India’s spectacular architecture, the immense natural beauty of her landscapes and the great diversity of its people have inspired many Western artists. The first visual representations of India were of imaginary landscapes and settings. They were based on the written accounts of travellers to India from across Europe, beginning with the explorer Marco Polo in the 13th century. The search for spices and precious materials motivated further exploration and the establishment of European trading companies in Asia. The trading activities of the English East India Company, founded in 1600, led to the growth of British communities in India, an environment which encouraged artistic patronage. Professional European artists began to travel to India in the 18th century and painted, for the first time, scenes based on direct observation. Their passionate interest in this new and exciting land led to the creation of a comprehensive pictorial record of India, in a visual style familiar to Western audiences. Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists: Paintings and Drawings from the V&A, 1790-1927, the ongoing art exhibition, features masterpieces of art created during this time; priceless works that bear silent testimony to a bygone era. Hosted by The Victoria Memorial Hall and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and supported by the World Collections Programme.
Archive for the ‘Recent Events’ Category
o be held at the historic Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi from January 23 to February 5, 2010, this exhibition outlines the arc of a prolific artistic career spanning several decades.
Featuring over 120 works, the exhibition includes several iconic paintings that highlight the wide scope of Krishen Khanna’s artistic practice. Drawn from important public and private collections around India, including the artist’s own, this landmark exhibition reflects Krishen Khanna’s dynamic oeuvre through some of his most significant early works as well as a group of his recent paintings.
Speaking about this retrospective, Dinesh Vazirani, CEO and Co-founder of Saffronart, said, “Krishen Khanna is one of India’s most celebrated modernists, and someone who has had a profound influence on many other artists. This exhibition brings together some of the most significant works from each period of his remarkable career. As they trace his career, the works on display also highlight the artist’s complex narratives, his deep interest in human relationships, and his technical virtuosity.”
“This year, Saffronart also celebrates 10 years of commitment to providing a comprehensive global platform for modern and contemporary Indian art, and contributing to the sustainable growth of the Indian art market. We would like to thank the many individuals and institutions that have made this retrospective possible,” he added.
This retrospective follows the 2007 exhibition hosted by Saffronart at the Royal Academy of Art in London, and features paintings and drawings that chart the evolution of the Indian nation and its people through important events like the Partition of the Subcontinent.
Artist Krishen Khanna expressed his gratitude saying, “I am honoured by the generous response and enthusiasm that collectors and institutions around the country have had for this retrospective exhibition. I’m delighted that the public will get a chance to see such a comprehensive body of my work at the Lalit Kala Akademi.”
An illustrated catalogue with an introduction by the artist will accompany the exhibition.
Gaurav D. Garg, Managing Director & CEO, Tata AIG General Insurance Company Ltd. said “We are proud to reaffirm our commitment to the arts through our involvement in the Krishen Khanna retrospective”.
Saffronart, an online art auctioneer, will organize the largest ever retrospective exhibition of the works of Krishen Khanna, one of India’s most prominent and critically acclaimed modern artists.
The Museum of Fine Arts has a vast and impressive collection of Indian antiquities, but “Bharat Ratna! Jewels of Modern Indian Art’’ is the museum’s first exhibit of modern and contemporary Indian art.
It’s a small show, featuring 16 paintings, displayed in a corridor abutting Indian antiquities, a setup that invites the viewer to make delicious correspondences over the centuries. The paintings are on loan from the collection of Payal and Rajiv Jahangir Chaudhri. The artists in “Bharat Ratna’’ are some of India’s best. Still, it’s an all-too- swift dash through a half-century of art.
To be fair, the MFA’s lack of interest in such work until now is symptomatic of the Western art world’s tendency, in the latter half of the 20th century, to dismiss Indian artists as derivative and late to the game. (A major exception is the Peabody Essex Museum, which has a deep and varied collection of contemporary Indian art, one of the best outside India.)
