"She Creates to Conquer" on 20 September 2014, 6 pm at Gandhara Art Gallery

“When an artist is a woman she is called ‘a woman artist’. On the other hand, when an artist happens to be a man, he remains just an artist. The ‘man’ in him seems to go for a toss!” – These were the opening lines of an essay by Art Historian, H. A. Anil Kumar on Indian Women Artists and Visual Culture in an exclusive edition of a renowned art magazine of the country a few years ago where he raised the question that ‘why is the Gender Issue so much Gendered...’ It was while contributing in the same edition of the art magazine as an art-critic and writer I was struck by this issue that visual art in India, despite its liberal reputation is still predominantly “A Man’s World”. 

Sarmistha Maiti

Filmmaker - Curator

In a country where the practice of art has flourished boundlessly since the inception of civilization and been at par with international standards even in modern times, why does then history fail to acknowledge even ten female artists who have reached legendary heights like their male counterparts in the last century? What is the necessity of this separate gender bracket of ‘women artists’ and how far is it justified? Is there anything really “feminine” or “masculine” about art? Do female artists only address “women-centric” issues in their art? What are the complex politics of “feminine”, “feminist” and “female-centric”? It’s high time to decode these issues which actually form the great ‘Gender-divide’ in the field of visual arts in India that has otherwise been essentially naturalized or taken for granted.

Standing in the second decade of the twenty-first century we are indeed at a crossroad of time. It is true that the scene for women artists has evolved a lot from the past with the opening of different forms of experimentation in different kinds of newer art medium and more and more women artists are getting prominence! But have we really arrived at a time when all gender norms will be thrown away and women will walk shoulder to shoulder with men? But why then is there so much unrest, so much violence against women and so much chaos and oppression? Is it the darkest hour of the night before a new sun can rise? Does future really hold good news for women? Will the coming century finally see women succeeding as much as men in every sphere of work including the field of visual arts?

‘She Creates to Conquer’ - the exhibition of Contemporary Art is a part of an independent documentary film also titled, ‘She Creates to Conquer’ by National Award winning Filmmaker Sarmistha Maiti who is also an Art Critic and Curator and this exhibition has been conceived by her that comes as the closing in the film, which is now in its production stage. ‘She Creates to Conquer’ is primarily a cinematic exploration of the position of female artists in the field of Contemporary Indian Visual Arts while focusing primarily on the artistic journeys of Amritah Sen, Nobina Gupta and Falguni Bhatt – three young female artists in the new millennium experimenting with newer and alternative mediums and striving to make their presence felt in the art world. The works of these three artists from different stages of their vocation will be showcased in this exhibition. The filmmaker-curator expresses her heartfelt gratitude to Ms. Sudipta Sen for lending her benevolent support by allowing this exhibition to happen at her gallery, the Gandhara Art Gallery of Kolkata.

AMRITAH SEN: Amritah Sen is a young Visual Artist from Kolkata. She did her graduation and post graduation in Fine Arts with specialization in Painting from Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan. After completing her formal training in 1999, she came back to Kolkata and started on her own in the creative journey and in all these fifteen years, she has come a long way bringing changes into the perception of art and aesthetics through her executions of non-formal art, largely creating 2 D and 3 D collages, book art, paper installations, art objects, sharing personal anecdotes connecting with the universal thought-process. Amritah’s works have been showcased in many acclaimed galleries nation-wide as well as she has participated in important exhibitions on contemporary art in Germany, Kuwait, Egypt and in the Royal College of Art, London. Amritah loves communicating with people and such interactions become a large part of her works where she refuses to accept the stereotypical notions and norms of art execution and their display. Amritah’s works have been collected by buyers from across the country and also from abroad.

NOBINA GUPTA: Nobina Gupta is a Visual Artist in her early 40s based in Kolkata who has been formally trained in fine arts from Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan with painting as her specialization. Nobina is one such exponent of contemporary Indian art who has largely voiced on environmental issues, preservation of flora and fauna, the significance of the microbial world through her art connecting the physical reality of survival and the struggle behind it to the greater philosophy of existence. Oriental philosophies constitute a large part of her drawings and paintings both in the level of formal execution and thought process. She has done a number of solo exhibitions that included her drawings, paintings, experimental sculptures, installation, and video art providing an array of creativity to the audience to perceive. She has showcased her works in the international galleries in Basel and Zurich in Switzerland where most of her works were sold out on the opening days of the exhibitions. She is a UGC NET scholar and was also a Lecturer at the Apeejay School of Designing in New Delhi. Apart from her regular exhibitions, she was selected to execute a huge installation, “Kalpa-Taru- The Wishing Tree” for the India Art Fair that has been permanently installed in an art hub in Maihar, Madhya Pradesh. Last but not the least, she takes a lot of interest in Public Art projects and this year she is one among the six participants who has been selected for the “Earth Project” from all over the world by the Japan Foundation to be held in Leh-Ladakh.

