Amrita Sher-Gil- Pride of Indian Art. Born: January 30, 1913 Today is a day of celebration in Art world- birthday

Today is a day of celebration in Art world- birthday of most prominent first Indian woman painter Amrita Sher-Gil. Amrita proved herself when it was not very easy for an Indian woman to project her talents and skills worldwide. Though she had the advantage of her aristocrat heredity and a Hungarian mother. Earlier stages of her short-lived life was spent in Budapest, Hungary. 

Born: January 30, 1913, Budapest, Hungary( image wikipedia)

She did her art schooling in Paris, none of her earlier paintings were close to Indian context, in fact she was influenced by European painters Gaugin such as Paul Cezanne and Paul along with the influence of her teacher Lucien Simon and some of her artists friends and lovers. While in Paris here paintings were westernised and quiet similar to Bohemian style that was a trend in 1930s.  

Group of Three Girls, Oil on canvas, January 1935 ( image NGMA Mumbai)

But her sixth sense always pulled her towards India. She and her husband stayed in Saraya, Gorakhpur. Her touring in India took her to remote places and village life, women plight grabbed her attention. This was the ultimate destination and fervour of Amrita Sher-Gil. Her paintings had a powerful impact like the maestros of Bengal school of art. Her paintings portray plight of Indian women, villages he the raw and remote beauty of India. Her paintings were similar to Bengal School of art maestros such as Rabindranath Tagore and Abanindranath Tagore. Indian tradition was root of her creation and remained lifelong. 

South Indian Villagers Going to Market, 1937.
( image wikipedia)

Amrita Sher-Gil lived in pre-colonial era. Her family was much influenced by British Raj. But she was the supporter of Congress and Gandhiji’s philosophy. The grandeur of her paintings lie in the poverty, downtrodden people and village life that she excellently portrays with her perfect sense of colour. It seems as if she lived their life. The paintings are empathetic. Her feelings for poor rural India. The paintings impressed Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru when he visited her at Saraya, and he proposed to consider them for the Congress propaganda for village reconstruction. 

Portrait of leading leaders
( image google)

During the Independence period many artists used their art for political propaganda. Many were successful and became famous by drawing portrait of leading leaders. Art was instrumental in Indian Independence. But here it is important to note that Amrita Sher-Gil was most influential woman artists equal to men of the time. Earlier she also had the honour of becoming the youngest and only Asian artist to be elected as an Associate of the Grand Salon in Paris. If we calculate her treasure of paintings in commercial terms, then she is one of the most expensive painters of the world. Her life full of affairs and friendship with men and women makes her life look like a story of novel. Other than becoming inspiration for contemporary artists her life and works also influences works of literature like Urdu play ‘Tumhari Amrita’ by Javed Siddiqi, novel ‘Faking It’ by Amrita Chowdhury and so on.

Truly genius!              by Pankaja JK Art Blogazine

(2016 - No copyright claim of any image by Writer or Artblogazine.com)
(2016 - No copyright claim of any image by Writer or Artblogazine.com)

send feedback to JK  pankjajk@gmail.com 

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"JITISH KALLAT: Covering Letter " which opens on the 15th of January 2016.

Delighted to begin this year's programming with 

"JITISH KALLAT:

 Covering Letter " which opens on the 15th of January 2016.

Jitish Kallat is at the forefront of India's contemporary art movement and and his work has been shown extensively across India and the world. 

In 'Covering Letter', he uses a piece of historical correspondence - a brief letter written by Gandhi to Hitler in 1939 urging him to reconsider his violent means. 

It is in line with some of his earlier works such as ‘Public Notice’ (2003), 'Public Notice 2' (2007), and 'Public Notice 3' (2010) where a historic speech becomes a device for contemplation.

The exhibition is part of the JNAF and the CSMVS'  efforts to engage more actively with practitioners of modern and contemporary art and provide audiences an opportunity to engage with their work. 

Please join us for the opening at 6pm at the Jehangir Nicholson Gallery, CSMVS, and thereafter to a conversation between Homi Bhabha and Jitish Kallat at the Museum Lawns.  

Perceptive Recitals : 'Recite a poetry and it hums within the space.'

Perceptive Recitals is a connotation attributed to the collective emergence by artists who have similar artistic socio-cultural background. The sensibilities, that enrich and nurture them, runs parallel resulting in the development of coherent expressions.

Participating Artists: Urvi Chheda, Henal Visaria, Swapnil Godase and  Hetal Shah atArt Gate Gallery, Churchgate, Mumbai. .

