Born in Bangalore in 1958, Rekha Rodwittiya completed her graduation from The Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda in 1981. She then received the Inlaks scholarship for her M.A. in Painting from Royal College of Art, London in 1984. In 1988-89 she was invited as guest artist to the Konsthogskolan, Stockholm and was also invited to deliver series of lectures on Indian Art at the Ecole des Beaux Arts Grenoble and Castello de Rivoli, Torino in 1991. She did a short stint at the Fullam Institute on Film and Video, and was conferred the Staff Fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation Asian Cultural Council to work in the U.S. in 1990.
Rekha Rodwittiya's work describes complex issues of life and living, of alienation and belonging, of discrimination and acceptance, of accord and discord. It is of paramount importance to this sensitive artist to react pragmatically to socio-political attitudes that surround her. Her work reflects her sensitivity towards socio-political attitudes along with the reflections from her past.
She does not treat art, and life in isolation and deems it necessary to experience life to paint. Her fervent activity of painting is a struggle for her own rightful existence. The artist explains to say, "I go through all the terror and agony of stepping into an 'unknown'." Her images are a byproduct of her thoughts and emotions, her readings, observations, beliefs, values and vast compilation of past experiences.
The artist draws on a heritage of elemental imagery, tempered by psychological insights, portraying women through the prism of personal experience and day-to-day realities. As she has noted: "Caught within the intricacies of adult angst where the undercurrent of pain was recognized though not fully understood by me, the drawn or constructed image became very early a means of deciphering all that I accumulated from observing....My sense of empathy with the drawn image was that it offered a physicality, and established a concretizing of the otherwise intangible. It became a method, as I perceive it in retrospect, of creating a dialogue that gave meaning to a psychological realm."
Education
1982-84 MA (Painting) Royal College of Art, London, UK.
Awarded a distinction for my thesis “A Painful Journey”.
Received The Unilever Painting Prize at the degree show.
1982-83 Studied Film & Video at the Fulham Institute, London, UK
1982 Awarded Inlaks Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Art London, U.K
1978 Studied & practiced photography under the guidance of Prof Jyoti Bhatt
1976 BFA Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University, Baroda, India
Solo Exhibitions
2016 Love done right can change the World- To be presented at Vadehra Gallery, Delhi
Rekha Rodwittiya | The Rituals of Memory: Personal Folklores & Other Tales, Aicon Gallery, New York
2014 The Guarded Megalopolis of the Feminine Heart, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2013 Matters of the Heart, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2011 Intangible Interlocution: An Anthology of Belonging, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2008 Rekha@ fifty Sakshi Gallery, Bombay
2007 Second Skin, Air Gallery & Sakshi Gallery, London, UK
Second Skin, Maya Gallery & Sakshi Gallery, London, UK
2006 Once Upon A Time…, Sakshi Gallery at Shridharani, Delhi
2005 Encrypted Soliloquies, Sakshi Gallery at Art Folio, Singapore
2003 Bye-Bye Baby, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay
Old Fables : New Myths, Sakshi Gallery in collaboration with Sarjan Art Gallery, Baroda
2001 Subtexts, Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore
1999 Time Zones: Home & Away, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay
1998 Evocations, Studio Barbieri, Venice, Italy
1997 My Body – My Land, Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore
Re-Inscribing Ancestries, Nazar Gallery, Baroda
Borders/Territories, Apparao Galleries at Gallery 678 New York, USA
1996 In Shades of Red, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay
1994 Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore
1993 Art Heritage, Delhi
Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay
1992 Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore
Seagull For Arts, Calcutta
1991 Sakshi Gallery, Chennai
1990 Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay
1989 Art Heritage, Delhi
1988 Gallery Sassi, Stockholm, Sweden
1987 Art Heritage, Delhi
1986 Sarala Art Centre, Chennai
Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay
1985 Art Heritage, Delhi
Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay
1982 Urja Art Gallery, Baroda, India
Selected Group Exhibitions
2015 The Naked and the Nude: The Body in Indian Modern Art, Dag Modern, New York
Sakshi group exhibition at the Park, Chennai
2014 In-Between, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2013-14 Forgotten Figures', Aicon Gallery, New York
2013 The Sakshi Show’, presented by Sakshi Gallery at The Park, Chennai
First Edition, presented by Sakshi Gallery at Taj Krishna, Hyderabad
Mapping Gender: Bodies and Sexualities in Contemporary Art across the Global South,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
The Possibility of Being, Exhibit 320, New Delhi
In house, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2012 Diva, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
Contemporary, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
Contemporary, presented by Sakshi Gallery at The Park, Chennai
Looking Back, Looking Forward, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
Daya/ On Kindness: An Australia India cultural exchange, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne Australia
Narratives of the Self, Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2011-12 Back to School: Baroda 1979-89, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2011 Anecdotes, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
Daya/On Kindness: An Australia India cultural exchange, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
Review, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
Pause: A Collection, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
High-Light, presented by Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai at The Oberoi, Gurgaon
Back to School: Baroda 1979-89, Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi
2010-11 A Collection, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2010 Gallery Collection, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
Roots, 25th Anniversary Exhibition of Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai at The Park, Chennai.
Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
Dali's Elephant, Aicon Gallery, London
International Ceramic Centre Baroda - Exhibition at ABS Baroda and at Art & Soul Mumbai-
Wired at the Heart
Singularities, RL Fine Arts, New York
1.2.3.4.5...In the Line of Fire, Lemongrasshopper, Ahmedabad
2009 Inaugural Show, Sakshi Gallery, Taipei
Arco ’09, Sakshi Gallery, Madrid , Spain
Gallery Collection, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
‘Collection of works,’ Sakshi Gallery Mumbai
Zip Files, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
Finding India, Sakshi Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Long Gone & Living Now, Gallerie Mirchandani & Steinreucke, Mumbai
2008 Art Taipei, Sakshi Gallery, Taiwan
Gallery Display, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2007 Sakshi moves to Colaba, Inaugural Show, Bombay
Art on the Wing, An exhibition to support VCARE an animal shelter, Sarjan Gallery, Baroda
Invited to exhibit in a show curated by Paternlab, The Teardrop Explodes, London, UK
Art Miami, Sakshi Gallery, Miami, USA
2006 Making of Divinity: curated by Ina Puri, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay
2004 Tiranga, rights and responsibilities, curated by Peter Nagy for Shallu & Naveen Jindal, Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay
6 part painting titled A chanced meeting between Nukata No Okimi and a serendipitous yayavar, installed at site in the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum and displayed for six weeks, Fukuoka, Japan
2003 Un passage dans la lumiere” curated by Philippe Mouillon for the Laboratoire in Algiers.
The Said & the Unsaid, Apparao Galleries, Bombay
2002 Cinema Stills, Apparao Galleries, New Delhi
The Sheen of Metal”, The Pallette Art Gallery, New Delhi
Nav-Nayika , Tao Gallery, Bombay
2001 Figures in my Mind, Gallery Espace, Delhi
Palette 2001, Delhi
Indian Contemporary Fine Art, Saffron Art & Apparao Galleries, Los Angeles, USA
2000 Embarkations, The Millennium Show curated by Yashodhara Dalmia, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay
a la nuit tombee, curated by Philippe Mouillon for Berge 2000, Grenoble, France
Early works, The Fine Art Company, Bombay
Timeless Visions: Contemporary Art of India, From the Herwitz Collection, Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, USA
Celebration of the Human Image, curated by Yvette Kumar for Gallery 42, Delhi
1999 The Tale of Six Cities, Lakeeren Art Gallery, Bombay
Pacaembu, curated by Phiippe Mouillon for the Laboratoire, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Participated in the “Benefit Event for the Elephanta Project” organized by Tasneem Mehta for INTACH, Bombay
Imagined Spaces, a one year touring exhibition with Surendran Nair at major art centers in Australia. This exhibition was toured by the Noosa Regional Art Gallery under the directorship of Kevin Wilson.
1998-99 Lines of Desire, curated by Jagjit Chuchun, Alnoor Mitha & Kim Merrington. A Liverpool Art School & Oldham Art Gallery & Museum touring exhibition.
1998 Indian Spring, Apparao Galleries & Gallerie Martini, USA
1997-98 The Edge of Awareness, curated by Adelina Von Furstenberg (Art for the World) for the 50th anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO). Did an assemblage of three water colors on Maheswari Odhanis titled Stories from the Womb, Geneva – Sao Paulo - New York - Delhi
1997 Nirguna/Saguna, curated by Peter Nagy, Nature Morte, Delhi
Women Artists of India - A Celebration of Independence - Curated by Mary-Ann Milford-Lutzker, Mills College Art Gallery, California, USA
Epic Reality- Contemporary Narrative Painting from India, from the Herwitz collection
Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, USA
1996 Of Women –icons/stars/feasts, Eicher Gallery, Delhi
12 Contemporary Painters - from 1984 to 1996, The Fine Art Resource, Bombay
Acro da Lapa – curated by Philippe Mouillon for the Laboratoire, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1995-96 Inside Out: Women Artists of India - a touring exhibition in England, curated by Alison Lloyd for the Middlesborough Art Gallery, UK
1995 Art for Cry, Bombay, Delhi
Portrait Exhibition, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay
Dialogues of Peace, Curated by Adelina Von Furstenberg for the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. Constructed a painted room titled Songs from the Blood of the
Weary which is part of the Jehangir Nicholson collection
Bombay, An RPG Exhibition, Bombay
Contemporary Art- Deutsche Bank Bombay, compiled by The Fine Art Resource, Bombay
Indian Winter, Kapil Jariwala Gallery, London, UK
1994 An exhibition of Womens Art - Society for promotion of art - Hyderabad