Artists in India came to modernism decades later than their colleagues in Europe and the United States. Look at Jehangir Sabavala’s “Benkei II’’ (1955). It’s a cubist whirlwind of fractured forms, with the suggestion of a figure – Benkei, a warrior priest chronicled in Japanese Kabuki dance-drama – at the center. It’s delectably impossible to tell where Benkei ends and his surroundings begin. The painting brilliantly pivots from one perspective to another. Still, in the 1950, ’60s, and ’70s, the prevailing proponents of Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, and Pop Art would have pooh-poohed it as backward.
These days, there’s an avid market for contemporary Indian art, and a broader understanding of the context from which it springs – a spicy stew of influences that go far beyond Western art-world trends and include India’s multicultural history, politics, spirituality, and rich tradition in visual art.
“Bharat Ratna’’ focuses on artists born before 1947, when India became independent. They experienced nationalist joy. They also witnessed the horrors of the partition that created the sovereign states of India and Pakistan, which resulted in millions of refugees and hundreds of thousands of people killed.
The earliest work in the exhibit, Krishnaji Howlaji Ara’s “Bharata Natya,’’ painted about 1945, conveys where Indian art was coming from. Alive with the sunny palette that has for centuries characterized Indian painting, and painted in a rough but academic style, it shows classical dancer Ram Gopal performing before an audience against a glowing, golden backdrop. It’s a narrative painting depicting an honored tradition, rendered with straightforward representation. Gopal takes the sinuous stance of many of the dancing figures captured in the MFA’s nearby ancient sculptures.
After that, everything changed. Artists adopted modernist approaches to painting, and the stories they told grew chaotic. One of the most heartrending paintings here, Tyeb Mehta’s “Falling Figure With Bird’’ (1988), is part of a series he initiated after a 1965 visit to the front lines of the war between India and Pakistan. The sparely drawn figure (it could be either a man or a woman) drops head first, entangled with a bird. The ground is minimalist and flat, perhaps influenced by Barnett Newman, whose work Mehta saw in New York in 1968. A wedge of blue in an upper corner suggests sky, with the anguished figure and the bird plummeting into a brown void.Maqbool Fida Husain, born in 1915, is these days both beloved and reviled in India. A Muslim, he has been assailed for his depictions of Hindu goddesses. He has always been attuned to the fissures and deeply held beliefs of his native land. In 1947, he helped form the Progressive Artists Group (other artists here were also members), intent on creating a visual language equal to political events, and developing a new Indian art.
His 1964 painting “Ganesh Darwaza’’ describes a fractured cityscape beyond a gateway, loosely brushed, with buildings tumbling into one another, animals roaming about, and the beneficent elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesh overseeing it all, as if blessing the pandemonium for its promise of new beginnings.
After Indian artists embraced modernism to express the ferment they were witnessing, they talked about a return to more purely Indian themes, but they had already learned the lessons of modernism, and could never abandon it.
Both Jagdish Swaminathan, in his 1981 “The Tree, the Bird, the Shadow,’’ and Gulam Rasool Santosh, in his untitled 1970 canvas, use abstract principles, pattern, and the manipulation of space to contemplate Indian ideals. Swaminathan’s painting, all in sun-kissed colors, reads like a pared down verse: A slip of a black bird perches on a floating rock against flat, orange air; a tree explodes with autumn leaves against a fiery swipe of paint, symbolic of a mountain. Santosh’s work is a symmetrical, geometric cloudscape paying tribute to the Tantric tradition, praising sex as an avenue to transcendence.
The paintings that date to the 1990s indicate a turning inward. Ganesh Pyne’s gorgeous, lyrical “Reflections’’ (1995), painted in an ancient Indian tradition with tempera on canvas, shows a cross-legged figure meditating before a reflective pool; at his back, gold speckles the night sky.
Arpita Singh, the only woman in the show, captures a dazzling, mystifying, and sad narrative in her 1994 domestic scene “Munna Appa’s Kitchen.’’ She plays with space, flattening the table, a man behind it, and many plates and pots so there’s almost no depth, as in old Indian miniature paintings. A sad-eyed woman sits in the center, peeling fruit. A man lies nearby – Is he asleep? Is he dead? – and in the foreground, four dour women have brought bouquets.
