Himmat Shah
"I was so amazed to hear his life story, which even further justified his name Himmat when he left his home & parents at the age of 10. The journey from that young boy to now at the age of 90 has been challenging but unique with his highly singular creative intellectual thinking, where he detached himself from all societal norms. He said I never got married because I didn't want to get trapped - a free soul who still feels young and is confident about crossing a century. He has great energy & ideas for the future, including opening a colossal studio cum gallery. He is full of intriguing polarities. He laughs at the hypocrisy of society and says I have no friends & I am nobody's friend at the same time, he mentions a scientist friend who is supporting his vast project. He talks about philosophy and life's ultimate goals but still believes in living well and entirely in the present moment. Himmat Shah is a fascinating human with a great vision and energy for art. It has been an honour to curate his show!”
Curated by Kalpana Shah
(Friday, November 25 to Thursday, December 15)
The Mumbai Monsoon - Decoding the Mumbai Monsoon Experience
After the arrival of monsoon (one of the world’s most unique and complex meteorological phenomenon) at the shores of Kerala; the next landmark moment for the clouds truly, at least culturally, is the tryst with Mumbai. The natural topography of the island city, as well as the urban matrix of the city lends itself to creating a rich monsoon culture unparalleled elsewhere in the country.Festive, bountiful; invigorating (and providing relief from sultry climate-changed summers circa 2022); and yet troublesome, unwieldy, destructive and fierce; the monsoon creates a rich narrative in the maximum city. The love-hate relationship the city shares with India’s grandest season is now already stuff of lore.
In its 17th edition, having traveled over the path of the clouds, in Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai; Red Earth’s The Monsoon Festival re-appears in the city after 2006. Receiving critical and popular acclaim, the multi-arts festival foregrounds the diverse experiences of India’s grandest season through multiple mediums of artistic creativity; rekindling classical sensibilities as well as celebrating contemporary expression.What does the monsoon mean to Mumbaikars? Does the first sighting of the clouds entice the same joy here as it would in pastoral India? Can Mumbai Monsoon live upto the grand cultural edifice that the season creates in the North? Or it doesn’t need to, creating a rich unparalleled Monsoon gestalt of its own?The festival uncovers some of Mumbai’s un-documented but lived aspects of the Monsoon experience. This exposition attempts to create this meta-narrative of Bombay loving and hating the rain; a veritable map of monsoon experience in Mumbai and the little nuances of Monsoon culture attendant therein. It visually theories varied elements of the Mega-Mumbai-Monsoon; possibly for the first time in this expansive way...
The festival research and documentation centres around varied sub-themes that are intrinsic to the Mumbai monsoon experience: from landscapes and cityscapes; to the human experience and emotions attendant herein; objects and material culture; the matrix of cultural elements and tropes; and the dark side of the Monsoon.
Curated by Himanshu Verma
(Saturday, October 8 to Sunday, October 23)
ROW by TUNDRA
A row is a basic way to structure data - from mathematics to twelve notes of the chromatic scale in music. Taking off from there, this installation - composed of a modular and scalable array of screens - takes the shape of a canvas which is constantly shifting in length and shape. Translating raw visuals driven by generative sound, the content is echoed on this canvas with a slight delay, thus creating various moving patterns that highlight and reflect the spatial characteristics of the space where it is installed.
In turns hypnotic, meditative and dazzling, ROW has enthralled viewers worldwide with recently concluded exhibitions in London, Shanghai, Amsterdam and Barcelona. It was a Jury Selection at the 24th Japan Media Arts Festival and also won an Individual Award in the "Light Installation" category of CITIC Press Lightening Selection (China).
It’s an absolute pleasure for us to bring it to India for the very first time.
Curated & Produced by Floating Canvas Company
(Wednesday, September 21 to Wednesday, October 5)
The Spaces & Places Of Comfort & Catharsis
Bhartti Verma, Sayantani Bhowmick & Vipul Prajapati
The artist’s mind is a wonder: encompassing the ability to create whole new worlds of imagination using limited data. This show displays the everyday places and spaces experienced by the artist and the conversion of it into visuals with infinite potential interpretations for the viewer.
This transformation of the mundane into profound is what characterizes the works of the three artists brought together. Our ways of seeing are challenged and the familiar is made new and exciting again! Bhartti Verma holds on to the idea of her dream city, converting the congested landscape of Delhi into a mystical one through her perspective. Vipul Prajapati takes grimy shipyards and other seemingly dull personal spaces of solace and presents them as majestic, full of charm and hidden stories. Sayantani Bhowmick turns everyday animals and things into curious satirical or surreal subjects, with the aim to inspire others to connect uniquely with the world around them. The common thread in all is the ability to take the limited and turn it into eternal! The techniques explored vary from Acrylic to Mixed Media on Canvas, with the artist letting the concept flow through the best medium of communication.
