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contemporary

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Delhi (110092, India)

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10/11/07

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  "Spaces in Transition" an exhibition of contemporary acrylic paintings

  Ascending into the outer reaches of empty space, the elephant is on its determined walk. Not too excited by the prospects of weightlessness a sense of buoyant lull sweeps into a time warp. With a tiger skin on its back the walk is led by another cub grasping a sapling to its limbs for good measure. The walk in the sky seems to be a routine affair in the gravity of realities that are worked out in the ground far below. A herd below is stuck to the realities of coping with the changing landscape out in the open with protection being the last word. In the serenity of the moment forces are at work in enacting changes to maintain equilibrium. In the surreal landscape, a tenacious branch stands in mute testimony to the spaces in transition…

  Spaces in transition are a body of works that find parallels in surreal transformations adapting to the engaging moment of change. Anup K Chand gives momentum to changes in the environment that has been on the receiving end with regards to rampant commercialization and exploitation of visible land. Modulating the pace at which land gets divided there are elements that confluence in the medley of events growing on a day-to-day basis. Instead of depicting the stark reality of the situation the artist treats subjects in a surreal phase of regenerating forms. In a simulation of handling the inevitable, a cheetah stands in contemplation of pace that has crept into the present state of developing technologies. The fastest mover on land, the animal stands surveying a landscape that has become alienated in the mushrooming cluster of manufacturing units working to satisfy the teeming population. It's also a moment when it has nowhere to exercise its need for space and speed.

  Having a Ph.D. in Visual Art from Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh, Chhattisgarh after completing his Masters in painting from the same institution, Anup had been involved in researching traditional art forms from coastal Orissa. The Pata Chitra paintings/icon paintings traditions from Orissa has been a constant source of enrichment for the artist that he had it included in his research study at the Vishwavidyalaya. Basic forms and motifs from Pata Chitra continues to show in his works on canvas with emphasis on the use of black lines and form. But getting into the realm of the contemporary phase in Indian Art, the motifs are put against layers of modernity. The iconic intent of Pata Chita reveals itself within the contemporary rendering of the surface while maintaining a minimalist attachment to the original form.

  Animal and plant forms gain a major part of the content in the landscape that the artist envisages. With due respect to a belief in the environment, chance for regeneration shows itself in creeping saplings finding their way to the skies for affirmation and hope. Apart from adding a decorative value to the works, the saplings writhe and struggle to find their space in the struggle for survival and hope. It's at this juncture the elements realize the emergent need for adapting to the changing order. It does not take much to see adaptations in the way that the living, growing and the throbbing undertake to make survival possible. A tree grows over a metal fencing taking the foreign object within its folds. Since it cannot get rid of the irregularity in its path it takes hold of the metal in a way that does not hinder growth. Although at a glance it could seem to be a mutation of sorts, surreal at the most, the fact remains at the end of the day the tree has survived in its own way adapting to the moment. Such aberrations abound in surroundings of the day that have become accepted as part of the usual.

  It was interesting to know the development of each painting as it was worked on towards its completion. The artist explains how each element in the landscape endeared to grow with the work in progress. Maintaining a surreal progression of events, minimal color fields in the background of each work provide a base for the elements to engage and develop. Flora and fauna take their surreal path till the time there is no need for further engagement with space. In letting larger areas of emptiness to remain, there is a breather in the mutations that could remain a solace in the hope for survival. With use of a primary palette, the artist further emphasizes associations with the land. Abundant use of browns and blues do find a contemporary shade in the whites keeping up with contemporary handling of colour.

  In reacting to the circumstances, it's been a point of transition for the artist who has been in touch with realities of the land and iconic traditions of painting followed by its people. In the city, it becomes a beacon for stabilizing forces that intrude into spaces that are meant to be left alone. The ultimate realization comes home when empty spaces in the canvas lies in wait for variations in the experience to take shape. And they are always spaces in transition… Jenson Anto

  Showcasing : Anup Kumar Chand

  By : Ashok Art Gallery
  VISIT ONLINE

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  Posted on April 14, 2008 by - contemporary

