The exhibition is an attempt
to present the works produced during the week long residency. It shares the
views and ideas of the
artists/ writers which took place in form of
presentations and discussions on various issues pertinent to visual art and the
art world
The exhibition features
works of Balaji Ponna, Hemali Bhuta, Himanshu S., Kedar Dhondu, Om Soorya,
Remen Chopra,Shreyas Karle
and Ved
Gupta and Writers - Mohd. Ahmad Sabih and Shubhalakshmi Shukla.
Balaji Ponna’s works are “textual”
and it is here that Balaji’s earlier engagement with the popular sign boards
and vehicle paintings come to
the fore. Balaji’s use of specific visual
devices, grids, frames, photography, text, repetitive compositions and attempts
at subversion can be
read as the post modern tools of visual articulations.
Hemali Bhuta’s installations come across as occurrences, seemingly independent of
the
artist’s presence as they grow, breathe, move, and shed. She does mostly
site-specific works and installations. Documenting and archiving
seem
to become curious nodes of enquiry into Hemali’s works as she is constantly
dealing with the dilemma about how to show her work.
Himanshu S has
no predilection towards any medium. He even doubts his role in being an artist.
With activities that range from children’s
workshops, teaching, activism,
painting other artists’ paintings, and selling little booklets, Himanshu’s main
anxiety seems to return again and
again to the institution of art. Kedar
Dhondu often uses the language of miniatures for expressions in his works but
his underlying themes deal with
the core of violence. He brilliantly
juxtaposes the beautiful watercolor medium in his work. He uses animals and
their expected behavior as metaphors
for human behavior ranging from
aggressiveness and violence to fear, sensitivity and concern. He invites
viewers to involve themselves empathetically,
identifying their own personal
experiences
Om Soorya’s works are
surreal dream-like landscapes that question what is real and what is perceived. They look like ‘hung’
cities, a site of exploding
activities, a crucible of profit production, a
field of contesting ideologies, a program of multi tasking capabilities, but ‘hung’ for
a while. Remen Chopra
works mostly on paper. But she employs various
media, and her images are arrived at through mediation, twice, thrice, and many
times over, of
techniques similar to the process carbon copy. Her aim is to
present work as if it’s some kind of theatre where one can maybe see all
the props, characters,
and the mise-en-scene, to not so much see what all
is visible, but in how they are barely visible. Shreyas Karle plays
various roles in his every work.
Working on community-based
art, collaborative projects, and a range of new media, the one common aspect in
all his works is his insistence on conducting
‘research’.Little dwarves of
corporate giants and ministers, caricatures, metaphors and proverbs distorted,
this is what Ved Gupta’s fiberglass
painted sculptures
come across as at first glance. His work principally
concentrates on social hierarchies, class in particular, and the common
man.
- Excerpts from Mohd. Ahmad Sabih’s Essay
