Art News
Translation of a French critic’s take on Raza and his abstract artistic oeuvre.
Fresh look at India’s more modern side
For a closer look at some lesser known aspects of Indian life and a look at the country’s more modern side, head out to the National Museum of Contemporary Art. There, the exhibition “Open Your Third Eye,” promises to provide valuable insight into a country that for most people remains shrouded in mystery.
A taste of contemporary Indian art in Cincinnati
Murali Cheeroth’s oil on canvas displays the powerful imagery of muscle and machinery, against a backdrop of electrifying colors. Another painting by George Martin makes a statement in vivid technicolor about the globalization of India. And Binoy Varghese, an artist who lives in New Delhi, memorializes the poor children of India with bright, happy faces against a lush tropical backdrop. For the first time in the Midwest, 14 of India’s most important young artists from that nation’s thriving contemporary art scene are coming together for a joint endeavor by the Cincinnati Parks Board, ArtWorks, PAC Gallery and the Phyllis Weston-Annie Bolling Gallery.
Christie’s focus on art education
Global auction house Christie’s is planning a series of lectures in India this year in an effort to educate buyers in the country, who are more discerning now.
‘We are trying to focus on more education-related activities like a series of lectures on antiquities, classical art and South Asian art this year. We have several specialists in Christie’s and we want them to come to India and talk about specialised subjects,’ Maneka Kumari Shah, the auction house’s India representative, told IANS on phone from Mumbai.
Artist’s work selected for national exhibit
Indrani Gall, instructor of art at Western Michigan University, is one of about 30 artists worldwide to have her work accepted for inclusion in the sixth annual exhibition “Erasing Borders: Passport to Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora.”
The exhibition, which is organized by the Indo-American Arts Council, explores the contributions of artists whose origins can be traced to the Indian Subcontinent. It began touring New York City’s boroughs, New York State and other parts of the country in February and will be on tour through October.
Capturing the Outlines of an Exuberant Universe
Tucked away on the third floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a small red-walled gallery. If you’ve never been there, now is the time: it is occupied by an almost supernaturally beautiful exhibition of drawings by Indian miniaturists of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
The 40 small works in “Living Line: Selected Indian Drawings From the Subhash Kapoor Gift” were picked by John Guy, the museum’s curator of South and Southeast Asian Art, from a collection of 58 pieces recently donated to the museum by Mr. Kapoor, owner of Art of the Past, a Madison Avenue gallery that specializes in Asian antiquities.
Bihar politicians’ dirty linen on show
A young artist in the northern Indian state of Bihar has been busy collecting politicians’ old linen to make his own statement ahead of the general election.
Kunal Mitra has been collecting discarded all-white kurtas (long tunics) and pyjamas worn by Indian politicians and painting them with party symbols as well as other poll-related pictures. His message? That politicians who wear the same coloured clothing are also of the same colour in character – “corrupt, thick skinned and insensitive to art”. “After winning elections, they show their real skin and colour – to make money and cheat common people over the promises they made,” Mr Mitra says.
The paintings go on show at an exhibition in the state capital, Patna, from Friday.
A coffin floats in the middle of a chaotic crowd. As the people strain to get closer, their contorted bodies radiate a palpable tension.
Captured by artist Ram Rahman, this scene is one of many portrayals of Indian life in his new exhibit Street Smart. The funeral depicted is that of his friend and fellow artist Safdar Hashmi, whose politically motivated 1989 murder sparked immense public outrage. This anger ultimately inspired the formation of the artists’ collective SAHMAT, of which Rahman is a founding member.
Sixteen traditional Indian art forms under one roof this may not be seen everywhere and often, but two artists one an amateur and the other a professor took upon themselves to depict the various art forms through their paintings. These art forms include the mata ni pachhedi and babo pithoro (Gujarat), pattachitra and saura (Orissa), thangka (Himachal Pradesh), aipan (Uttar Pradesh), madhubani (Bihar), miniature, pichhvai (Rajasthan), worli (Madhya Pradesh) and chitara (Karnataka) among others.
Indian art adds diversity to Asian art scene
The entry of Indian and broader Asian art into the Southeast Asian region can only add to the vibrancy and diversity of the art scene. Singapore Art Museum (SAM) director Kwok Kian Chow told that there has been a gradual increase in the number of galleries selling Indian art in Singapore. Together with staging successful Chinese art shows, SAM has also fielded a large exhibition of Indian art in 2007 featuring 40 “stunning” works.
Art of India Past and Present Opens at Peabody Essex Museum
This Spring, the Peabody Essex Museum opens an exhibition revealing visual conversations between India’s contemporary and traditional artists. ReVisions: India’s Artists Engaging Traditions presents fourteen contemporary works in tandem with traditional pieces exemplifying the artists’ source of inspiration, including Mughal court painting, medieval temple sculpture and photography. Featuring objects from PEM’s renowned Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection of 20th-century Indian art and considerable holdings of traditional Indian art forms, as well as the Harvard Art Museum’s exceptional collection of art from the royal courts and temples of India.
Duke University Conference April 9-11 Explores Work of Indian Artist Maqbool Fida Husain
DURHAM, N.C. — Once called the Picasso of India by Forbes magazine, Maqbool Fida Husain is the most celebrated modernist artist of India — a national icon, says Duke history professor Sumathi Ramaswamy. Ramaswamy has invited local and international scholars and art experts to Duke University April 9-11 to discuss the life and impact of the contemporary Indian artist. The conference, Barefoot across the Nation: Maqbool Fida Husain and the Idea of India, is free and open to the public.