The goal of all art ultimately is to open up minds and challenge perspectives. It shows one the power of imagination and the beauty that this world holds if only we allow ourselves to see it differently! In times like now, with the prevailing chaos and continuing tumultuous moods, it seems almost essential for us to gain such an escape and rediscover the beauty in the small, often underestimated things around us.
Sanjana Shah
(Saturday, June 30 to Sunday, September 4)
Integration
A solo show by Ayesha Taleyarkhan
“Integration has numerous inferences, and like the word suggests, is contingent on inclusiveness and diversity. The correlation between integration and the abstract, leads to an unpredictable and ambiguous space. Its richness permeates and creates a fluid dialect, which reinvents itself like a work in progress, but is never incomplete. This spontaneous quality transcends its many parts, marrying the layers and textures of the unknown and morphing into serendipity.
This series of images titled ‘Integration 3.0’ is a rebirthing or a reincarnation of photographs taken previously, now adopting a new identity and being part of an alternate narrative; sparked off by a deterioration in international relations, discrimination along lines of color, religion and culture, and spurning diversity as weakness ... thereby creating deep divides, hostility and instability in society. Integration is an effective concept that binds and unites across borders, physical as well as cultural and ideological, challenging worn out perceptions. It connects and embraces communities and humanity, weaving inclusiveness and ingenuity, into the fabric of life.” -Ayesha Taleyarkhan
Ayesha’s portraits are an embodiment of the layers of complexity we all carry within us. The subtle struggles, livelihoods, perceptions and labels these people contain have been brought to the visual surface through such a unique technique. I was particularly drawn to the portraits because they carried this chaotic intensity that spoke volumes about how any reading of the human face must be a multi-reading, allowing for all possible angles of expression. The dominating female faces in the series also showcase women in such a broad spectrum of personalities, which is most relevant to do so in today's world! It is a pleasure to see such character and depth in these works that are otherwise unidimensional. The illusion is the magic.
The process used to create these artworks, defines the final images. The diverse elements of the photographs are digitally incorporated to create the effects of crayons, oil paint, charcoal, watercolours, etc. thereby enhancing textures and layering in the work, and creating vibrant symmetry. The compositions have their own specific styles and identities, but are finally abstract in nature, resonating in the spirit of integration.
Ultimately Ayesha manages to integrate not only technique, but also the collective human experience into her art.
Sanjana Shah
(Saturday, June 11 to Friday, July 22)
Click here for a downloadable catalogue
What My Mother Didn’t Teach Me … & Some Things She Did!
A solo show by Viraj Khanna
When I first interacted with Viraj’s work, I was completely taken in by how evocative each piece was. The shapes, forms and colors stood out, starkly at first, but then coming together in an incredibly aesthetic form. However, aesthetics is far from the mind of this young, upcoming artist. Khanna in fact tries to break free from the aesthetic legacy handed down to him by his mother as he carves his own niche of exploration. Ironically, much of this exploration is also derived from the same legacy as he makes a sartorial commentary through his art on the ideas of beauty, fashion, appearances and society.
The mediums and processes explored by him show the level of experiment that is characteristic of the myriad thematic layers he is dappling with. With the primary base being a paper collage, Khanna builds up the narrative using different elements from various magazines, encyclopedias, and other books to give it a shape. These pictorial elements could be anything ranging from different trees, to parts of peoples bodies, to different accessories/shapes. This mix and match leads to a final piece that is as much a journey for the artist as it is for the artwork! It is fluid and organic, removing all forms of restriction in the creation process. He states, “Eventually the artwork is a reflection of my life and its influences because I have to consciously make the decision of what works in the experiment and what does not. It has to agree with my sense of balance, color and taste”.
The end result is a glorious deconstruction and reconstruction of identities and ideologies. The artist pays homage to legacy while also beginning to create his own individualistic one.
Sanjana Shah
(Friday, February 25 to Friday, April 15)
Vijay Shinde
Often an artist’s life is reflected through their work, the art becoming an almost memoir of paths explored, experiences had and emotions felt. Shinde’s art too is a living, dynamic and eternal embodiment of him, allowing the viewer a glimpse into the expansive internal world that once existed. His strong dialogue with spirituality and philosophy as a personal quest comes through and is relevant even today. Rather than an end goal, the creation of art was in itself a process of exploration and liberation for him:
“I look for no meaning in my paintings because my paintings depict all that my mind looks for, rendering me speechless.” – Vijay Shinde, 1996.
Afflicted by depression and alcoholism towards the end of his life, Shinde nonetheless continued to believe in the power of art and its ability to connect and transform. He was a rare combination of both Realist and Idealist, often stating that he knew the pain of life may never dim, but at least through a painting he can raise it to the level of a shared experience. Though Vijay is no more with us, his works remain as testament to a life creatively lived, the pain and pleasure merging on the canvas, the colours still vibrant with energy.
Sanjana Shah
(Saturday, January 15 - Tuesday, February 15)
