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| Namdeo Laxman Dhasal was a Marathi poet, writer, Buddhist activist and a staunch follower of Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar from Maharashtra, India. He won the Padma Shri in 1999 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Sahitya Akademi in 2004 |
Wednesday, 10 May 2017
PIN POSTER : DELHI
Tuesday, 25 April 2017
Art from Pakistan : Revival of the fittest - Quddus Mirza
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| Hamid Ali Hanbhi: The Colours Of Paradise-2 |
What next? This short phrase becomes a long, unbearable sentence for
the recent graduates of visual arts. Four years spent at an art
institution provide a sense of security, satisfaction and
self-confidence that fades as soon as the students leave their alma
mater.
The world beyond art schools or the real world is different,
difficult. Dealing with galleries, buyers, critics and hoping for
curators’ attention are arduous but necessary tasks in order to make a
name within the art circles. Many disappear with the dust of time, and a
few manage to make their mark. Politeness, connections and
school-of-thought matter but, more than that, it is the newness,
originality and excellence of an artwork that ensures their future
survival.
We are witnessing that stage in the lives of some artists, especially
in the group show ‘Beyond Today’ that included Ahsan Javaid, Ehsan
Memon, Hamid Ali Hanbhi, Syed Hussain, Unab Sumble and Usman Khalid. The
exhibition held from March 31-April 14, 2017 at O Art Space, Lahore
offered something important than art: a drive and desire beyond the
protective membrane of an art institute. The fact that these artists who
graduated from the NCA and the Punjab University not long ago have been
working regularly, and exhibiting frequently is appreciated, but it is
their attempt to expand their visual vocabulary and formal concerns that
is more crucial and significant.
 |
| Ahsan Javaid: General Rule. |
Actually for a recent art graduate, the real challenge is to maintain
a balance between his identity formulated in his graduate work and the
need to produce something new. Somehow, the artists in ‘Beyond Today’
found interesting solutions.
Hamid Ali Hanbhi astonished the viewers last year due to his remarkable skill in rendering stills from movies with English subtitles along with a conceptual sophistication through joining two visuals to make a single narrative. In the present exhibition, he kept his craft and observation intact and moved away from his previous imagery. Here a large canvas is composed of (Afghan) burka-clad figures in varying hues, which also remind of Chinese artist Fang Li-jun, who paints identical faces with smiles that verge to grimace. (His, and several other Chinese artists’ choice of making identical features could relate to the way outside world perceives all Chinese people as uniform, as well as the boom of Chinese industry that has spread cheap and affordable ‘similar’ products across the globe).
In the context of our situation, a woman in a burka that completely conceals her identity is like someone without any features. So Hanbhi’s canvas with burka heads of same size, yet in varying shades alludes to how the real personality and character of a female is jeopardised once hidden underneath that attire. The shift of colours suggests the way society or male eye views the change when it comes to women is merely cosmetic and superficial.
This issue of diffused identity is also addressed in the work of Syed
Hussain, a painter trained in the discipline of miniature (2015) and
belongs to the Hazara community from Quetta. In one work, the
meticulously rendered drawing of three figures — looking like a black
and white photograph — the central character is blank. Likewise, in two
other small works, one sees yellow surfaces with portrait of two
individuals. Each resembling some kind of picture identity card (even
though the execution reinforced that it is a ‘drawing’), since these
have official stamps, letterings in Chinese and Hindi, and a number of
signatures, all alluding to the remains of those who were lost due to
natural causes or for political reasons. In fact the issue of
‘disappearing’ is different for a member of the Hazara Shiite community
who if not kidnapped has to shield his face, since the features betray
his sect, hence making him an easy target. Religious sects out to exterminate each other is an aftermath of General Zia’s military dictatorship that perpetuated religious differences within the Muslim population of Pakistan. Ahsan Javed in his painting composed the folded posters of General Zia, so one is able to discern the outline of his face and traces of his army uniform. The work serves to connect the present with the past, but more importantly it added a major point in the artist’s imagery. Javed painted folded drapes of different draperies including those with scared texts and for sale outside of shrines (2016) but in his recent work, using the same strategy, he points to the essence/cause of culture instead of its mere outcome.
Another artist, a former class fellow of Javed and Hanbhi, Ehsan Memon made a dark shape of a roti along with a composite image of multiple sections of a naan completed in black and grey. Only if a person still remembers his immaculately fabricated breads, he would be able to connect current works on paper to his past pieces, but failing that, these appear more like exercises in tonal separation.
Probably the problem lies with the artist’s association rather bondage with his pictorial matter. During his degree show (2016) Javed was replicating reality into art in such a way that one was unable to distinguish between the two. A formal concern in the art of 1960s but in our local circumstances the choice of continuing as artist or opting for another profession is as crucial as the academic debates about the distinction between art and life.
