Exploring 'Myth and its Aftermaths': A Unique Artistic Journey at Aakriti Art Gallery's Artist Residency and Bronze Sculpture Workshop

 Kolkata, India - Aakriti Art Gallery proudly announces an exclusive Artist Residency and Bronze

Sculpture Workshop, conceptualized and curated by Delhi based independent Art Historian Dr. Soujit Das, a former Assistant Professor of Government College of Art and Craft Calcutta. This creative event, centered around the theme 'Myth and its Aftermaths: An Exploration of Contemporary Sculptural

Practices,' is set to take place from the 6th to 11th of December, 2023.

The picturesque Bachhawat Estate located in Madhupur, Badu Road, Barasat, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India; will serve as the creative hub for this distinctive artist residency. This residency will foster creative and intellectual dialogue as established artists will come together to explore the profound interplay between myths, society, and politics in today's capricious world. The participating artists - a stellar line-up comprising Aditya Basak, Akhil Chandra Das, Atin Basak, Chaitali Chanda, Chhatrapati Dutta, Debabrata De, Jayashree Chakravarty, Mansoor Ali, Mukulendu Pathak, Shanta Samanta, Shanti Swaroopini, Subrata Biswas, Sudip Roy, and Tapas Biswas, will lead a thought-provoking discourse through their sculptural expressions.

The theme for the residency draws inspiration from Roland Barthes' seminal work 'Mythologies,' inviting artists to unravel the evolving nature of myths and their profound impact on contemporary cultural landscapes. The curator emphasizes, "Myths are not relics of the past but live on as influential cultural forces, shaping and being shaped by our complex global society." During the residency, artists will delve into the realms of appropriation and deconstruction of myths, challenging conventional narratives and revealing the hidden symbols and ideologies that shape our perceptions. The works produced will aim to dismantle established polysemous narratives, empowering viewers to question and re-evaluate the stories that shape their reality. Moreover, the exhibition aims to underscore the global nature of myths in an interconnected world dominated by technology and media. The fruits of the collective creative labour will be exhibited next year along with a publication authored by the Curator, documenting the entire process. This experience promises to be a visual and intellectual treat, offering a unique perspective on how myths continue to influence and evolve in our lives.

Aakriti Art Gallery and the participating artists will host an Open Day Session for general public, artists and Press on 10th December between 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the Bachhawat Estate.

For press inquiries and additional information

Please contact:

Mr Sumit Das

Gallery Assistant

Aakriti Art Gallery Kolkata

12/3a, Orbit Enclave, Picasso Bithi, Mullick Bazar, Park Street area,

Kolkata, West Bengal 700017

Phone: +91 – 79806 13424

About Aakriti Art Gallery Kolkata: Aakriti Art Gallery Kolkata is a premier platform dedicated to

showcasing modern and contemporary art, fostering creative dialogues, and promoting artistic

innovation within India's cultural landscape. Through exhibitions, residencies, and workshops, Aakriti

Art Gallery continues to champion artistic excellence and cultural exchange.

2005 Pomogrante Book

My Paintings gain life after their sale; else they lie dead in my studio.

My paintings are not showpieces. You cannot decorate your drawing room to make it look beautiful, but you can decorate your mind with it to make your body beautiful.