The artists bring forth holistic approaches of art devoid of political digressions in their contexts. The artworks reflect the processual features of present and attempt in projecting the virtues of enlivening the moment and exploring the wider aspects of sustenance.

Henal Visaria | Warrior | Concrete and Metal | 24 in

Henal Visaria, graduate from Sir J J School of Art, from the department of Sculpture in 2010, exchanges her role from being a sincere home-maker to a sculptor and deals with mediums that are painstaking and timely that evolves her patience as well as forte. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Mumbai and her artworks are owned by multiple private collectors. Henal continues practice at her studio in the suburb of Borivli, Mumbai. Artist through her sculptural attribution is in the attempting status to withdraw the inner chaos that governs the populace of the present culture.

Swapnil Godase | Emotion | Stainless steel, Mild steel and Brass | 48 in

Swapnil Godase, graduate from Sir J J School of Art in 2010 and an ardent art practitioner jostles his time from setting up large murals to pondering over his personal aesthetic expressions. Adept in metals of Copper, Brass, Mild steel, Stainless steel, etc., he has emerged expertise in building large sized murals at numerous residential and commercial spaces as well as his artworks have become part of many collections. Swapnil Godase assisted by his co-workers practices in a large and active studio space at hustling and buzzing locality of Reay road, Mumbai. The exchange of the contradictory virtues of the besetting surrounding and its play amongst individuals is projected in the huge metal welded portraits structured by the artist.

Rutwika Sawant | Untitled | Acrylic on Canvas

Rutwika Sawant, graduate from L S Raheja School of Art in 2010, delves with great patience as well as perseverance with the subjects she carves onto her canvas. . She has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Mumbai. Rutwika continues to practice at her space in suburb of Dahisar, Mumbai. Spontaneity and the significance of presence acts as strength, for her, to release the tacit movements of conscience. Playing with same concepts she fiddles with her mediums to develop an abstract language of flat width of colour washes on her canvasses.

Hetal Shah | Untitled |Acrylic on Canvas

Hetal Shah, a Graduate Diploma holder from L S Raheja School of Art, Mumbai and Masters in Indology from Tilak Vidyapeeth, Pune, has participated in varied group exhibitions across galleries in Mumbai like Artist Centre, Jehangir Art Gallery and Pradarshak Art Gallery. Switching her roles from being a sincere spouse to a disciplined teacher at NES National Public School (Mumbai), to a bright painter, she squeezes out space and time to regularly paint her canvases and create her world of imagery by dispensing colorful palettes of fluorescent thoughts. Hetal lives and practices in the suburban city of Dombivli, Mumbai. The paintings exhibit a wide spectrum of emotions of hope, love, relief, courage, contentment, relaxation, excitement etc. The artist does not part from what she expresses; she asserts being in oneness with her artworks. 

Deepali Raiththa | Blue Journey | Performance

Deepali Raiththa, graduate from Sir J J School of Art, majoring in Interior Design in 2010 is an optimist by her attitude and brims with zeal to perform and conclude her tasks. On the same grounds of reason, she pursued Post Baccalaureate in Visual Art during 2014-15, from San Francisco Institute of Art, CA, USA, exploring multifarious genres and exclusively developing interest in Performance Art. Execution of fourteen residential sites and numerous commercial spaces in Gujarat and Mumbai to her name through carrying forth her as Freelance professional, Deepali practices at her studio in Vapi, Gujarat. Through her performances and video installation , she is in the process to experience the momentary phenomena that is constantly changing.

Urvi Chheda | Untitled | Poly-urethane coating on Mild Steel | 24 x 23 x 13 in

Urvi Chheda graduate from Sir J J School of Art in 2010 in Metal Work, combines her schedule of research to her expression of sculptural installations. Interested avidly in history and research she has pursued Certificate course in Indian Aesthetics, Ancient Indian Arts and Sciences as well as Post Graduate Diploma in Comparative Mythology from University of Mumbai. Urvi practises at her space in the remote suburb of Nallasopara, Mumbai. Probing deeper in the mediums that the artist grasped from her learning   of  restoration, she fiddles with varied organic as well as inorganic material to emerge with sculptural practices that reverberate with the concepts that are innately relevant to life, living and the cohesion of matrix that conjoins them.

Perceptive Recitals, reflecting on the same grounds, brings forth paintings, sculptures as well as a performance that meanders in the region of 'now' and spontaneity with vigour and zeal. 

 by Urvi Chheda

The exhibition continues from 7th to 13th January at ArtGate Gallery, Churchgate, Mumbai.