However, in the current exhibition that frame of reference (previously seen in his cardboard box, bars of wood, collection of coal) is lost because now it is the outcome — the roti which assumes the main point of interest — more being a decorative device than a deeper concern to reflect upon reality.
Often our conceptual concerns are deep inside us, like our veins and arteries, without us being aware of them, yet performing their tasks. The work of Unab Sumble indicates the scheme in which an artist blends diverse pictorial expressions for concocting a narrative about one’s existence. Normally an artist adopts one peculiar language and continues expounding in it, but it is rare that he or she inculcates multiple modes of descriptions into one work in order to formulate a narrative that depicts our situation and state.
Sumble combines naturalistic depiction with selective application of patches of colour to create visuals which affirm that what an artist is making is not a replication of his immediate optic response, but his idea of reality with its varying dimensions — initiating from personal observation to art history.
Hamid Ali Hanbhi astonished the viewers last year due to his remarkable skill in rendering stills from movies with English subtitles along with a conceptual sophistication through joining two visuals to make a single narrative. In the present exhibition, he kept his craft and observation intact and moved away from his previous imagery. Here a large canvas is composed of (Afghan) burka-clad figures in varying hues, which also remind of Chinese artist Fang Li-jun, who paints identical faces with smiles that verge to grimace. (His, and several other Chinese artists’ choice of making identical features could relate to the way outside world perceives all Chinese people as uniform, as well as the boom of Chinese industry that has spread cheap and affordable ‘similar’ products across the globe).
In the context of our situation, a woman in a burka that completely conceals her identity is like someone without any features. So Hanbhi’s canvas with burka heads of same size, yet in varying shades alludes to how the real personality and character of a female is jeopardised once hidden underneath that attire. The shift of colours suggests the way society or male eye views the change when it comes to women is merely cosmetic and superficial.
 |
| Unab Sumble: Profound Reflection-2. |
 |
| Ehsan Memon: Girah-1. |
Another artist, a former class fellow of Javed and Hanbhi, Ehsan Memon made a dark shape of a roti along with a composite image of multiple sections of a naan completed in black and grey. Only if a person still remembers his immaculately fabricated breads, he would be able to connect current works on paper to his past pieces, but failing that, these appear more like exercises in tonal separation.
Probably the problem lies with the artist’s association rather bondage with his pictorial matter. During his degree show (2016) Javed was replicating reality into art in such a way that one was unable to distinguish between the two. A formal concern in the art of 1960s but in our local circumstances the choice of continuing as artist or opting for another profession is as crucial as the academic debates about the distinction between art and life.
However, in the current exhibition that frame of reference (previously seen in his cardboard box, bars of wood, collection of coal) is lost because now it is the outcome — the roti which assumes the main point of interest — more being a decorative device than a deeper concern to reflect upon reality.
Often our conceptual concerns are deep inside us, like our veins and arteries, without us being aware of them, yet performing their tasks. The work of Unab Sumble indicates the scheme in which an artist blends diverse pictorial expressions for concocting a narrative about one’s existence. Normally an artist adopts one peculiar language and continues expounding in it, but it is rare that he or she inculcates multiple modes of descriptions into one work in order to formulate a narrative that depicts our situation and state.
Sumble combines naturalistic depiction with selective application of patches of colour to create visuals which affirm that what an artist is making is not a replication of his immediate optic response, but his idea of reality with its varying dimensions — initiating from personal observation to art history.
Friday, 17 March 2017
Thursday, 16 March 2017
PIN POSTER : Jehangir Nicholson Gallery, CSMVS
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| We would like to invite you to “Short Distances and Definite Places: A Brief Look at the Life and Work of William Gedney", the first event of the new exhibition that has just opened at the Jehangir Nicholson Gallery, CSMVS. Guest Curators Margaret Sartor and Shanay Jhaveri will do a walkthrough of the exhibition on the 14th of March at 6 pm, providing us with an overview of Gedney’s life and work. Widely acclaimed as one of the key figures of American black and white street photography, Gedney’s work deserves to be shared with a wider audience especially the in-depth work he carried out in India. Gedney in India that has recently opened to the public as part of the Focus Photography Festival hopes to do just that. Please do join us on the 14th of March at 6 pm. Tea will be served at 5.30 pm |
Monday, 27 February 2017
‘Living Lines at 360⁰’by Ashok Hinge Mumbai Artist
This series of paintings ‘Living Lines
at 360⁰’ is an extension and elaboration of Ashok Hinge’s earlier series
‘Living Lines’. It is a thoughtful progress in the earlier developed concept of
painting common man and society work.
