Live Unbound. Shall we say anything more? An exhibition that validates its purpose. While it showcases a group of well-reputed contemporary masters as a badge of pride, Modern Art Gallery also extends the platform to four promising new ones who paint an unbridled expression of their times. Excerpts:
Komal Mistri
Among the different thoughts Komal Mistri has contributed through her cupboard series, one of them has a traditional spice box painted on its door. “The only colour you see is yellow (haldi), which is used as antiseptic, an ingredient with curative properties. When you open the door, there is some text hidden under black colour. Upon a careful look, you see what’s written. It says to heal your self, you first need to love your self,” says Mistri.
Shailesh Chavda
Information has saved us from ignorance but has also made us paranoid. We think too much and say even more. But if there’s a way to slow down those racing thoughts, it’s through art, feels Shailesh Chavda. “I have discovered so much about myself and my surrounding. When I assimilate that onto the canvas, I get a sense of knowing,” he says. His fondness for metals is evident in this new body of works. He’s always on a lookout for industrial spaces and workshops. That’s his playground, a creative outlet. He sees thought-provoking contours in crooked metal forms. He sees unusual colours in rusting material. The result is in front of you. A solid mass of abstraction that cannot be defined by meaning.
Puja Monda
“My works have evolved as an expression of nostalgia for the absent and grief for the memories of lost ones,” says Puja Mondal. Since she started pursuing art, she has been intrigued by the changing spaces around her, including the things that have withered. Handcrafted objects being one; a beautiful aspect of our heritage.
“It has got submerged under the nonchalant march of time. Dealing with a clouded sense of oblivion that memories leave us with and traces of loss, my practice engaged in depictions of cerebral spaces. Where the narratives of isolation and loss were built up with the experiential realities of my surrounding spaces,” explains Mondal.
Thirumala Thiru
Artist Thirumala Tiru’s measures success when he can translate it flawlessly on his canvas. It’s that moment when, like the winner of the race, he parades around the track like a peacock. Only here, the race is with his self and the track is the artistic journey he has chosen. Women and temples take centre stage in his latest work. Faith and power. These are set within floral wreaths that define newness of ‘unbound’ ideas.
Till: November 30
Time: 11:00am to 7:00pm
At: Modern Art Gallery, Santushti Shopping Complex, Chanakyapuri