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  Business & Money

  Indian Art Expo 2008, a new begining in Indian Art Market

  It's an idea whose time has come. Art fairs and expos are held as a matter of routine all over the world. Art Expo India 2008 Mumbai is determined to catch up the global Art Market Trend.
  Vickram Sethi, gallerist, curator and entrepreneur, takes this first significant step with Art Expo India 2008, which brings together professionals from various branches of the art world: From galleries to framers, buyers to artists at the World Trade Centre March 14-16, it has been organised by the Trade and Technology Exposition Co (India) Pvt Ltd, established in 1987 as an exhibition organising company headed by Mr Vikram Sethi.
  He has managed to bring together art galleries from all over the country, Sethi says, even though many are still hesitant. "They want to wait and see how this one goes," he smiles. Those that have signed up include Emami Chisel Art Pvt. Ltd. , Marvel Art Gallery, Karma Art Gallery, Archer , Ashok Art Gallery, Nitanjali Art Gallery, Arushi Arts Gallery, Art India Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd, Art & Soul, The Osmosis Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Indian Art, Klakriti Art Gallery, The Art Trust, Ashish Balram Nagpal.

  In time, Sethi explains, there will also be support services showcased at the Expo — insurance, valuation and more. Art supplies and artists' facilities are not being planned, at the moment. Sethi looks to this collection of industry-associated services being a huge success, since the art market in India is growing rapidly.

  "It used to be NRIs buying art, but now every young couple wants to own something that they can be proud of," he says. And this is where they can start.Harsh Goenka and actress Dimple Kapadia cutting the red ribbon and inaugurating the show. Making their arty-hearty presence felt at this ‘making a business out of art’ affair were a number of the city’s gallery owners, artists and art dealers, who came to check out the various stalls and works on display. Artexpo India 2008, which ends last week, offered Mumbaiites a chance to mingle with art industry professionals from across India. Young Indian Artists like Chintan Upadhyay, Pratul Dash, Venkat Bothsa, Amitava Dhar, Sajal Patra, Kanta Kishore, Jamal Ahmed, Gadadhar Ojha, Anup Kumar Chand, Binoy Verghese and Sanjeev Sonpimpare were hot favorite amongst all showcased and Ashok Art Gallery’s young artist representation was found most hunting place for all visitors.
  Dimple was very impressed with the entire concept of buyers, gallerists and collectors all coming together under one roof. “Art Expo India will open the market for a wide range of products and services,” Vickram Sethi was overheard explaining to a guest.Also present at the show opening were Laila Khan-Rajpal, Pravina and Jamal Mecklai, Sarayu Doshi, Richard and Katherine Tan and artists Sajal Patra, Prithivi Soni, Vinod Manwani, Kanta Kishore, Pradosh Swain, Sanjoy Bose, Chintan Upadhyay, Sanjeev Sonpimpare and Jenny Bhatt. Art for art’s sake, indeed!
  Ashok Nayak
  Curator and Exhibition Director
  www.ashokartgallery.com

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  Posted on March 21, 2008 by - contemporary

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  Art & Design

  Young Indian Sculptor at LAPIDIALS !!

  When you come to visit the site of LAPIDIALES near the small city of PORT D'ENVAUX, from far, you can see what looks like one small and peaceful forest. But, after one curve, suddenly you realize that the trees hide you a strange landscape .... Long times ago was established here a stone-quarry.
  The Stone of CRAZANNES - the material that has been used to build the Château de VERSAILLES, the base of the Statue de la Liberté in NEW YORK, and so many other monuments, this stone that has been transported, long times ago, by boat on the Charente River (maybe with some barrels of Cognac ? The city of Cognac is not so far !), this stone that, strangely, is not porous and even becomes and whiter all along time, this stone, now, has a new life : the royalty is no more in France (but there is still Cognac !), the quarrymen are gone and have let place to artists : the old quarry is now transformed as a sculpture garden, an open-air museum

  Since 2000, a French artist, Alain TENENBAUM has opened "LES LAPIDIALES" (in Latin, "lapidis" means "stone") to artists. This place is opened all year long but it is better to come between May and September: the residence program begins and during 5 months and you can meet artists from France and all over the world (Turkey, Russia, Zimbabwe, India) who come and work during some periods of two months. They work "in situ" according to one of the five themes of the site: water, the surface of the earth, the depths of the earth, the air, the fire.They work all day long, like quarrymen did before, but they have another aim: the transformation of stone into contemporary works of art.