Most of my time is spent in traveling by local trains in Mumbai. I prefer it to any other mode of traveling. It is the institute for me. Thousands of minds brush with each other every single moment. People have their own news, views, opinions, reactions, sometimes resulting in mass appeal. I can view the emotional and practical reaction of the fellow citizens by interacting with them and I think they are all creative minds and provide lot of essence to my creation. I see a person trading in vegetables or scraps has more perfect knowledge of economics and politics of the world. He doesn't need a degree or big fat books to update his knowledge; the everyday struggle is guide for him. That's something different which you find only in local trains. It also represents mini India with its clashes and unity projected from time to time. People converse and argue as if discussing the issue in the world conference.
Variation is but natural in my paintings. Just as Heraclitus had rightly said, ‘It is not possible to step twice in the same river.’ My paintings too are most spontaneous expressions rather than well planned process so you will always find variety in the work. Every work has different appeal and presentation method, setting different moods with use of topic relevant colors, forms and style. Painting is not just passion for me; it is a part of my life. I paint when I get stimulated to do so. There are times when for days together I do not paint at all.
I gradually was introduced to Galileo, Heraclitus, Osho, Mirza Galib, Kabir, and Lao Tuz and their lives. Their philosophies have greater impact on my work and my self being. Pablo Picasso is great artist; I worked as a volunteer for one month in NGMA, Mumbai because of passion for Pablo Picasso, during his paintings exhibition, just to be close to his art work. Though his work has good impact on my life, but it does not influence my work. I cannot even follow foot step of my own work. I am going to be a part of 2008 BNHS Greenscape-2 Art Auction by Pheroza Godrej. I am also part of the group show by Harmony Art Foundation 2008 and many things more. Life is full of works!

The artist lives and works in Mumbai

2005 Pomogrante Book by Tathi Premchand

 

Apply -2024-2025-2026

Address: 2nd Floor, Flora Fountain, Deval Chambers 30/32, 2, Nanabhai Ln, Kala Ghoda, Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001

 

SAVE DATE 16TH Nov 2023 THREE CANVAS

TIME: 3 TO 7 PM / VISITORS    BY  APPOINTMENT  ONLY
Date: 16th Nov to 5th Dec  2023Flora Fountain, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001

Invitation: Do come / Save Date :14 this month.

NABHI  group of artists invites you for 'THE INNER JOURNEY' 

Nude & Erotic  artwork (chapter I)

Group Art Show.

Preview: Sat, 14 October- 6pm onwards 

Gallery Day &Time : 15 October  to 20 October, Time: 3-7pm

.................................................................

RSVP: + 91 9820510599 / Nippon Gallery: on info@nippongallery.com

Visitors    by   Appointment   only

RVSP: Please respond before reach gallery, Email: info@nippongallery.com.

#kalaghoda #nippongallery #artistmumbai #kalaghoda #mumbaiartlovers #galleryshow

 

Miniature Postage Stamp Masterpieces.

Book your date 20th this month @Bangalore Coming soon in new city

Be part History

COME..

LET US

WITNESS

HISTORY.

To present a combination of philosophy, art, and history we bring to showcase Miniature Postage Stamp Masterpieces.

The concept of ‘Licking/Tricking not Allowed’ provides a perspective to selected artists across the globe to manifest their perceptions on the postal tickets and stick (exhibit) them on the gallery walls while proffering a message to the spectators.

Discovered the extraordinary...

Miniature Post Tickets - Art show @gurudasshenoystudio @rakheeshenoy @nileshkinkale @rakheeshenoy @shenoyartfoundation @nippon_gallery_bombay

 

61.8 करोड़ की पेंटिंग, मौत के 82 साल बाद बिकी इस मशहूर चित्रकार की कलाकृति, जानिए खरीदने वाले ने क्या देखा

 नई दिल्ली. दुनिया में कई नायाब और बेशकीमती चीजें हैं इनमें हीरे से लेकर पेंटिंग तक शामिल हैं. लेकिन, क्या आप अंदाजा लगा सकते हैं कि किसी पेंटिंग की क्या हो सकती है. यह सवाल इसलिए क्योंकि भारत की मशहूर चित्रकार अमृता शेरगिल की एक पेंटिंग लाखों नहीं करोड़ों में बिकी है.

अमृता शेरगिल की “द स्टोरी टेलर” पेंटिंग ग्लोबल ऑक्शन में 61.8 करोड़ रुपये में बिकी है. इसके साथ ही यह किसी भारतीय पेंटर की बिकने वाली सबसे महंगी कलाकृति बन गई है. शेरगिल की 1937 की कलाकृति “द स्टोरी टेलर” यहां शनिवार को सैफ्रन आर्ट के ‘इवनिंग सेल: मॉडर्न आर्ट’ में हुई नीलामी में बेची गई.

