Amidst all the blitzkrieg of new media art and monumental installations, here is a gallery that believes in reinventing and redefining tradition, Gallerie Ganesha is bringing forth a collection of artworks deeply inspired by lineage as well as traditions of tribal and folk art for the India Art Fair.
Commenting on the same Shobha Bhatia, director, Gallerie Ganesha said ‘A strong heritage can influence descendants for generations. Tradition, which is always old, is at the same time ever new because it is always reviving. Being born again in each generation. The work of an artist in any era is essentially an amalgamation of his ancestors and predecessors and his own experiences. This year we are showcasing works with a special focus on what lineage influences each artist and how they have chosen to take that inspiration forward. It is an attempt to get the artists to look within and virtually put a spot light on the vocabulary they are using in order to weave their individualistic tales. At the same time, our focus largely is on folk and the tribal tradition.’
One can see works by the well known tribal artist, Jangarh Singh Shyam, from Madhya Pradesh who died under tragic circumstances in Japan. Artists who are inspired by the folk tradition are Neelkant Choudhary from Madhubani, Bihar, Uma Shankar Shah from Nepal, late Professor K.S.Kulkarni, Dipak Banerjee, Jayasri Burman, Ganga Singh, Laxma Goud and Atul Sinha amongst others.
Talking about his works Neelkant Choudhary said, ‘The fine lines of my works have been pulled from the deep and long tradition of the Mithila-Madhubani art form and married to modern metaphors under delicate ministering. I have also brought to the form an entirely new idiom of tone and tenor.
As an artist with a traditional background it was very difficult and also very interesting to break away from the former to latter while also trying to work on the traditional lines so as to maintain the familiarity with the traditional paintings.’
Uma Shankar Shah has done etchings and unique prints based on Maithili art, the theme of which is mostly from the Ramayana and prayer wheels from Nepal. He has transformed the traditional art of Maithili Painting into a contemporary extravaganza while meticulously using abstract symbols, motifs, brilliant colours and bold lines characteristic of the traditional art form.
Dipak Banerjee’s work is marked by a predominance of patterned structures, calligraphy, anthropomorphic images, Yantras and Mandalas. Over the years he has become more and more rooted in a pictorial mode close to the imagination of Indian miniaturists and folk artisans. KS Kulkarni had developed most simplified constructive forms which have a content dwelling in contemporary psyche. Post modern, unadorned and yet somehow in its heartbeats are engraved into our mind from the tantric concepts of life and going back to primitive cavemen and bushmen.
Jayasri Burman’s figures have gained iconic proportions where they no longer remain confined within the space of a mythological or a religious framework, rather they have moved beyond those conventions to establish newer grounds for approaching art.
Her work is a reflection of history, myth and ancient texts – an element which transcends time and easy classification in a very immediate and emphatic manner. Atul Sinha’s wood sculptures have a very distinct and prominent overtone of tribal art. The simplicity of form merging beautifully with the ‘complexity’ of narrative to create alluring three dimensional art.
Apart from the above, artworks by artists like Alok UNiyal, Avijit Dutta, Badri Narayan, Devdatta Padekar, Maite Delteil, Mohan Singh, Murlidhar Rai, Neeraj Goswami, Niti Jain, Paresh Maity, Sakti Burman, Sangeeta Gupta, Satish Gujral, Sidharth, Vinita Karim, Nayanaa Kanodia, Maya Burman and
Ganga Singh.
When: 30 January
Where: NSIC Exhibition Grounds
Commenting on the same Shobha Bhatia, director, Gallerie Ganesha said ‘A strong heritage can influence descendants for generations. Tradition, which is always old, is at the same time ever new because it is always reviving. Being born again in each generation. The work of an artist in any era is essentially an amalgamation of his ancestors and predecessors and his own experiences. This year we are showcasing works with a special focus on what lineage influences each artist and how they have chosen to take that inspiration forward. It is an attempt to get the artists to look within and virtually put a spot light on the vocabulary they are using in order to weave their individualistic tales. At the same time, our focus largely is on folk and the tribal tradition.’
One can see works by the well known tribal artist, Jangarh Singh Shyam, from Madhya Pradesh who died under tragic circumstances in Japan. Artists who are inspired by the folk tradition are Neelkant Choudhary from Madhubani, Bihar, Uma Shankar Shah from Nepal, late Professor K.S.Kulkarni, Dipak Banerjee, Jayasri Burman, Ganga Singh, Laxma Goud and Atul Sinha amongst others.
Talking about his works Neelkant Choudhary said, ‘The fine lines of my works have been pulled from the deep and long tradition of the Mithila-Madhubani art form and married to modern metaphors under delicate ministering. I have also brought to the form an entirely new idiom of tone and tenor.
As an artist with a traditional background it was very difficult and also very interesting to break away from the former to latter while also trying to work on the traditional lines so as to maintain the familiarity with the traditional paintings.’
Uma Shankar Shah has done etchings and unique prints based on Maithili art, the theme of which is mostly from the Ramayana and prayer wheels from Nepal. He has transformed the traditional art of Maithili Painting into a contemporary extravaganza while meticulously using abstract symbols, motifs, brilliant colours and bold lines characteristic of the traditional art form.
Dipak Banerjee’s work is marked by a predominance of patterned structures, calligraphy, anthropomorphic images, Yantras and Mandalas. Over the years he has become more and more rooted in a pictorial mode close to the imagination of Indian miniaturists and folk artisans. KS Kulkarni had developed most simplified constructive forms which have a content dwelling in contemporary psyche. Post modern, unadorned and yet somehow in its heartbeats are engraved into our mind from the tantric concepts of life and going back to primitive cavemen and bushmen.
Jayasri Burman’s figures have gained iconic proportions where they no longer remain confined within the space of a mythological or a religious framework, rather they have moved beyond those conventions to establish newer grounds for approaching art.
Her work is a reflection of history, myth and ancient texts – an element which transcends time and easy classification in a very immediate and emphatic manner. Atul Sinha’s wood sculptures have a very distinct and prominent overtone of tribal art. The simplicity of form merging beautifully with the ‘complexity’ of narrative to create alluring three dimensional art.
Apart from the above, artworks by artists like Alok UNiyal, Avijit Dutta, Badri Narayan, Devdatta Padekar, Maite Delteil, Mohan Singh, Murlidhar Rai, Neeraj Goswami, Niti Jain, Paresh Maity, Sakti Burman, Sangeeta Gupta, Satish Gujral, Sidharth, Vinita Karim, Nayanaa Kanodia, Maya Burman and
Ganga Singh.
When: 30 January
Where: NSIC Exhibition Grounds