  It was in 2006 that Gadadhar OJHA, the only young Indian sculptor living in France, has heard the first time about the LAPIDIALES as he had participated to the 1st International Symposium of PEZENAS (in the South of France). 13 artists working on the unique theme "Message of the Body", but amongst these artists at least 4 of them knew already the LAPIDIALES. And it was enough for Gadadhar OJHA to have the will, the desire to go and see how it was: working in an old quarry, what a strange and wonderful project!
  In September 2006, like every year, during 3 days, this was the "closing session" of the Lapidiales, so we came and met everybody: organizer, artists, and ... the site! And this is how it comes ... Your work is your visiting card, you are invited by one artist who had worked before (one artist can give two names of new artists), then you learn some weeks later that you will work at the LAPIDIALES! Says Gadadhar.

  Gadadhar OJHA has worked in 2007, during May and June, on the part called "in the depths of the Earth" ... Two months in the part of the quarry where there is less light, where there is more humidity, where it is more cold, where people who come could not see you, because there are so many caves, so many ups and downs, that visitors forget to go to see where artists work what could be the dark side of the existence.
  But in the depths of the earth, you don't know how life could be also interesting: first, when you enter on right side, you are invited by some gnomes surrounded with strange friends with strange smiles who invite you to one library where you find old books, and crane, and candles, and another crane, and an old pair of shoes (maybe from the artist of the ones of the skeleton, lying there, waiting ... ?). More far still in the right side of you, you can already saw also one big mouth with one woman emerging, from the throat, one big chain, you could be scared, but it is impossible because in the middle you see something else that show you the poetic part of existence.
  Upon on huge black wall, suddenly you see one beautiful and peaceful human being, man? Women ? who knows ?, emerging from one lotus flower, showing to our eyes his/her half-nude body, the other part made by flesh, guts, intestine, heart, lung, brain ... And in the center, one flower.
  But there, it is impossible to be afraid, because, you know that from flower comes life, that this wonderful human being born in a flower gives birth, at his/her turn to another existence that from the depths of earth came to existence.
  Suddenly, in the dark, you could see light, because slowly your eyes get used to this place, you can see also the structure: this personage is filled by horizontal lines. Those lines that follow you since you open yourself to life: the horizontal line that guides you to the sun when you wake up in the morning SUNRISE, the horizontal line when you begin to write, the horizontal lines when you begin to learn. Lines that give also movement: is not a drawing a complex of lines jointed together? There, the lines give movement to this body, and even in the dark, light is caught by these lines. Come and see this strange vision with candles around him/her ... Shadows will make the body dance, will make the flower rustle ... and maybe, you will be able to see life in the depth of the earth? Those lines begin from the stone to go back through the stone. But where are they going? Gadadhar OJHA has all the answer at his work. And when I asked him Don't you ever get tired? He said, “I never do anything that is not in my nature. You don't ask the wind whether it gets tired of blowing or the sun whether it is tired of shining. This is because they don't do anything that is not in their nature. And the thing here is that there is not pretension. There is no covering up of a mistake. There is no point in trying to appear as someone you are not. These are the principles that make my Art very strong.”
  And when we lead through such examples, through our own lives, it becomes really effective in other's lives also. People are moved by people, not just by principles. It's a ripple effect. Gadadhar OJHA lives and works in Paris.
  Visit Gadadhar's profile and works

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  Posted on March 5, 2008 by - contemporary

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  Art & Design

  Contemporary Art Exhibition Review,New Delhi,India

  from a palace…
  On the eve of 50th year celebration of Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh, Chhattishgarh, India ,53 artists from visual art faculty who were studied their Fine Art from this oldest Indian Art Institution has displayed their exceptional works at Rabindra Bhawan Galleries II & III ,World renowned eminent master S. H Raza and Eminent Indian Poet/Art Critic/Writer Sh Ashok Vajpeyi has inaugurated the show.Ashok Nayak,the curator and exhibition director has taken a major role towards its grand success. When you walk through the gallery, you will find Ajay Kumar Mall has worked on the speed and intensity of his brushwork to create abstract oils on canvas while the 'Green Landscape' by Hukum Lal Verma displays a celebration of colour and line. Elements from the landscape begin to disintegrate with its remnants in the title. Spontaneity of working in the outdoors brings about the need for speed with the application and the inevitable breakup of the form. In the lucid watercolours of the landscape by Anil Khobragare, transparent pigments look for spaces to hold on to the paper in a play of flow and merge in the painting process. Struggle for space and control comes forth in the acrylics of Devasis Mukherjee, as the birds seem to find a way to synchronize rhythms of existence among themselves. Girja Kumar Nirmalker delineates and engages pigments in indicating abstract spaces within composition while landscape remains in the hidden strata of the painting. Jiten Sahu works on constructing the urban landscape in a series of buildup activity across the canvas. Freedom of the display of brushwork remains in the periphery of the constructed space. Looking for purity of colour in the abstract, mixed media works of Mahesh Sharma engages in not looking for the definite and the orderly, rather the build up of pigment forms the base for developing the work.

