Delhi-based Ampas Art Gallery has launched an online exhibition, titled Perseverance 2020, displaying works by celebrated artists such as Kavita Jaiswal, Sukesan Kanka, Pratul Dash, Rajendra Kapse, Yashvant Singh, among others.
Neelam Malhotra, the gallery’s owner is also the curator of this exhibition that offer a perspective on what it’s like tiding through these troubled times. Excerpts from an interview with Malhotra.
What is the theme of this show?
The show is about perseverance. We have survived droughts, floods, plagues, pandemics in the past and that resilience persists. In this pandemic, our new normal is widely different from what it was in the beginning of the year. Yet, we adapted, fought on and never lost hope.
The world has been struggling to deal with the loss of lives. Daily wagers to large-scale industries, all have suffered. Being tossed into such situations might have felt like complete fiction even last year. Here is an attempt to weave together some sensitive works of art and bring these forth in this exhibition to invoke thought and contemplation.
What led you to choose particular artists?
These artists have persistence and continuity in their art practice. Their work has positivity, a quality of strength and perseverance. Some of them approach their work in a spiritual fashion, a meditative quality that transmits into their visual language, invoking peace and calm; others take a more direct approach and put their thoughts and concerns onto their work more literally.
Give us a lowdown on some of the artworks.
There is a certain meditative quality to Ashok Gulati’s work; a quest into the unknown. His imagery is simple yet mature, with positivity. His medium is akin to his friend and inspiration Sohan Qadri, surfaces of paper dabbed in monochromatic tones with incisions, perforations and burns that provide form within abstraction, invoking the spiritual aspect of our beings.
In his visual language, Yashvant Singh uses elements and symbols from the tribal communities that he grew up around, their rituals, telling tales of ancestors and deities. The motifs and figures that appear and reappear, come from beliefs and symbolism evokes the ancestors and/or spirits and deities that protect from all evil.
A purification of the space, an apt metaphor much needed in these times, as mankind struggles with multiple demons of climate change, a global pandemic and declining humanity and compassion. Pratul Dash has been creating awareness about climate change from the time when it was not such a prevalent topic.
How is the gallery coping in the pandemic?
As the pandemic escalated, artists and curators are finding new ways to display creativity and reach out to people over avenues that could be possible without physical contact. We have seen a surge in online shows curation stock webinars conducted by various galleries curators and artists. There has been a lot of effort that has been put into staying relevant.