Art India - February 2022

En este asunto

In this issue, we map the art scene before, between and just after the third wave. Through reviews, reports and conversations, we check out shows by Varunika Saraf, Hemali Bhuta, Bharti Kher, Shezad Dawood, Radhika Khimji, Kartik Sood, Praneet Soi, Baaraan and Moonis Ijlal, Hetain Patel, Paula Sengupta, Piyali Sadhukhan, Paula Sengupta, Jayasri Burman, Sharbendu De, Sheetal Gattani, Antra Sinha, Khanjan Dalal, Sosa Joseph, Ravikumar Kashi, Neerja Kothari, Manish Nai, Tanmoy Samanta and several others.

Paradise Lost

Adip Dutta travels through Paula Sengupta’s forest stories.

2 mins

Transience and its Preservation

Lac, as material and metaphor, speaks to transforming fragilities. It leads Hemali Bhuta to explore issues of labour and processes of memorialisation. Adwait Singh responds to her quilts, carpets and cyanotypes.

4 mins

Patchwork Memories

Urdu pulp fiction, a legendary Lahori bookshop, and architecture in Pakistan and Bangladesh, come together in Shezad Dawood’s show to navigate South Asian identity, discovers Pooja Savansukha.

3 mins

Ode to Multiple Belongings

Through the use of costumes, movement, gestures and embellishments, Hetain Patel performs a variety of identities, says Chintan Girish Modi.

3 mins

The Body to its Limits

Radhika Khimji explores the female form, disrupting its traditional character and constitution, marks Anirudh Chari.

3 mins

Anatomy of Power

Gender biases and sexual exploitation, faith and violence, are boldly examined by Piyali Sadhukhan, finds Anirudh Chari.

2 mins

Morphed Selves, Mixed Worlds

Bharti Kher’s composite creatures attract and repel at the same time, insists Meera Menezes.

4 mins

Vanishing Acts

Boundless mountains in Kartik Sood’s paintings open a portal to a world that is oneiric, intense and expansive, exults Arushi Vats.

4 mins

Tree Ears, Bird Voices

Paths of rivers traced on tree barks, the map of a city located in a bulbul’s heart – Praneet Soi investigates imprints left by lost homes, finds Arushi Vats.

2 mins

Regarding the Pain of Others

In Varunika Saraf’s most recent show Caput Mortuum at Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai, held from the 25th of November to the 31st of December, 2021, material serves as metaphor: Saraf uses the iron oxide caput mortuum, which resembles dried blood, to symbolise decay and decline, and the carmine extracted from the cochineal scale insect to refer to the blood that continues to be spilt in public life. Many of the images in her paintings echo photographs that appear in newspapers every day and depict growing disenfranchisement on the basis of caste, class and religion. Here, Saraf talks to Zeenat Nagree about the role of an artist in such a divisive political climate, and answers questions about representing contemporary violence through a study of imagery and techniques from the past.

6 mins

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Art India Magazine Description:

ART India is India's premier art magazine: over the last 25 years, it has been responsible for the promotion of a critical discourse around diverse art forms, activities and disciplines.

As an important forum for discussing, interrogating and appreciating art practices, ART India has been responsible for giving a platform to artists and critics to engage in a mutually replenishing intellectual dialogue with each other. This has led to the fostering of a vibrant atmosphere of sustained debate around crucial issues linked to the theory and practice of painting, sculpture, installation art, new media art, photography and architecture.

We have taken care to be multi-disciplinary in our approach as well as to dwell on diverse visual cultural issues of importance and urgency.

ART India has been launched successfully in Dubai, New York, London, Lahore, and Karachi, among other international venues.

ART India has a huge international following and has been chosen by Beaux Arts magazine, Paris, as one of the leading art magazines in the world.