Art Gate Gallery- 1st Floor (above Satyam Collection) Chheda Sadan 115, J Tata Road Churchgate Mumbai, India 

“THE SEMPITERNALS” Celebrating creative bizarre in the time of economic slowdown

The very word sempiternal, which is a synonym of the term ‘eternal’ in a more contemporary and earthbound way in www.vocabulary.com, would be apt adjective for the artists of today who still dare to show their creations on a creative carnival as such despite the onslaught of ongoing economic slowdown. A serious question arises here that if the issue of economic slowdown cannot be taken easy in the context of marketing any product of everyday commodity then why it shouldn’t be a serious issue in art and a crucial concern for the art critics too whose role as salvager is of course expected in this difficult time when art ultimately as an aesthetic commodity suffers setback; because a friend in need is friend in deed. 

 “THE SEMPITERNALS” Group of artist at Art Gate Gallery in Mumbai-2015 

The present show “The Sempiternals” is to earmark the spontaneous stubbornness of today’s artists who with their bizarre grey-cell under the very constancy of art as a phenomenon of creative catalyst through the intermittent reactivity of mundane activity, takes up the charge of their self promotion on event of virtual divorce between art and its critics. And that is to commemorate artists’ very eternity in creating despite the gravest odds like existing commercial lows of art market and apprehensive promoters. By now we are aware that autonomy of the flux of art is like autonomy of natural blow of wind; both art and wind cannot be ceased by any consequential force; as both will find its lee-way in one way or other . This show is to celebrate the creative autonomy of today’s artists too who by their own right of karma and by the boon of post-modernism are enlightened enough to know that it is utter foolishness to wait for the art critics to born and show them the way in difficult time as such whereas today’s artists are the critics themselves. Thus they pave their own way to their destiny and the time conspires for their success. Down the ages artists as sempiternal existence have been witnessing intermittent manifestations caused by the changing time and space.

This Group Show is a confluence of seven such artists and erstwhile alter ego who despite their diverse hues of thought process meet to witness the present time offer here a spectacular rainbow of their creations. The result of their perennial witnessing is unusual of the usual, conspicuous from the common and bizarre of the mundane to be relished by the valued admirers. 

Artist Girdhar Gawda with Art lover at Art Gate Gallery- 2015

Girdhar Gawda is an epitome of balance between adoration of cultural tradition and sieved response to dubious novelty of the mundane as with his minimal colour yet deft lines if on the one hand he draws contemplation towards creative grandeur of Indian miniature painting while he withstands the blind emulations to visual influences on the other. 

Recent work  by Artist Girdhar Gawda at Art Gate Gallery- 2015

The very inspiring intricacy and depth in the medium and process of miniature painting had led him to the very roots of cultural ethos of Indian Miniature Paintings that transformed him permanently to devote himself to redefine its style as substance. The arresting compositions of his paintings themselves are self explanatory of why he has developed an immense interest in stories, poems, socio-cultural phrases and historical legends right from his childhood. The elated novelty of spatial dynamics of his pictures don’t lie for his approach towards those historical legends not as religious, superstitious stories but as priceless epics and a treasure house of wisdom.

Recent work by Manoj S Art Gate Gallery- Mumbai

When it comes to another dimension, art of Manoj S. manifests it in rather abstract manner. Manoj, in his sculptures, adroitly blends wood, stone and metal with an semi-abstract dialogue through their obdurateness and softness corresponding to exploration of volume, shape, mass and form. The culmination of all that is a fine visual statement about growth; germination of nature is quintessential of Manoj’s art and sensuous energy is the forerunning pun of his language. Manoj’s art is précis of inseparability of abstract from concrete manifesting the ‘abstract’ semantic of ‘representation’. A remarkable note that one might not ignore to make about his expression is that it is one of the best examples of visual dictions in sculptural abstract minimalism as in response to the ever growing cacophony and verbose of the today’s narration-savvy world. 

Recent work by Ramesh Kandagiri from New Delhi

Then the existence of energy takes rather cosmic action in Ramesh Kandagiri’s acrylic on multiple layer of rice paper pasted on canvas as according to him he paints the ‘act of experiencing’ of existence to an extent where both the ‘experience-r’ and ‘experienced’ are lost. For him abstraction doesn’t mean ‘no real’ or ‘devoid of representational forms’ but it means ‘more real’ rather…to the extent of ‘para-real’ which means intuitive ‘empirico-transcendental’ understanding of deeper realism beneath the surface towards the occult or the atomic element even. Ramesh sets himself to his self imposed voyage of revisiting abstraction in an equanimous zone in his own ‘innermost self’ between his own pulse and impulse as liberated from all established notions of abstraction. Ramesh’s uncanny pictorial space is not an embellished surface of a closed plane but ‘act of experiencing’ of infinite cosmic space rather with unpredictable momentum of energies which he attains through transcendental meditation on the ‘occurring in the instant’ during the conjunction of idea and medium. Here is where this Zen practitioner believes the ‘innermost self’ of an artist is transformed. 