  Fleeting moments manages to manifest in the abstracts of Yogendra Tripati in a residual of earth colours that play every so light on the canvas. Elements from the landscape remain in the works of Manish Verma with an alluring content for transition into the abstract. Retaining colours of the earth, the acrylic works modulate to the circumstances. Shubra Chand also works on this transition with layering of pigments. Fields of colour are set against each other in the work of Prabir Kumar Dalai. The formations allow for brilliance in colour to make representations across the fields. Using dry pastel on paper Rajesh Mishra indicates flowing lines of the dancers in an attempt to capture the moment of action in 'Khairagarh'. In the rush for existence, evasion of death seems to be the moment of realization in the work of Sukant Dev Burman. Futility in the exercise seems to be the prediction of a parrot in contemplation while a dove tries to stabilize the present. Destiny in the hands of the richness of environment is taunting enough to be in the outdoors, away from comforts of the home in the painting of Sunita Verma. Symbolic in representation, the chair makes up for the absence of the household.

  Relishing in the possibilities of transformation, the chance for a new world that could take one into the imaginable, the harmless soldier stands in readiness in the fusion of the real and the unreal in the work of Adhikalp Yadu. In similar terrain, Anup kumar Chand looks for transformations in the chance for that change in reality of a consistent regularity in the environment. Anant kumar Sahu ponders over the world order in the etching 'After Third Worldwar'. Frailty of lines in the etching drives home the situation in such an event. Aspirations in the form of a flower come in the etching by Khemlata Dewangan in 'Dream Flower'. The jaded sunflower looks up to the challenge in the present set of circumstances as the individual is caught in a vortex of the dream. In the dreaminess of the landscape, the painting by Malay Jain allows for another side of the landscape, not necessarily in the real. 'Soldiers after a War' by Mahesh R. Prajapati repeats the introspection of the individual caught in the cacophony of war. Etching and serigraphy allows for fields of hard, opaque colour in combination with sensitivity of the line.

  Symbolic and the representational find its place in the prints of Rakesh Bani. The beast has its ways of instilling fear and control over frailty of the mind. With a limited use of colour, the work gets accentuated in its scope of an expanding vision. Spatial play gets mingled with the symbolic in the work of Tikendra Kumar Sahu with dog days open throughout the year to make a livelihood for comfort as Sharad Kumar Kawre explores the representational through the digital medium of printmaking. Sheikh Hifzul makes use of transformation of imagery in the 'Kiss-III'. Decorative elements and motifs adorn the masculine and the feminine in an intimate moment of the imaginary. Use of adornment continues in the work of Sankar Sarkar in 'Gold Show'. Looking for an intervention into the consumerist pattern of the present day, the subject is laden with showpieces that have questions on its origins. In an intervention for a social cause, 'Last drop" by Sajal Patra makes a statement about non-availability of a basic necessity for sustenance. 'Camel' by Ravi Kant Jha extends the possibility of tranformation of the subject for relating to a thought, in this case being a performance. An untitiled etching print by Rabi Narayan Gupta captures a vivid cacophony of imagery of torment. There's a search for redemption in the midst of such chaos and vulnerability. In the midst of these works is a painting by Ritesh Meshram that allows a seemingly innocent play of line and colour.

  'Five Friends in B.F.A', an Etching by Mukti Agarwal is open to interpretation as a set of 5 birds gaze in extreme numbness. The quality of printmaking comes through in the work of Priyanka Waghela under an overlay of acrylic paint. Floatation of the subject plays with a compositional necessity of the work. Amar Jyoti Sarma plays a 'Mind Game' with a set of coffee cups set against an individual in contemplation. Spatial play with the cups sets a sense of intrigue to the painting while the mask of a clown against a series of stairs in the work of Dharam Beer Kumar allows for interplay of meaning. A stylized cow is represented in all its readiness for a charming display along its path in a painting by Hareream Das. A sense of freedom and pursuit is seen embellished in the Bronze sculpture by Rajesh Sharma and Kishore Kumar Sharma.
  ‘FROM A PALACE’
  At:Ashok Art Gallery
  http://www.ashokartgallery.com/
  From 16th Jan to 15th Feb 2008