1993 Images, Sakshi Gallery, Chennai
Still Lives, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay
Husain ki Sarai , Vadhera Art Gallery, Delhi
Images & Words, A travelling exhibition for communal harmony organized by Sahmat - India
In small format-Works on paper, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay
1992 Journeys within Landscapes, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay
A Nest For Sparrow, curated by C.S Laxmi, Bombay
1989 Artists Alert, In Memory of Safdar Hashmi, Delhi
1988 Cry Exhibition, Bombay
Exhibition to Celebrate the Declaration of Human Rights UN, Geneva, Switzerland
1987 Second Biennial of Havana, Cuba
Alekhya Darsan - Six Young Contemporaries, Geneva, Switzerland
Print exhibition, Centre for Engraving, Geneva, Switzerland
Print exhibition, Bristol, UK
1986 Sixth International Triennale, Delhi
1985 Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art from the Herwitz Collection, New York, Pennsylvania,
Woraster & Vermont, USA
1984 Young Contemporaries, Sheffield, UK
1983 John Nevil Gallery, Canterbury, UK
Rebecca Smith Gallery, London, UK
1982 British Council Gallery, Bombay
1981 Young Students Exhibition, Planetarium, Baroda
All India Graphic Exhibition, Ahmedabad
1980 All India Photography Exhibition, Mysore
1979 Shaishav, photography exhibition, Baroda
1978 Opening Exhibition of Urja Art Gallery, Baroda
Residencies/Projects
2016 One month residency supported by Sakshi Gallery & hosted by Linika & Sanjay Kumar, Kodaikanal, Tamilnadu
2010 Invited for a one month residency at Montalvo Art Centre, USA
2004 Invited for a three month residency to the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
2003 Painted on Bombay Suburban train as part of the celebration of the World Social Forum that was conducted in January 2004. This project was organized by Open Circle, Bombay
2000 Transcultural Drawing Residency (CAIR Fellowship) at the Liverpool Art College, John Moores University, UK
1999 Invited by the Noosa Regional Council for an international residency program. Surendran Nair was also part of this program, Noosa, Australia
1995 Worked on site specific location for world art exhibition “Dialogues of Peace” constructing
painted room titled “Songs from the blood of the weary” (duration two months), Geneva, Switzerland
1991 International Artist in Residence (duration two months), The Magasin Centre National D’Art Contemporain de Grenoble, France
1990 Asian Cultural Council Rockefeller Foundation “Starr Fellowship” (duration six months), New York, USA
1988-89 Artist in residence at the Konstogskolan Art College – invitation by the Svenska Institute – Stockholm, Sweden
Curatorial Projects
2015 “Subtextual Documentalists” An exhibition of photographs by Jyoti Bhatt & Manisha Gera Baswani – “The Collective Studio Baroda” in collaboration with “SITE art space” hosted by Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai.
“Subtextual Documentalists” An exhibition of photographs by Jyoti Bhatt, Manisha Gera
Baswani & Noh Suntag from Korea, “The Collective Studio Baroda” in collaboration with “SITE art space” hosted by The Korean Cultural Centre (with assistance from Kim Kyoungae & Kim Changhyun), New Delhi.
2014 “Residual Remnants" An exhibition of paintings by T.Venkanna, Kim Kyoungae, Abir Karmakar, Poushali Das, Mitali Shah - “The Collective Studio Baroda” in collaboration with “SITE art space”.
“Subtextual Documentalists” An exhibition of photographs by Jyoti Bhatt & Manisha Gera Baswani “The Collective Studio Baroda” in collaboration with “SITE art space.”
“This Side of the Forest” An exhibition by Vasudevan Akkitham, “The Collective Studio
Baroda” in collaboration with “SITE art space.”
“Measured Metres”An exhibition of painting & Sculpture by Indrapramit Roy & Mayur
Gupta
“The Collective Studio Baroda” in collaboration with “SITE art space”
“Generations-Notional worlds” An exhibition of art by K. G. Subramanyan, Nagji Patel, Surendran Nair, Manisha Parekh, Sonatina Mendes & N..Divya, “The Collective Studio Baroda” in collaboration with “SITE art space.”
2012 ‘Quiet Conversations from the Courtyard’, Ashvita, Chennai
2011 ‘Feminine Syntax – Personal Biographies - Lemongrasshopper Art Gallery- Ahmedabad
2008 “Pernoctation & Early Drawings”, Curated the section of early drawing of Surendran Nair for Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
1998 “Cross Currents”, Touring Exhibition co-curated with Jennifer Lloyd, Norway
1997 “The Printed Image”, Jyoti Bhatt for Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay
1993 “The Drawn Image”, Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay
1992 “Four Young Contemporaries”, Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay, Sakshi