The concept at 360⁰ is nothing but
artist’s broadened experience of the world around him. It is a meticulous
observation that has now intensified, with understanding and knowing the core
nature, behavior, body language and approach of all types of people in the society.
In the process of his observation
and development of this concept he has simplified the human form, as he finds
and states “We are nothing but geometric figures only”. This simplification
also has profundity of each painted or sketched character. Importantly, he has
sublimated his characters, and this is a splendid progress. Hinge’s paintings exemplify
the similarity in character that can be found in different people wherever we
go; just like the artist finds them around 360⁰. Paintings also create
sensation in the viewers that at least one of them is based on their own
character. The artist is projecting the sweat of people, through the dripping
white colour to indicate hard work for success. Though this series, Hinge has
showcased subjects like family bonding, gathering, celebration, union of
friends & crowded market places which create rhythmic movements in the
paintings. So the visual effects of the simplified images not only seem
‘attractive to the eyes’ but also ‘strikes the mind’.
 |
| Recent work by Ashok Hinge- Mumbai |
One more development that we see
in this series is: the use of colours. Now, instead of restricting to painting
and sketching black and white figures, the artist has experimented with various
mediums, like - ink, acrylic and water colours.
He is instigated to use colours in this series because, with times, he
has realized that every personality is unique in its behavior and approach and
he has highlighted it through the use of colours to bring it to your notice.
Every colour speaks of the body language and psyche of the character in each
image. Even the crowd of people and their mental state can be read from the
sketches and the colours used. Interestingly, black and white attracted our
attention to the concept of common man in society and now the addition of
colours makes us read the image as individual characters.
Those who have been following
Ashok Hinge and his creation would certainly feel the ‘Freudian instinct’
foraying in him.
The exhibition is not only going
to be a visual treat but a speculation of an observational excursion of
artist’s mind. Let us visit and get intellectually nourished by giving a
thought to the manner in which the artist cultivates his idea and elegances in his
paintings to make them more enthraling.
The exhibition will be held at
Nehru Centre Art Gallery
(Circular) - Discovery
Of India Building, Ground Floor, Dr. Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai - 400018,
From: 7th March to 13th March 2017
Between: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m
Contact: 9930103369/ 9960586014
Tuesday, 7 February 2017
"Bombay Black" Clark House exhibition kalaghoda art festival jehangir Art gallery 7-12 February 2017
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Bombay Black occurs around the time
of the Kala Ghoda festival where the disappearance of a man mounted on a
horse now calls for reason to have an art festival. The square is
called Kala Ghoda, though the legendary back horse now lives in the
quiet communes of the Bombay Zoo. The myth of the Black Horse
instigates the idea of the city of Bombay and its relationship to the
colour black , where through an exhibition we construct the many lines
of aesthetic and social folklores that exist around colour.
curated by Sumesh Sharma and Yogesh Barve , Clark House Initiative . Exhibition Designer Sanjay Londhe |
Thursday, 2 February 2017
Minutes of the Meeting | Garima Gupta Solo| Art Night Thursday Clark House Bombay
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| Minutes of the Meeting | Garima Gupta Solo| Art Night Thursday Clark House Bombay Minutes of the meeting is a documentation of my travels from Jakarta to New Guinea, looking at Birds of Paradise as more than just an exotic curio that adorned the Cabinets of Curiosities across Europe. The drawings and short films trace the ebb and flow of ecological destruction surrounding the species in the South-East Asian and Western Pacific region. Starting from the min 16th-century trade of exotic fauna, to being the epicentre of Dutch colonial rule in the 18th century, to today’s palm oil crisis - the birds and animals of the region have been major players in world history. Their unwitting entanglement ranged from their contribution to the spirit of scientific inquiry, right upto today’s insatiable need for food products processed with palm oil. This fascinating and tragic entanglement, often underrepresented, is the story I am sharing from 09th Feb - 08th March 2017 at Clark House Initiative. Do come! Opening on 09/02 at 6Minutes of the Meeting | Garima Gupta |Solo| Art Night Thursday:30 pm Walkthroughs on 12/02, 19/02, 26/02 at 5:30 pm and closing on 08/03 at 7:30 pm |
Tuesday, 31 January 2017
Vanita Gupta : P-12 India Art Fair 2017- Delhi
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More
to explore with Art Heritage than just Booth B-8. Be at Project Space
P12 to experience Vanita Gupta’s "Breathe In, Breathe Out: A Medley in
Spatial Registers" which explores the relationship between continuity
and rupture, gravity and lightness, and the potentially infinite
extension of shape and the concrete finitude of mass.
#IndiaArtFair2017 #ArtHeritage |
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