  All the participating Artists are:
  Yogendra Tripathi,Vandana Parganiya,U C Misra,Tikendra Kumar Sahu,
  Tarakant Parida,Sunita Verma,Sukant Dev Burman,Subhra Chand,
  Shyam Pahapalkar,Sharad Kumar Kawre,Shailia Singh,Shekh Hifzul,
  Sankar Sarkar,Sajal Patra,Ravikant Jha,Ritesh Meshram,Ratnesh Kumar Janghel,Ramji Dongre,Rakesh Bani,Rajesh Sharma,Rajesh Mishra,
  Rajendra Sungaria,Rabi Narayan Gupta,Priyanka Waghela,
  Prabir Kumar Dalai,Pawan Kumar Dewangan,Mukti Agrawal,
  Monalisha Biswal,Manoj Kumar Sahu,Manish Verma,Malay Sunil Golchha,
  Mahesh Chandra Sharma’shira’,Mahesh Chand Rai Prajapati,
  Kuleswar Singh,Kuldeep Singh,Kishore Kumar Sharma,Khemlata Dewangan,
  Jiten Sahu,Jayprabha,Hukum Lal Verma,H R Das,Girja Kumar Nirmalkar,Dharamveer Kumar,Debasis Mukherjee,Deepak Verma,
  Anil Khobragare,Anup Kumar Chand,Anant,Amit Shrivastava,
  Amar Jyoti Shrma,Akhilesh Kumar Kashyap,Ajay Mall,Adhikalp Yadu
  Visit the show

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  Posted on February 19, 2008 by - contemporary

• Extreemly GOOD thing to know

  Authored by Xavier - 2 votes

• not yet rated

  Art & Design

  response to  Xavier's post Extreemly GOOD thing to know

  Artists are for society always

  Hi Xavier,
  Yes,artists and art community are always works for creating awareness,you know this universe is beautiful,but artist wants to beautify more always.Thanks for your valluable responce.

  Comments (0)

  Commented on October 15, 2007 by - contemporary

• 2 votes

  Art & Design

  STAND UP-SPEAK OUT artshow

  17th Oct 2007

  At: Amphi theatre,India Habitat Centre,Lodhi Road,New Delhi,India

  Free Entry and it's a open invitation to all intelectuals , policymakers, diplomats, academics and civil society groups living at New Delhi,come ,join us at this historic event.Together we can,Together we will.....

  STANDUP-SPEAKOUT Art Show
  5.30PM-6.00PM Welcome address on UNMC and Art Of Living's initiations.

  6.00PM-6.30PM Dance performance by Gilles Chuyen-"Inner Revolution"

  6.30PM-7.00PM Dance-Drama by 'Aparna' Smt. Sushama Seth's NGO on camaign theme

  7.00PM-7.30PM Odissi dance by Smt. Madhumita Rout and her group"Budha-The message of peace"

  7.30PM-7.45PM Pledge ceremony with all invited dignitaries in both Hindi and English

  7.45PM onwards Music program

  In Parallel to this there will be an ongoing art exhibition
  STANDUP-SPEAKOUT Art Show
  curated by Sh. Ashok Nayak

  All the art works created by artists are based on campaign theme and the moto of this exhibition is to create awareness on society.Most of the participating artists are devotee of Guruji Sri Sri Ravishankar ji.

  Participating Artists are:
  Sonali Chaudhari,Pratul Dash,G R Iranna,Jayadev Biswal,Binoy Varghese,Sambit Panda,M K Bardhan,Kalikinkar Dey,Shama,Tapan Dash,R P Yadav,Jagannath Panda,Dharmendra Rathore,Ajay Mohanty,Pranati Panda,Paresh Choudhury,Banoj Mohanty,Lipi Patnaik,Stya Prakash,Manoj Mohanty,Swami Sharanu,Shiba Prashad,Sujat Patnaik,Rohit Supakara

  ALL PROGRAMMES ARE SUBJECTED TO LAST MINUTE CHANGES.
  For further information contact:
  Dr Sanjana Ph: 9818681857
  Renuka Mittal Ph: 9911217659
  Ashok Nayak Ph: 9312879421
  Email: standupspeakout.artshow@gmail.com

  Comments (2)

  Posted on October 11, 2007 by - contemporary