क्यों खास है यह पेंटिंग?
भारतीय चित्रकार अमृता शेरगिल को 20वीं सदी की शुरुआत के सबसे महान चित्रकारों में से एक माना जाता है. अमृता शेरगिल से पहले किसी भारतीय चित्रकार की नीलामी में बिकी सबसे महंगी पेंटिंग एसएच रज़ा की ’गेस्टेशन’ थी, जिसकी कीमत ₹51.75 करोड़ रुपये थी. अमृता की ‘द स्टोरी टेलर’ को ऑयल-ऑन-कैनवास मास्टरपीस माना जाता है. इसमें कैनवस पर ऑयल पेंट्स का इस्तेमाल हुआ है. पेंटिंग में एक गांव का परिदृश्य है. जिसमें कुछ महिलाएं बैठी हैं.

अमृता शेरगिल 

इस नीलामी में एम. एफ. हुसैन, वी.सी. गायतोंडे, जैमिनी रॉय और एफएस सूजा समेत विभिन्न कलाकारों की 70 से अधिक पेंटिंग्स पेश की गईं. पिछले महीने रजा की 1989 की कलाकृति “गेस्टेशन” मुंबई में स्थित नीलामी घर पुंडोले ने 51.75 करोड़ रुपये में बेची थी, जो नीलामी में बेची गई अब तक की सबसे महंगी भारतीय कलाकृति बनी थी.

कौन थीं अमृता शेरगिल
सैफ्रन आर्ट के सीईओ और सह-संस्थापक दिनेश वजीरानी ने कहा, “हमें इस सितंबर में नई दिल्ली में हमारी ईवनिंग सेल के कई कलाकारों के रिकॉर्ड स्थापित करने की खुशी है. सबसे महत्वपूर्ण बात यह है कि अमृता शेरगिल की ‘द स्टोरी टेलर’ को मिली रिकॉर्ड कीमत भारतीय कला बाजार में एक महत्वपूर्ण मील का पत्थर है.”

बता दें कि अमृता शेरगिल को इस दुनिया को छोड़े 80 साल से ज्यादा हो गए हैं. लंबी बीमारी के बाद 1941 में लाहौर में उनका निधन हो गया था. हैरानी की बात है कि जिस वक्त उन्होंने इस दुनिया को छोड़ा उनकी उम्र महज 28 साल थी.

भारतीय चित्रकार अमृता शेरगिल को 20वीं सदी की शुरुआत के सबसे महान चित्रकारों में से एक माना जाता है. उनकी “द स्टोरी टेलर” पेंटिंग ग्लोबल ऑक्शन में 61.8 करोड़ रुपये में बिकी है.

Source: https://hindi.news18.com/news/

Animalia. Forays from Los Angeles to Mumbai 10.09.2023 - 07.01.2024

Darmstadt, 13.09.2023: Since Sunday, 10.09.2023, the Kunsthalle Darmstadt is presenting the exhibition Animalia. Forays from Los Angeles to Mumbai. Until 07.01.2024, the relationship between humans and animals is the focus of a presentation in which are participating 35 artists from North and South America, India, Pakistan and Europe. 

Symbols of Migrations Installation by Smita Kinkale 

While the devastating exploitation of Planet Earth seems to be proceeding inexorably, many species of animals are threatened with extinction and entire ecosystems are disappearing, animals are more visible than ever in contemporary art. What is the basis for this newly-awakened study of animals? How is it different than earlier manifestations? Raising questions of this sort, Animalia. Forays from Los Angeles to Mumbai investigates our relationship to animals in all its contradictions and asks what role art plays therein.

