By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS,
New Delhi : Indian art is going places this summer. Contemporary artist Manish Pushkale is heading to Europe and says “it’s vacation time”.
He will exhibit jointly with senior artist S.H. Raza during the Venice Biennale at Gallery Bugno. The biennale begins June 7. On June 9, Pushkale’s show opens at the Galerie Muller & Plate at Munich.
Galerie Muller & Plate has a long love affair with Indian contemporary art, having exhibited artists like Ambadas, Jahangir Jani, Amitava Das, F.N. Souza, Harsha Vardhana S., Iranna G.R, Jagannath Panda, Bose Krishnamachari and Mithu Sen.
“I am looking forward to interacting with European audiences,” Pushkale told IANS. He will be showing with German artist Julia Ziegelmaier.
The Delhi-based Seven Arts Gallery is taking works by 22 leading artists to an exhibition “India Xianhai” at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai in the first ever show dedicated to Indian contemporary art in China by a museum.
The exhibition will also facilitate intellectual and aesthetic exchange between Indian and Chinese artists in a panel discussion. The show which begins July 10 is being supported by the governments of both countries.
“The discussion will host young Indian artists like Jitish Kallat, Thukral & Tagra, Prashanta Mandal, Mithu Sen and Alexander Keefe,” one of the curators of the exhibition, Aparajita Jain of the Seven Arts Gallery, told IANS.
The exhibition roots on the premise that Indian culture and history have acted as inspiration for diverse groups of artists, not only within India but also those residing abroad, Jain said.
Artist Gunjan Gupta will present her wrap works in an exhibition “Inspired by India” at Sotheby’s June 8. Gupta’s wrap products innovate on the ancient Indian tradition of wrapping precious metals around wood used for making 17th century thrones and to make contemporary images.
“Gunjan’s works speak for themselves,” Jain of Seven Arts Gallery, which is presenting the works at Sotheby’s, told IANS.
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In series
A story is best narrated in a series – be it in movies, books or art.
An exhibition by a group of senior contemporary artists “Expressions… of our times” at the Visual Arts Gallery in the capital’s India Habitat Centre features at least eight series in continuous narratives of single themes.
A series of four paintings depicting the avatars of Lord Vishnu by Ajay Zharotia stands out for the fluid lines, vivid colours and surreal images of the Vamana (the dwarf) and the Varaha (the pig) incarnations of Vishnu.
“Art is a language. Ever since I opened up to Prakriti (nature), my mind has become more visual. Every thought becomes a picture,” says the artist.
Another series that creates a complex web between human figures and environment is a Laxman Aelay’s “The River Underneath”.
The five-day show opened May 27.
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Egyptian hues
The Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts in the capital is displaying 36 art works by talented young artists from Egypt till May 30 as part of a cultural exchange programme.
The artists include leading contemporary Egyptian names like Ahmed Abdel Karim, Rafky al Razaz, Khaled Aboul Magd, Yasser Mongi and Salah el Meligi.
The exhibition, explained Egyptian ambassador Mohammed Higazy, will help the Indian audience to know and appreciate Egyptian modern art and promote cultural synergy.
Egyptian art is known to have been influenced by geometrical designs.