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So Many Rivers to Cross
Artconcerns.com is completing two years with this issue. It is a happy moment for all those who have been associated with www.artconcerns.com as writers, readers and researchers. Within this short period of time, this e-mag could cut across the boundaries and reach out to all those people who are interested in Indian contemporary art. I take this opportunity to congratulate all my writers and thank all my readers and well wishers. more »
A Room to Pray: The Spectacle of Death and Desire
A room to pray - by TV Santhosh
Noted Indian contemporary artist T.V.Santhosh recently presented his latest solo show titled ‘A Room to Pray’ in Zurich, Switzerland. Jointly hosted by Mumbai’s Guild Gallery and Zurich’s Avanthay Contemporary Gallery, this show once again presented the artist’s position on war and war mongers. JohnyML goes through the works presented in the show. read on »
One who lives real fantasies
‘Up close and personal’ is a shared diagram locating lives of significant figures in Contemporary Indian Art over the last four decades. The locus of this diagram is drafted through first person accounts, situations, art works, projects, events, texts, issues, people, cultures and geographies thereby trying to articulate an ‘artistic context’ that is simultaneously personal and historical. Kavita Balakrishnan, here portrays the life and artistic philosophy of the much acclaimed artist Pushpamala N »
Noted contemporary artist Manjunath Kamath, with his usual humour looks at the happenings in our art scene. He is a master in catching the flipside of a booming contemporary art market.
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Garima Pandya
Born in 1984, Garima Pandya had her BFA in Painting from Rajasthan School of Art, Jaipur and MFA in Painting from Government Institute of Fine Arts, Indore (2007). A direct student of the noted painter Vidyasagar Upadhyay, Garima is likes abstraction as her mode of expression. She likes surfaces, colour fields and their interactions with human lives. She, in her works captures the very essence of touch. Tactility of surfaces and the music of lines make her works distinct. Garima has done a few site specific installations also. Currently she lives in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. more »
A Bridge between Artists and Art Historians
Artist and writer Anuradha Nalapat, using her personal observations as a key attempts to capture the dynamics between art history writing and the actual creation of works of art. She argues that the history exists for artist not the artist exists for art history more »
Quest for Identity
Varun Cursetji, a young artist looks back to his own community, the Parsi community and aesthetically debates certain marital customs practiced by it. more »
On Drawing
Singapore and Chennai based artist Parvathi Nayar writes on the virtues of drawing as a contemporary medium of aesthetic expressions. Parvathi majorly works in the medium of drawing and she says, going by the observation of Richard Serra, that now drawing has moved from being a verb to a noun. more »
I Shot the Sheriff, but I didn’t Shoot the Deputy
On 5th September 2008, at the Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi, a Delhi based Iraqi expatriate artist, Al-Saidi- Hasan was beaten up by a few people who allegedly belong to the Khoj International Artists’ Workshop. JohnyML speaks to various people who were the eyewitness and says that manhandling an artist is against art’s ethics. more »
Paranoia of hegemonic nature
Recently during the preview of a group exhibition by various artists from south Asia an artist, based in Delhi, namely Al Saidi Hassan was harassed badly by some members from the exhibition organizers without any valid reason. Following is an article based on the conversation between Surya Singh and the victim Al Saidi Hassan. It does not explore only the threat on right to expression but the very concept of alternative voices and practices, the most urgent things to justify our diverse locations of culture and multiple realities. more »
Alluvium: Stories of a Journey
Sebastian Varghese, an artist based in Kerala is having his first major solo at the Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi. Sebastian is an artist bitten by travel bug and philosophy. He traveled across the country and spent a few years in the US. In ‘Alluvium’ he looks at his immediate surrounding with wonder and awe. Noted artist Rajan Krishnan speaks to Sebastian. Excerpts from the interview »
Woman-Mother-Goddess
Dhruvi Acharya’s work is rooted in personal experience. She also done a couple of series of meditations on vital political issues of the time: the continuing denial of equality to women; the burgeoning cult of violence across the globe; and the rapid deterioration of the environment etc. this is excerpts from Amrita Gupta Singh’s conversation with Dhruvi Acharya »
A Treasure Trove for Art Book Hunters
A Bookstore exclusively for the arts has opened by Vadehra Art gallery at Defence Colony. Within a few days from its opening, Art book lovers are pouring into the Store in excitement. Rikimi Madhukaillya visits Vadehra Book Store and shares her experience»
Parimoo’s Chaurapanchashika: Iconography of a Nayika
Dr. Ratan Parimoo recently had a solo show at the India Habitat Centre. With the leitmotif of Aishwarya Rai running across as a common thread, four sets of narratives are created in his works. Rita Sodha analyses his works in this feature »
Frozen Pheonix, Material as Metaphor
Dr. Veena Shekar views the works of Bangalore based artist Shantamani.M and says, while charcoal bricks seemed to gratify Shantamani’s immediate urge to express the urgency of the issue involved, it was also a material that itself is in the transient state of being burnt to getting completely evaporated. more »
White Lies
‘White Lies’, a show curated by Bhavna Kakar was recently held in Bombay Art Gallery, Mumbai. This show presented five artists working in different mediums. Anirudh Chari in his catalogue essay explains how different sensibilities of these artists together make a meaningful show »
Everything That Glitters is not Gold
Galleries are growing up everywhere like mushrooms. Every day there’s a new name in the market. And everybody claims to be different. Another initiative from the reputed group which is known for their pharmaceuticals and insurance business has taken place in Delhi. Anubhav Nath visiting the space is sharing his excitements and anxiety around these setups. more »
Porous Walls: Still Life of Death and Decay
Mumbai based young artist Prajakta Potnis recently presented her solo show ‘Porous Walls’ at the Guild Gallery, Mumbai. JohnyML reviews the show saying that the whole installation could be seen as a still life that exemplifies the flimsiness of life, death and decay. more »
And What in the End?
Ganges art Gallery, Kolkata had recently opened a show called From Beyond the Vindhyas, consisting of 13 artists mostly belong to the Madras Art Movement. Oindrilla Maity visists the show and put together her expectations, satisfaction and un-satisfaction related to the show more »
Territorial Imperative in a Blur
Young and energetic Minal Damani recently had her solo show, Drawing Lines at the Vadehra Art Gallery. John Xaviers visits the show in the opening day and says, If a landscape is the picturing of a piece of land, a map is definitely a landscape. more »
Hitting at the Right Place
Ved Gupta, a new and promising name in the market is having a solo show at the Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre. The show is organised by the Threshold Gallery. Ved was surrounded by fans and buyers at the opening, which itself says the story of success of the show. Rikimi Madhukaillya reads his work and had a quick look at the journey of the artist so far. more »