Recent painting by Ratnadeep Gopal Adivrekar 
Ratnadeep Adivrekar’s works deals with ancient Indian philosophical belief that a part of the whole ‘Brahmanasi’ resides in all living things, which forms the ‘atman’ hence many animals are venerated and dense with symbolism

Offering a broad, geographically wide-ranging selection of artistic positions, the exhibition shows how diverse the approaches to this theme can be. An examination of the field during our preparations for this exhibition showed that certain approaches and preferences repeat themselves among the artists. The course through the exhibition was divided into four chapters in accordance with several clearly recognizable, major orientations in art involving animals; the sections appear in succession and conform to a dramaturgy of sorts. After the focus of the initial topic Open Drawers is on taxonomical classification such as is outstripped by fantasy (Horst Haack) or pursued to the point of mockery (Mark Dion), voices are raised under Profit, Profit, Profit in protest against the subjection of animals in adherence to the laws of the market economy. Following after this critical realism is the optimistic pragmatism of those who, in an exemplary manner, engage in Overcoming Borders Between Species. The final chapter is entitled Living Images and offers philosophical fare: dream, consciousness, artificial intelligence, mimesis, language.

Artists and Collectives in the Exibition 

Ratnadeep Gopal Adivrekar (India) Mia Bencun (Nigeria, Germany) Rolf Bier (Germany) Ali Cherri (Lebanon, France) Mark Dion (USA) Katja Eckert (Germany) Franca Franz (Germany) Gerrit Frohne-Brinkmann (Germany) Andreas Greiner (Germany) Horst Haack (Germany, France) Thomas Hawranke & Lasse Scherffig (Germany) Hörner & Antlfinger, CMUK (Germany) Katharina Immekus (Germany) Sanna Kannisto (Finland) Smita N. Kinkale (India) Lisa Korpos (USA) Basir Mahmood (Pakistan, The Netherlands) NEOZOON (Germany, France) Olly Williams & Suzi Winstanley (United Kingdom) Michael Pendry (Germany, United Kingdom) Arnulf Rainer (Austria) Stephan Reusse (Germany) Harold Rubio (Puerto Rico) Muzzumil Ruheel (Pakistan) Thomas Sturm (Austria,Germany) Miriam Tag (Germany) Diana Thater (USA) Federico Uribe (Columbia, USA) Rajesh P. Wankhade (India)

With support from Kulturfonds Rhein-Main Sparkasse Darmstadt Sparkasse Hessen-Thüringen Entega Stiftung Collaborative Partners HIMS Academy Zoo Vivarium Darmstadt Alte Fasanerie Hanau Darmstädter Textwerkstatt Ehrenamt für Darmstadt Schuldruckzentrum Darmstadt 

Media Partner arte 

The exhibition Animalia. Forays from Los Angeles to Mumbai at a glance.

Responsible for the contents, planning and realization of the exhibition: Dr. León Krempel, Director of the Kunsthalle Darmstadt, curator in collaboration with Ismail Mukadam, Kurator, HIMS Academy Title and Duration: Animalia. Forays from Los Angeles to Mumbai 10.09.2023 - 07.01.2024

Press Photos Press photos for your reporting on exhibitions at the Kunsthalle Darmstadt are available at our website: https://www.kunsthalle-darmstadt.de/Aktuell_31_0.html

Press Contact 

Kunsthalle Darmstadt Anna Weingärtner presse@kunsthalle-darmstadt.de

 Tel. +49(0)6151-891184 You can also visit us online! 

Webseite    www.kunsthalle-darmstadt.de 

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Affordable September Art Mela 16th September – 21st October 2023

 

With the festive season setting in, Aakriti Art Gallery is hosting the 11th edition of the ‘Affordable September Art Mela’ in Kolkata. After completing tenth successful editions of the fair at Kolkata, we look forward to offering this special opportunity to our patrons. We at Aakriti Art Gallery constantly strive to make art more accessible to all. ‘Affordable Art Mela’ hopes to bring art into the lives of people who harbour a passion and love for it. The gallery will be showcasing the works of over a hundred artists with more than a thousand art works within the range of 2000 to 3,00,000 INR. This is a one-of–a-kind occasion for art enthusiasts to collect original pieces of art at the best prices. The pursuit of owning great works of art should not be limited to a few. The pleasure of living with and savouring great works of art is incomparable to merely looking at them in galleries.