FALGUNI BHATT: Flaguni Bhatt’s journey in the art world began in 1992 when she joined the BFA course in Sculpture in MS University, Baroda and finally completed her MFA in 1999 from the same University. She took interest in Ceramics during the end of her graduation course. She has majorly changed the perception of ceramic art and transformed this generally perceived as craft material into experimental and avant-garde art. Clay has remained to be the most intriguing element in her art execution and she has worked with this material to the optimum and played with architectural space in devising the subject her work through hanging installations etc. Since the beginning of the new millennium she has remained dedicated to this alternative sculpting medium and took her journey ahead. Apart from setting up ‘Aorang Studio’ in Kolkata which happened after her marriage, Falguni has done regular exhibitions nation-wide and is the recipient of Residency Scholarship at Barcelona, Spain in 2005. She is also an AIFACS award winner, a national level exhibition held in New Delhi and has largely showcased her works in Kolkata, Bhopal, New Delhi, Baroda and many more cities of India.

You are cordially invited to the opening of the exhibition of contemporary art , "She Creates to Conquer" on 20 September 2014, 6 pm at Gandhara Art Gallery, Flat 5 A, Palm Spring, 1 B  Gurusaday Road, Kolkata 700019. (The exhibition continues till 22nd September 2014 , 1 pm - 7 pm.)

 

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National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai

 National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai in collaboration with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya and The Museum Society of Bombay, Mumbai cordially invites you to a musical programme by Smt. Neela Bhagwat on 1st October 2014 At 630 pm.

Venue: Auditorium, NGMA - Mumbai

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Own individual identity with different impressions and their expression- “ Five fingers “

“ Five fingers “  a word define five important elements of Visual art like Expression, Emotions, Compositions, Concept and Surface.

Harshil Patel, Prexa Kapadia, Rakesh Patel, Roma Patel and Vipul Prajapati, each artist have their own individual identity with different impressions and their expression. We develop our own language in Indian art scene, how ever we are growing  together and doing practice in same time and place with an individual process with signature style of our own work.

Rakesh patel:

Emotions, the most important feeling that connects us and brings us close to one and all. My recent series of work involves around these emotions that I have mainly tried to capture specially in children. The innocence and purity in their emotions is what appeals me the most. Every character of the child in my work has a story that somewhere reveals their life especially their surroundings. As I travelled extensively to explore what actually is the reason for them being so happy in spite of not having any luxuries of life which we generally connect happiness to, and the reason I found is that it is the real “CHILDLIKENESS” that somewhere bounces and reflects in their character, though necessary they don’t need any material things to be happy. While working I have not only taken the portraits but also created interesting backgrounds focusing mainly on their environment the kind of job or work they do and their interaction in daily life and transformed and amalgamated  all these element with the characters  in my work.  The entire process is not only interesting but also very interactive.

Roma patel :

Painting is to look at, to dream, to feel and to enjoy. It creates an illusion that goes beyond sight since it strikes reason, generates feelings and emotions, activates fantasy and brings the spectator near the aesthetic enjoyment. To look at is not a simple act if what one wants, just to see. In fact, to see is to exhaust the range of what the eyes can reach, to overcome the limits of an image and go long way of perception, understanding, grasp of knowledge and the discovery of spiritual emotions. Painting is an experience to look at it calmly, quietly and reverentially; it arouses a desire to understand, willingness to see, ambition to comprehend in order to reach and feel the immense enjoyment of aesthetic experience. Roma’s work is intense. She paints with rigor and order. She prefers ocher, blue, white, and intensely cold colors and combines very light areas with dark bodies that generate tension, reveals balance and give the composition a serene dynamism. She introduces long and vigorous brushstrokes. She sometimes uses cracking and, often introduces daring and expressive textures. She wants the finish of the work to reinforce the expressive sense with exquisite visual and tactile sensory. Roma’s painting full of lyricism and subtleties reflects youth, vigor, experience and maturity seasoned with the characteristic simplicity of the people who make art and culture the essential part of their lives. Her work is thought to surprise and move spectator, to arouse feeling and transmit emotions. Her paintings drive to contemplation, meditation and introspection. Roma’s painting is solid, rigorous, sincere, warm and suggesting. It arrests the spectators’ attention and captivates their look and speech.     

