May 15 - June 13, 2009
Shruti Mahajan, Ritesh
Meshram, Sarita Chouhan, Rakesh
Kumar, Vijay Bondar, Rupali
Sontakke Angre and Sharad Sonkusale
Studio Practices is a two-part exhibition showcasing works
of 15 emerging artists.
It will be on view from May 15 - June 13 and June 19 - July
18, 2009 at the Chemould Prescott Road Space in Mumbai.
Each artist will each present a small body of work and on the
whole the exhibit is to be perceived as several solo shows,
rather than a large curated one. Although, parallels have been
drawn from each artist's work and the process of abstract thought
and narrative form have been considered, when placing artists
in the respective exhibitions. Another interesting part of this
endeavour - obvious from the title - the unseen and at most
times the ignored bond between the artist's studio, the artist
himself in relation to his studio space and the gallery space
and last but not the least the viewer.
Form, Line, color and thought (abstract or constructional)
have been intensely lived by these artists, where some construct
the narration of thought the others the narration of form. The
dimensions in their work with respect to the other and self
are stretched to its extent. By viewing a suite of works by
each artist the viewer is forced to question, be informed and
be restless to gain more than just 'viewing or discussing works'.
The viewer would be the curious intruder and the invited at
the same moment in time.
The overall display as a studio-gallery will bear the undercurrent
of constant questioning, which is continuously built by the
artist, which in turn builds his works. This will now be channelled
toward the viewer too.
Works in Mixed media on canvas and paper, sculptures, video,
installation and films will be showcased in this 60 day period.
Shruti Mahajan
Having passed out from the M S University in 2000 and completing
her Masters in textile design from the National Institute of
Design, Ahemdabad, 2004, Shruti will be showing a body of her
work for the first time in Mumbai. They (Installation and mixed
media works on paper) are layered, with, thought, memory and
its reconstruction (aided by letters and photographs) of her
ancestral home in Dhar, its inhabitants and her journey back
to it by re-building lanes into lost spaces, sounds and stories.
Her works in the show include an installation and drawings.
Shruti has participated in several group shows. She lives and
works in Mumbai.
Ritesh Meshram
He has closely followed the narration of form - the uniqueness
in the shapes of seeds and other vegetation. Hailing from the
agricultural town of Khairagarh, Ritesh has seeped himself in
defining through drawings the imagery and composition of simplified
linear and volume of such forms. The recurrence of them in his
earlier charcoal works, grew towards the narration of a landscape.
His current body has emerged as one that has not only a narrative
approach (he has been a integral part of the drama group from
Khairagarh and is also a playwright) with an involvement of
characters but also a one with a story but with an abstraction
in thought. He has smoothly built in text - as words or sentences,
mapping his own way through the canvas. Ritesh presents mixed
media on canvas and an equally moving video at Chemould.
Ritesh Meshram first showed solo at the Qualcomm artist's support
space in Mumbai in 2007 after which he was presented by the
Birla gallery in 2008. He has shown solo at the Lalit Kala (New
Delhi) and has participated in several group shows. He lives
and works in Mumbai.
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Sarita Chouhan
Sarita's current body of work that will be on display at Chemould
hold the idea of form and formlessness. The linear quality of
flora and the basic essence of a 'seed' and 'living form' is
the core of many of her works. The rhythmic chanting with which
each form is laid out and multiplied and allowed to run amock
on large canvasses under her watchful eye. The intensity of
the minimal-maximum visual is optimum in these works. Her compositions
on paper are silent and explore sensitively her curiosity of
space and the consciousness of its volume in relation to the
form it envelopes.
Sarita is a self-taught artist and has focussed in presenting
her works in solos and group shows for a decade now. She has
shown solo in Mumbai (Museum gallery, Artist Centre, Jehangir
Art Gallery), Chandigarh (Art Folio) and Delhi (Alliance Francise).
She lives and works in Mumbai.
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Sharad Sonkusale
The cave paintings, minimal, sensitive, vibrating in line and
form, have intrigued him. Fossilized leaves, crevices between
stones, the mystery of shape and form in the silent still life
of nature - Sharad is moved by these lyrical anthems. They are
a narration of the abstract, the un-deciphered, the mysterious
awaiting to be spelt out.
Sharad graduated from the Government Chitrakala Mahavidyalay,
Nagpur in 2002 and completed his Masters from the Sir J J School
of Art in 2004. He showed solo at Hacienda gallery, Mumbai in
2007. He lives and works in Bhopal.
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Vijay Bondar
Bondar's mixed media on paper are fields of solid color, holding
low, derived and 'mother' (main) form. Working with the 'triangle'
for nearly 5 years now, Vijay's drawings have evolved as an
extensive trek into the world of forms, from where artists rarely
return. His works on paper appear as ariel views of architectural
ruins, an ancient un-deciphered map, collage of pieces of paper
and water. The sturdyness of the opaque background and the sensitive
drawing in answer to it is what makes them visually intriguing.
His incessant partitioning of forms in his canvas reminds one
of story-boards where the narration gets thicker and the drawing
more tangled! His obsession with space, color and form and the
fine balance between these three is unending, and his mixed
media works on paper and oils on canvas are proof enough to
that.
Vijay was presented by the Birla Gallery in 2007 and went to
show solo in several solos in the city since then. He graduated
in Drawing and painting from the Sir J J School of Art, Mumbai
in 2004 and completed his Masters in 2006. He lives and works
in Mumbai.
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Rupali Sontakke Angre
A line of beds float along an undetermined watery course upheld
by petals. This strange imagery, the horizontal panelling, layering
and construction of a visual brings us to meet a very sensitive
mind. Rupali has been following the form of the bed for a while
now. Tracing sleep, insomnia and the act of resting, rupali
meditates on visuals formed and developed then. Her experiences
bring her to a quiet corner in her mind. Forms that metaphorically
build around her thoughts are delicately drawn onto the prepared
surface of the paper. A heavily laden brush with the most minimal
hues, fill niches and strokes, build volumes and space. Her
compositions are mystery and reality at the same time.
Rupali graduated in Drawing and Painting from the Sir J J School
of Art, Mumbai in 2002 and completed her Masters in 2004. The
Birla gallery presented her first solo in 2006. She lives and
works in Mumbai.
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Rakesh Kumar
Rakesh has shown in recurring intervals in Delhi and Mumbai.
Having graduated from Jammu, Rakesh completed his MFA at the
Sir J J School of Art in 2004. His works have always perceived
form in landscape and nature. The linear quality of running
hills or a cluster of trees, open plains or grassy ledges, have
always found their way through and to Rakesh. The absence of
self and also the very presence of it at the same time bring
on a third dimension to the construction of line. The extremes
at which rakesh's palette and plurality of line hold visually,
the scales of his work, from the smallest of 7 inches in pastel
to the largest at nearly 90 inches in acrylic gives a clear
picture of his pursuit of line, layering and minimal but multiple
facades into the volume of color space and time.
Having graduated from the art school in Srinagar, Rakesh went
on to complete his masters from the Sir J J School of Art, Mumbai,
2004. He showed solo at the Birla gallery in 2008. He has participated
in several group shows and has shown solo in Jammu, Delhi and
Mumbai. He lives and works in Srinagar.
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