 

The Mela would feature paintings, sculptures and art prints by renowned artists as well as fresh talents in the industry. The gallery is putting together works by Abhijit Gupta, Achuthan Kuddalur, Adip Dutta, Aditya Basak, Akbar Padamsee, Akhil Chandra Das, Akhilesh, Alik Das, Alok Bal, Alok kumar Bhattacharya, Amalnath Chakladar, Amit Chakraborty, Amitava Dhar, Amlan Dutta, Anasuya Chakraborty, Anil Tekam, Anindya Roy, Anita Roy Chowdhury, Anshuman Dasgupta, Arindam Chatterjee, Arpita Singh, Arun kumar Majumdar, Arunangshu Roy, Arup Das, Ashok Bhowmik, Ashoke Roy, Asim Goswami, Asim Basu, Asit Mondal, Atanu Bhattacharya, Atin Basak, Avadhesh Yadav, Babu Xavier, Banasree Khan, Banatanwi Das Mahapatra, Barun Chowdhury, Bhajju Shyam, Bhaskar Mukherjee, Bibekananda Mukherjee, Bibhuti Chakraborty, Bijan Chowdhury, Bimal Kundu, Biraj kumar Paul, Birendra Pani, Biswajit Saha, Biswapati Maiti, B. R. Panesar, Chaitali Dey, Chaitali Chanda, Chameli Ramachandran, Chandan Bhandari, Chandra Bhattacharjee, Chandrakanta Nayak, Chhatrapati  Dutta, Chayan Roy, Debabrata Chakraborty, Debabrata Dey, Debajyoti Dhara, Debanjan Roy, Debasis Chakraborty, Debasis Barui, Debotosh Kar, Debraj Goswami, Dharamnarayan Dasgupta, Dhiren Shasmal, Dibyendu Basu, Dipak Banerjee, Dipak Kundu, Dipali Bhattacharya, Dipti Chakraborty, Diptish Ghosh Dastidar, F Tarannum, G. C. Chakraborty, Gautam Paul, Gita Maity, Gobardhan Ash, Gopal Ghose, Gopinath Roy, Hiran Mitra, Indira Puri Mistry, Indrapramit Roy, Ira Roy,  Irish Hudson Ghosh, J.M.S. Mani, Jahar Dasgupta, Jamini Roy, Jaya Ganguly, Jayanta Roy, Jayashree Chakravarty, Jiten Shukla, Jogen Chowdhury, Jyotirmoy Dalapati, K. Muralidharan, K. G. Subramanyan, Kanchan Dasgupta, Kartick Chand Pyne, Krishna Sardar, Laxman Aelay, Lalu Prasad Shaw, Laxmi Narayan Panchori, M. B. Ingle, Madhubanti, Mahinder Soni, Mahula Ghosh, Malay Chandan Saha, Manashi Mitra, Manik Talukdar, Manoj Dutta, Manoj Mitra, M. F. Husain, Mithun Dasgupta, Mona Ghosh, Mukul Dey, Nabanita Dutta Guha, Nantu Behari Das, Nikhileshwar Baruah, Nirban Ash, Nitya Kundu, P. R. Narvekar, Palash Bhaduri, Pankaj Panwar, Pannekunwar, Parag Roy, Partha Dasgupta, Partha Bhattacharya, Partha Pratim  Deb, Paula Sengupta, Pradosh Paul, Prasun Ghosh, Peter Daglish, Pinaki Barua, Piyali Sadhukhan, Pradip Mondal,  Pradip Rakshit, Pradip Maitra,   Prasanta Sahu, Priyanka Lahiri, Prasenjit Sengupta, Prokash Karmakar, Rabin Mondal, Radha Tekam, Rajarshi Biswas, Rajat Sen, Rajen Mondal, Rajesh Deb, Ramesh Tekam, Ramkinkar Baij, Ramkumar, Ramlal Dhar, Ritendra Roy, Sadhan Chakraborty, Sagar Bhowmick, Samindranath Majumdar, Samir Aich, Sanat Kar, Sanchayan Ghosh, Sanchita Sengupta, Sandip Daptari, Sanjay kumar Das, Sankha Banerjee, Santanu Bhattacharya, Saptarshi Das, Sarreshwari, Sekhar Baran Karmakar, Sekhar Kar, Sekhar Roy, Shankar Ghosh, Shipra Bhattacharjee,Shuvaprasanna, Shyam Kanu Barthakur, Sisir Tikadar, Somit Mukherjee, Snehasish Maity, Somnath Hore, Soumen Khamrui, Soumik Chakraborty, Soumitra Kar Sourav Jana, Srikanta Paul, Subhendu Porel, Subhanil Roy, Subrata Paul, Subrata Biswas (sculptor), Subrata Sen, Subrata Chowdhury, Subrata Biswas, Suchibrata Deb, Sudip Roy, Suhas Roy, Sujit Kumar Karan, Suman Roy, Suman Kumar Pal, Sumana Ghosh, Sunil De, Sunil Das, Sunil Kumar Das, Supam Adhikary, Swapan Kumar Mallick, Swapan Kumar Saha, Swapan Kumar Das, Swapnesh Chowdhury, Sweta Chandra, Tapan Ghosh, Tapan Mitra, Tapas Biswas, Tapas Konar, Tapas Sarkar, Tapas Shankar Basu, Tarun Dey, Tathi Premchand, Timir Brahma, Tusar Kanti Pradhan, Uma Siddhanta, Wasim R Kapoor, Yogendra Tripathi   and many more artists. The wide collection of works will showcase multiple art techniques like gouache, tempera, acrylic on canvas, charcoal drawings, etching, drawings on digital prints, bronze, ceramic across various styles and genres.