 Harshil Patel  :

The latest series of artworks is result of amalgamation of three different theories, ideology and philosophy of Hinduism and materialism with visual popular culture of world . The concept I have introduced in my artwork is that you can touch, feel, listen, smell, express, and interact with the piece; it is highly simplified through visual communicative language and intimate through its intellectual esthetics. I have tried to play the symphony between the contemporary painting and sculpture in my artwork, by applying natural sacred elements, additionally added sound and fragrance which shall enhance the appeal of atmospheric art. I like to merge different ideologies in my artworks . The deep philosophy of Hinduism and pop-cult, The extravagant way of materialistic window display at high streets like London, Florence, and Paris is highly contemporary in accordance with the glamorous western style of displaying objects on window display as comparable way at Hindu temple. I have used repetition of nonliving object form as a rhythmic way for creating world  of  live objects which posses give liveliness such as chanting mantra in Hinduisam. Use of sacred natural medium such as like, charcoal(black), turmeric powder(yellow), gulaal(pink)),sandalwood(brown),crimson(red),abil(white), sindoor(orange), lime, silver and golden leaf, betel nut, sacred thread, skin of tree, cow dung, and Silver foils which are considered to be auspicious and used to decorate deity as an important gesture, is the uniqueness of the series.

Through this series, I have tried to reduce the gap between common people and intellectual art community. According to me, an intellectual may say a simple thing in a complex manner while an artist communicates a complex vision in a simple way. 

Prexa Kapadia :

A painting is meant to be a revelation of the artist's authentic identity.  The gesture, the artist's "signature", is evidence of the actual process of the work's creation.

Gestural line or mark-making, unique textures, and dense layering create the illusion of energy, movement, and compressed space-time. Grids, biomorphic and abstract forms imply structure or order within the composition. Painting are made on paper and canvas and explore a variety of shape, size and techniques. Abstract painting is a physical manifestation of a journey depicted in form, texture, color, signs or symbols that has specific meaning and are part of her life. Having always been fascinated with the symbols, color of galaxy, and astronomy, they appear intuitively in her works.

 Scraping away, repainting, pouring colors, whipping, dripping.... creative work is an inexplicable process and she try all possibilities of what can be done with color on canvas to embrace spirituality. Prexa, in her new serious of art works is trying to create an art expressing mood. She not go beyond the state of mind and a series of expressive colors and shapes, independent of things. The Mood in the second case is very different from the first mood. A mood which is partly identified with the conditioning object, a mood dominated by clear images of detailed objects and situations, and capable of being revived and communicated to others through these paintings, is different in feeling tone, in relation to self-consciousness, attentiveness and potential activity, from a mood that is independent of an awareness of fixed, external objects, but sustained by random flow of private and incommunicable associations.

 Vipul Prajapati :

Vipul Prajapati is a very promising young artist doing noteworthy, experimental, creative work in mixed media.After completing his Diploma in Painting & Drawing from C.N.College of Fine Arts in Ahmedabad, two year ago, Vipul has been experimenting very seriously and with deep understanding with varied mediums like course cloth, wood, paper and canvas. He employs Black Japan on wood to create drawing and compositions. He has sparingly used colures when necessary. With dry brush he has created drawings in his paintings as well as graphic effects. In a few paintings he has fixed real nails, which go very well with the demand of the subject. The surface of the wood creates its own environment, beauty, and texture. He has artistically and creatively used his own photography of Veraval, a port near Somnath and also the main subject of most of his paintings. During his student life Vipul used to go to Veraval to do sketching of the port and catch its environment as this busy place fascinated him with its renovation and making of small and big ships worker and fishermen. He interested with them in order to know their feelings and also the drudgery of their work and life. He also found interest in the physical appearance of them, particularly their body structure and interesting portraits. In one of his paintings he has shown nails and bolts all over his body, because this person does only work of nails and bolts and as a result he himself has turned into a figure of nails and bolts. What Vipul has so closely observed and felt at Veraval has been very artistically and aesthetically integrated in the interesting compositions of his paintings. Really these innovative and experimental images of Vipul have created their own unique environment and space of the world of the activities and life at Veraval in various prospective.

Jahangir art gallery during 8^th Sep to 14^thSep 2014.

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Similar feelings were inspired during my earlier visits to Varanasi in India -Asit Poddar

My travels in India and abroad opened my eyes to the synergy of art and architecture. In 2010, during a visit to Vienna and Salzburg in Austria, the classical city of Praha in the Czech republic, Bratislava on the river Danube in neighbouring Slovakia and Budapest in Hungary, I was struck by the medieval cathedrals, old museum buildings, quaint bridges spanning rivers, the broad boulevards that grace old Europe. Two thousand long years of history are condensed within its splendid architecture, yet they have not left an impression of fatigue or decay.

Similar feelings were inspired during my earlier visits to Varanasi in India. Located on the left bank of the river Ganges, Varanasi is the holiest city for Hindus. From time immemorial it has been a center for pilgrimage with pilgrims arriving from all over the world. Claimed to be the oldest city in the world, it dates back to the time of Babylon and Nineveh in ancient Abyssinia. With its array of shrines, temples, Ghats and palaces rising in several tiers from the rivers edge, it is one of the most picturesque cities in the East.

Bronze on Architecture by Asit Poddar

This series of paintings express the idea that architecture is the aesthetic manifestation of civilization.