by Lopamudra Pakira

What can be better than taking art to the people rather than getting people to see art? After the coming together of nine art galleries in Mumbai for an exhibition on contemporary art was a much appreciated event, the streets of Lado Sarai had hosted an Art Night, an event that involves different galleries coming together to open their individual shows. Though Lado Sarai has seen more than a dozen such nights, an event of this magnitude is being seen for the first time. The art night opened on the 6th April, 2012.

Placing Onself

His-Story and Her-Story, is a collective account of four young contemporary artists; Nandan Ghiya, Sachin G. Sebastian, Sumakshi Singh, Princess Pea; exploring personal narratives on distinct moments. All intimate parts of their life experiences that overlapped between individual progressions to that of a larger societal perspective. For example artist Nandan Ghiya's series, titled, deFacebook, has vintage portrait photos of different sizes from various parts of Rajasthan that comment on the interaction of technology and its effects on indigenous cultures and individual identities. Things like, dealing with issues of how does one place themselves in these times? Or how they have matured from the incidents they had in past? They weave these historical moments into their empirical life-narratives. While in continuous interaction with artists, one sense that most artists' are witnesses to the kind of heightened drama that affect or prompt their creative process. They recount the incidents of legendary moments. They serve these personal narratives in various methods. Few of those experiences that now have become their works of art. Hosted by Rasika Kajaria in Exhibit 320, the show is on till the May 5th.

Soul Searching

Gallery Art Positive presented three artists, Arbind K Singh, Anil Thambai, Partha Shaw,  who in the collection dips his 'brush' into his inner mind or the soul, to perceive life through his third eye and create his own lucid pictorial narratives revolving around life and the surrounding world. The artists hailing from different regions of India, all take recourse to their third eye for inspiration and expressions to create this panoramic ensemble of contemporary art in distinct genres and aesthetics ranging from paintings, installations and mixed media work that entertains as well as ignites the mind. Singh offers the viewer a peek into the inner realms of the life of middle class India, turning mundane objects of daily life into precious and artistic creations. With water colours and gouache on paper, Thambai delves into issues of double consciousness or split personality. Shaw's works, which are submerged in abstraction with undefined architectural landscape, graphics, forms and figures that appear somewhat like watermarks, seem to entail contemporary imprints of Indian miniature art. Hosted by Anu Bajaj, the show is on till the 28th of April, 2012.

Binary Situations and More

The Decrypted Self is a solo show of drawings, paintings and watercolours by artist Dilip Ranade. Dilip Ranade is a connoisseur of the whimsical and the idiosyncratic. In his present body of works, the artist invites us into a domain, where strange redemptions await us. He savours every hallucination that uncovers the truth about normality, every eccentricity of behaviour that can offer us an oblique insight into the condition of being richly human in an epoch of brutalising turbulence. Ranade's works inhabit the conscious decisions and unconscious gestures of daily life; it veins the relationships and transactions through which we record our presence in the world. Through his allegories, we attend to the versatility of the human subject, as relayed through the alternately tender, amusing, melancholy and hair-raising stories of our lives. If Ranade addresses a cultural doubleness or multiplicity, he also addresses the binary situation of gender, both in the relationship between men and women, and in terms of the potential instabilities of sexual identity within the individual. The erotic has been a powerful strain in his work for over three decades, declaring it in several nuances including obsession, jubilation, disquietude and unabashed pleasure. In Ranade's handling, the figure often assumes the form of a model or a mannequin, as though it were to be held at a distance for objective inquiry while remaining in play as an object of desire. On till the 25th April, the show is a must watch.

Enhancement of Celebrations

Artist Vasudha Thozhur is exhibiting her work in Delhi after a gap of seven years. Titled, The Anatomy of Celebration, or, The Party Plot, the show comprises of digital prints and four videos. The body of work, comprising digital prints and four videos, is an intent examination of the nature of 'celebration' set within the context of our unique cultural and political milieu. Living right next to an open public ground that hosts weddings, functions and birthday parties in Gujarat, Thozhur is a constant witness to the elaborate preparations and festivities that are so characteristic to our present day celebrations. Through his work, Thozhur asks  What is it that people experience while celebrating here and how does it enhance their lives? Or is it merely a safety valve or a smoke-screen, sometimes provided by the powers that obscure the poverty, which needs to be urgently addressed? Hosted by Gallery Latitude 28, the exhibition is on till the May 10th.

Black and White Palette

Art Perspective Gallery in its inaugural show showcases works of distinguished artists in the palette Black & White. The basic two pigments have played a very important role in the process of making visual narratives. Artists in their quest towards developing the visual language have maneuvered the possibilities of Black & White to depict the simple contrasts in play of light and shade as well as the contextual suggestions through textures, patterns, positive & negative aspects in the image. In the show titled, Ebony & Ivory the mother -daughter duo of Mrs. Sunita Gupta and Mrs. Suruchi Saraf presents these variant expressions of Black & White through the works of renowned artists Achuthan Kudallur, Amitava Das,  Amitabh Sengupta,  Anupam Sud,  Dhiraj Choudhury,  Dilip Mitra,  Ganesh Haloi,   Jyoti Bhatt,  Kavita Deuskar,  K.M. Adimoolam, Laxma Gaud, Lalu Prasad Shaw,  Rameshwar Broota, Robin Mondal,  Sanat Kar, Seema Ghurraya, S.Harshavardhan, S.H.Raza, Shobha Broota, Shruti Chandra, Subba Ghosh, Thota Vaikuntam  and    Yusuf Arakkal.

ART for a Cause

Who says art should be for appreciating and collecting, who says art is only based in the galleries and the site the artist would chose for their display and performance. Art , here takes up some humane initiatives too. TellusArt is a Sweden based NGO, undertaking initiatives worldwide to raise awareness about the important issues that needs collective human attention. A Village project My Village My Nation by TellusArt consist the construction of a Primary school for those who cannot avail & afford to go to school. They are going to plant trees & flowers along with the village people in their homes, streets and free space. They will design sculptures and murals (wall paintings) in a village to make it artistically beautiful & to keep their culture alive in the upcoming generation. They will educate the villagers to become more responsive, growing & eventful with respect of their arts, culture, heritage & environment in the succeeding years. The Purpose of this project is to enhance awareness and consciousness about the importance of biodiversity and protecting nature and cultural art heritage at very root level. To provide a forum for artists from different countries, to jointly express concerns about 'degeneration of biodiversity' through their art. To provide a forum for cultural exchange between artists from different countries and to build a global network of talented artists/art-enthusiasts/people who want to make a difference. To build bridges to cultural understanding between people, to make friendship across the globe. And last but not the least… To play a role to ensure we all leave a healthy legacy behind for the generations to come. To play a role in leaving a richer and secure planet for our children!