 

The business hours run from11 am to 7pm, Mondays to Saturdays.

To browse the exhibition from the comfort of your home, please visit the Affordable Art section https://www.aakritiartgallery.com/product?grade=affordable-art-2

 

 

Aakriti Art Gallery

Orbit Enclave, 1st Floor

12/3A, Hungerford Street

Kolkata – 700 017

Phone: 91 33 22893027/5041

Mobile: +91 9830411116

Email: kolkata@aakritiartgallery.com

Web: www.aakritiartgallery.com

Red Sky Blue Earth

Priya Suneel graduated from the University of Madras, attaining a Degree in Fine Arts with Distinction and the Government of India Merit Scholarship. Priya has been exhibiting her work since 1982. She has shown with the Society of Women Artists in their annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in Trafalgar Square. Her work was shown as part of the Patchings Festival winners display Exhibition at Nottinghamshire and with the Society of Nigerian Artists at their annual exhibitions in Nigeria. Her practice incorporates painting, mixed media, and drawing with inroads into three dimensional works and is infused with the world cultures of London, India, Nepal and Nigeria where she has lived and worked.

Artist: Priya Suneel

Priya says that one of the reasons she makes collages is because the process reinvigorates or redirects her painting process. She studies the structure, palettes or the colors in the architecture, landscape, interior or the clothing and flesh of the model before her eyes, and searches for ways to depict them through placement of shaped bits. She captures the essences of these palettes by generating color fields or sensations entirely through juxtaposition of textile fabric, acrylic skins, paper or found objects. These collages are masterful displays of the cumulative effects of color. Priya focuses on the play of light and shadow across bare flesh, the ways in which skin tones are constructed, and the way volumes and planes come into being entirely through juxtaposition of colors. As the viewer takes in the work a sort of subliminal blending takes place because each bit of the textured material remains physically autonomous on the actual surface of the artwork, but we experience a flowing interrelationship of parts because of Priya’s profound understanding of color. Neighboring snippets of the found objects blend to form a unified field of color when the collage is seen from a distance or through squinting eyes.