Curiously, of all the other works in the show, Singh’s has most in common with the earliest, Ara’s painting of a classical dance; both feature loose, easy brushwork and a narrative with figures in the foreground. Yet by today’s standards, it’s the most contemporary painting here.
The story of contemporary Indian art, like the story of contemporary India, is one of synthesis, the integration of outside influences with vibrant tradition. It’s also a story of upheaval, adaptation, and coming round again. “Bharat Ratna’’ may be a small show, but it tells the tale succinctly, and with many stirring visions.
It’s that time of the year again when the city of Hyderabad witnesses an explosion of cultural events.
In collaboration with The Embassy of France in India, Alliance Francaise of Hyderabad and a variety of sponsors, the Krishnakriti Foundation presents Annual Festival of Art & Culture in memory of Krishnachandra B. Lahoti.
Tightly integrated with the ongoing “Bonjour India – Festival of France in India”, the Krishnakriti festival will showcase a heady mix of classical & modern art-forms from cultures across the globe. The line-up includes music, dance, art and fusion art forms.
The Krishnakriti Foundation will conduct an art camp from Jan 7 to 11 at the Kalakriti Art Gallery. A panel comprising some of India’s best known artists will conduct a discussion on “Where is the Indian Art Market Heading?”.
In the following days, artists such as Dobet Gnohare, China Moses and Penn Masala will present programmes on music. Margi Madhu’s troupe & Mayakkam Oxymore will present programmes on dance. Renowned Indian photographer Amit Mehra will conduct a two day workshop on photography. A French film festival will showcase some of the best that classic F
rench cinema has to offer.
Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan might not see eye-to-eye, but there is a common thread existing between them –their love for painting.While Salman has also come out with a fashion line to help the needy through his Being Human foundation, Shah Rukh’s feats at art are no less ordinary. Shah Rukh first teamed up with MF Husain and painted a canvas during a ‘live’ effort. The painting was then auctioned by Bonhams of London. Next, he paid a tribute to the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks by painting on a wall at Marine Lines. He has pledged support to any cause and initiative that moves him and says painting is certainly a way through which he can reach out to the masses.
“For me painting is like a hobby and it feels good when you do something like this to help people or spread a message. I am a silent philanthropist and I will continue to be so,” says Shah Rukh.
For Salman it’s ‘not a hobby but a passion’. “I have always painted when my heart has told me to. Since I know a particular art which is over and above acting, I should dedicate it to charity to help people who are less fortunate than us,” he says.
Salman adds, “Through Being Human I have interacted with a lot of needy people. I have been moved by those interactions. Though I earn crores through my movies, my paintings and Being Human initiatives make me most happy. We all have social responsibilities and I’m only trying to do my part.”
Salman Khan being an avid painter is a fact that’s now as old as the hills. The brawny actor is known to even gift his exquisite paintings to those whom he considers truly special. The latest person to benefit from Salman’s generosity and love is none other than Aamir Khan
Aamir’s performance in Ghajini has surely caught Salman’s fancy. Now one will have to wait and watch if it manages to impress the janta-janardhan when the film opens across cinema halls this Christmas.
Asin unveils the Ghajini paintings made by Salman Khan
Silence is power. A series of artwork placed around Copenhagen has carpeted the city with a veil of silence, delivering powerful visual messages to draw attention, in a peaceful and elegant way, without a din.
The artworks — from thousands of 20-kilometer-long flashing red lights marking a 7-meter sea level rise to Freedom to Pollute, a 6-meter-high replica of the Statue of Liberty releasing smoke from its torch and symbolizing the US’ high level of greenhouse gas emissions — highlight climate change issues from different angles.
Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot and his Art in Defense of Humanism workshop are behind the sevenmeters.net art project.
