik kala”.

- Durga Kainthola

Recent works by Durga Kainthola 


Durga Kainthola graduated from  Sir. J. J. School of Art in Bombay and post-graduated at Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, India. Her paintings have been exhibited throughout the past 20 years all over India and abroad. Her recent solo exhibition was held in Amsterdam and Hong Kong. One of her source for inspiration is the Pop Art movement of the 1950s in the US and UK. She explored a wider vision of the world where mass media, advertising and popular culture mingled with history, be it film, politics or soup cans. Kainthola has been described as “India’s answer to Andy Warhol”. She lives & works in Delhi.
Durga Kainthola( from Lelf side seating first) at J J School of Fine Art 1990
Portraits tell stories. They capture and freeze moments in the past to form part of the present and show the way to the future. Self- portrait, portraits of artists, mythological characters and creative persons from diverse fields have never failed to fascinate me as an artist. For me, they define a kind of a visual diary that is not confined within limits of time, space or color but is a continuous process that grows along with my personal growth as an artist. I try to bring across a fusion of contemporary images and mythology. Calligraphy is an integral part of my portraits. I blend print and mixed media to explore the borders of both traditional and modern technology.