In The Emergence, Priya creates bust of papier-mâché, wire and textile the artist describes shadowy concavities, fleshy highlights on rounded face, bone and muscle structure, suggestively the lovely tan and olive subtleties of flesh tones, with tiny, straight edged, triangular and rectangular snippets of fabric. The manner of the collages is meticulously self-effacing, allowing shifts in value and color to overshadow materials and process. Indeed, color is her true gift. Sophisticated modulations of closely valued tones make for rich and spacious pictures. In Tulips in a Pitcher, Priya offsets and enlivens a virtually monochromatic image with a range of yellows, greens, pinks and blues. It is, in its own quiet way, a bravura performance.

In the collages of landscapes such as Red Fox and Townhouse Chelsea, the sides and roofs of houses, the horizon line, the foreground and background, the earthbound natural and inorganic structures, and the deep space of sky, are flattened out. Priya does not flatten out three dimensional forms and present a surround view of them in a systematic way. Everything doesn’t add up. She chooses graphically striking indicators of particular objects and rhythmically locks them together, without relinquishing the sense of place portraying light and atmosphere. These collages explore the primary formal strengths of color. Depending on the tone, light and shadow are richly depicted; light wending its way through a landscape or still life. The collage elements play dual roles. They are formal elements in a strong flat array of balanced colors, and they also suggest three dimensionality. In the background planes, walls, or earth and sky are broken up into interlocking pieces, which push elements forward, the human figure, the house, still life objects. The tactile process entailed in this vacillation of compositional elements energizes these surfaces.

'Tulips in a Pitcher', mixed media collage on canvas, 44x54cms, Priya Suneel

In Street in Jodhpur the collage elements are centered, surrounded by blank space that also punctures the cluster of shapes. Certainly the individual parts add up to a particular place, but they are not as tightly interlocked or grounded in space. These free floating descriptive signs make us see a scooter, fence, trees, but they gently coalesce and resist being tightly interlocked, simultaneously. These shapes when combined with smaller shapes within the original large shape become distinct shapes. So you may have a shape that may be partly in the prominent and partly in the supporting. There is often one prominent shape in the composition that the eye goes to first and then travels on from there. You want to find a shape in the house, but not the whole house, and a shape in the tree, but not the whole tree, that together forms a larger more complex shape that the viewer sees first, before they see the house and tree. After that, more slowly, they will see this shape within the larger shape is part of a house and this is part of a tree. You are making the viewer read the painting, slowing down their looking.

The Biomes, Eden Project, Cornwall, one of the fascinating works in the exhibition, is a perfect example of the ways in which Priya can create complex color sensations using a minimal amount of colored pieces of paper that have been carefully cut in order to maintain the visual flow of the figure. The shadows and highlights and voluptuous folds in the structure are depicted with grey, brown and liver colored bits of paper. In fact the work was created live, au plein aire, during the televised recording of "Landscape Artist of the Year 2022" and was telecast nationally on Sky Arts (Sky TV Network). Priya was one of the privileged artists selected to participate as pod artist in the national telecast programme. Priya gets into the expressive essence of complex tonal ranges and under painting as she reconstructs the emotional content of the shapes and colors. Her path as an artist has been characterized by strikingly fresh work noted for its clarity and sensitivity thus defining Red Sky Blue Earth.

 

Abhijeet Gondkar

(Abhijeet Gondkar is an independent writer and curator based in Mumbai)

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Priya Suneel

Red Sky Blue Earth

Mixed-Meadia Collages, 28^th August to 3^rd September 2023

Jehangir Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai – 400 001, Between 11 am and 7 pm daily