Raising awareness about climate change issues is the main purpose of Galschiot’s initiative, which was originally launched in Denmark with a global focus, encouraging activists across the globe to take up his idea.
“By taking an artistic approach, I am able to visualize the problems in ways organizations and politicians are not usually able to,” he told The Jakarta Post.
“I expect people will see the sculptures, and it will hit them that we are actually messing with the Earth’s very balance with the pollution we are creating.”
With the blinking red lights placed all around Copenhagen, including near the Bella Center that currently hosts the climate change talks, he hopes to stir images in people’s minds of what the Danish capital will look like when the Greenland ice melts.
“It might take generations [for the ice to melt], but we are heading in that direction,” he said, referring to one of the long-term consequences of global warming.The art project, a joint collaboration between different stakeholders like peoplesclimateaction.dk and illumenarts.dk also attempts to show that global warming is not merely about the extinction of wildlife and plants, or rising sea levels.
Through the works, the project also tries to showcase the huge impact of global warming on mankind, including in the form of future migrations caused by droughts and floods.
The UN foresees climate change impacts will produce some 200 million climate refugees before the year 2050 unless drastic action is taken.
“Wandering Refugees”, three 10-meter-tall installations consisting of copper faces peering out of long African women robes with shrill colors, and inspired by Sudanese female refugees walking through the desert, speaks louder than thousands of words spilled on refugee movements caused by climate change.
“Refugees in Water” placed at the Bella Center Metro Station, showcases a group of human-sized bronze sculptures placed in the water ditches under the metro.
“The Messenger”, a four-meter-high bronze sculpture placed nearby, depicts a messenger counting new climate refugees.
The project did not forget to include Copenhagen’s landmark symbol, the Little Mermaid statue, based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale.
Near the Little Mermaid, the artist placed the “Survival of the Fattest” sculpture — a symbol of the rich world’s self-complacent “righteousness”.The statue depicts a fat woman (representing the rich world), holding a pair of scales in her hands, sitting on the back of a starving African man (representing the Third World).
The installation does not shy away from criticizing rich developed countries for sitting like the mermaid on the rock or the fat lady — at a safe distance from water level, content and reassured — while island states around the world disappear, and hurricanes, droughts and hunger hit the rest of the world, especially Africa and Asia.
“We continue to sit on our rocks, convinced that over 200 million climate refugees the UN foresees in 40 years will not affect us.”
Glaschiot, who has been working on this project since early this year, said his work had attracted many responses.
“I haven’t really had any negative response even though I am depicting pretty harsh things through my sculptures.
“Many have said the works opened their eyes to environmental problems in another way than, for instance, climate organizations did, as they are more scientific and tend to ‘preach’.”
Galschiot and his art workshop have made all hell break loose in the past, the last time being 2008, when the project The Color Orange highlighted human rights violations in China on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
For Galschiot, it is his obligation as an artist to depict how the world really is.
“I choose to focus on injustice and humanitarian problems. I think it is a disgrace that we in the West can live in luxury and have obesity problems while some 100 millions are starving and our companies are polluting and exploiting the world.”
Surreal Porcelain
Lladro’s The Fantasy, a collection of marvellous porcelain pieces appear to the surreal. Created by artistic advisor Jamie Hayon, The Fantasy features fantastical themes – circus, dreams, magic – combined with the familiar – love, family, childhood – to produce truly delightful pieces that standout from the more traditional themes of the Spanish company. It is the first collection signed by Hayon, who has been at the creative helm since 2006. The pieces follow a simple color scheme, each highlighted with a few splashes of intense color, particularly on the shoes. The shoes are important as they are porcelain replicas of the leather shoes Hayon designs for Majorcan company, Camper. The fusion of Hayon’s worlds, porcelain and fashion, surprises the viewer with a balance of expression and function in the pieces, which range from candle holder’s to vases to decorative family scenes. The Love Explosion is the hallmark piece, a more than three-feet tall realization of Hayon’s central ideas of love, playfulness, dreams and humor.