Recent work by Rajasekhar Pendurthi

Rajasekhar P. is a brilliant example of how a positive time-travel towards an artist’s nostalgia can endow both essence and element to his thought and expression. Thus became the memoirs of Rajshekhar’s childhood his source of inspiration. His figures, be it men celebrating ‘cock-fight’, an introvert adolescent deeply engrossed in his thoughts, an old women vending fishes or three fishermen at work, apart from declaring his unparalleled territory of skills in rendering the corporeal reality yet humbly establishes the diligent care in handling his medium which ultimately is his personality trait. One will not disagree with the fact that the meticulous vision of the backdrop of his subjects plays a surrealistic role for his realistic figures; perhaps this is an open secret and strong undercurrent inherent in this silent visual narrator that alarm with premonition a breathtaking range of oeuvre might be released by his adroit hands in future. 

Recent work by Sandhya Shankar Patnaik

Sandhya explores her ‘feminine self’ through coeval incarnation in many individuals while sensuality becomes salient trait in terms of lucid chromatics as the metaphor of feminine grace as if being thawed up through chilly predicaments of feminine social identity. Thus her bright canvases speak about her elated self and her vivacious returns to her surroundings. She has a flair of exploiting the chromatic greys in combination with various chromatic hues to evince typical tenderness through meticulous colour texture; the calm process of doing this is typical of feminine resplendence. Sandhya’s compositions are though innocently simple however tickles deeper sensibilities. The human figures in her compositions whether it is a sitting sensuous-shy lassie, lovers in amorous state or a flamboyant next door damsel all seem to be delving into deep self absorption endeavouring to locate the self in various individuals.

Recent work by Karaka Venkat Rao

Venkat Rao’s pragmatic concerns about social life have inspired him to react to the environmental disasters caused by very human follies as he playfully draws his satire on the ongoing blind stylization of life with reference to techno-modernism. Venkat’s angst reaction to the human’s savage flaws has miraculously transformed his form into gargoyles; partly human and partly animal form. But his compassionate concerns to human have flipped his verdict on them turning them into gorgeous gargoyles rather; just unlike the Gothic horrific gargoyles. Metaphorically as if this compassionate artist has pardoned even their fatal flaws. However, well justified is his this conditional pardon with a lesser punishment to his gorgeous gargoyles that despite being sculptures they are positioned in a confined space; this is perhaps metaphorical of metropolitan human’s convoluted life. Often Venkat prefers arranging his sculptures even with no pedestals which certainly is intentional in order to share the viewer’s space. Thus a close relation is established between the sculptures and the viewers’ life. He uses materials like bamboo, paper, resin and fabric to construct his sculptures. Most interestingly he paints the sculpture giving it a semi-realistic appearance. But most of his methods can be viewed as an influence of sculptural forms of traditional Temple craft of Andhra Pradesh.

Rcent works by Vasant K. Velapuri

Vasant K. Velapuri’s sculptures depicts his journey towards himself; his struggle to realize the omnipresent within himself. Devotional path to self realization has influenced him and his sculptures. Experiments with various shapes and forms helped him depict the spiritual introspection and relate himself to the real by deviating from the unreal. The real-unreal dichotomy is so conspicuous in his sculptural assemblages as he juxtaposes the meticulously handled real-unreal form with day-to-day real devotional commodity. However his real-unreal dichotomy, which though has a devotional flavour yet projects arrestingly occult form, thus displays a spiritual-religious narrative often with portrait of sadhus (sages) in deep self absorbed trance. These creative bizarre collectively admit that if only art is ceased by an economic slowdown then it is not art but something else and not at all autonomous. Thus it is established that autonomy of art endows spontaneity to artists with a reward of position as “The Sempiternals”. 

By Artist Ramesh Kandagiri


Exhibition details: 23rd to 29th Dec 2015-11am to 7 pm

Art Gate Gallery- 1st Floor (above Satyam Collection) Chheda Sadan 115, J Tata Road Churchgate Mumbai, India