PRESS RELEASE*
Group Show
EASTERN EDGE
Aicon Gallery, NY
February 9 – April 9, 2007
Opening reception, February 9, 6–9pm
Jayashree Chakravarty, born in 1956, studied painting in Baroda and Aix-en-Provence. Her work was exhibited in New York City in 1998 at the Drawing Center and in 2002 at Bose Pacia, whereupon it was acclaimed by Holland Cotter of the New York Times. Chakravarty has co-curated, with ArtsIndia, a show on West Bengal.
Eastern Edge brings together ten contemporary artists from Bengal: Paula Sengupta, Adip Dutta, Debanjan Roy, Tapas Konar, Aditys Basak, Sanatan Saha, Debnath Basu, Rathin Kanji, Partha Shaw and Prasun Ghosh. These young artists have been making ripples on the Indian art scene, but are bound also by what Chakravarty, their senior colleague, says cannot be underestimated- a commitment to "sincere… and serious work."
In this curatorial experiment, these artists' work is looked at geo-culturally.
In India, the Bengal school holds an important place in the art historical canon, but perhaps because it is most strongly associated with an earlier phase of India's modern art movement, on the contemporary art scene Bengal is often viewed as the more conservative of India's artistic centers.
Eastern Edge brings together some of the freshest, most innovative work coming out of Bengal, compellingly resituating Bengal as consummately contemporary- without being tritely preoccupied with computer-generation and pop-art reference, these artists interrogate and reintegrate local styles into their work consistently and directly.
For more information and visuals please contact:
Aicon Gallery, 206 5th Avenue, Fifth Floor, between 25th & 26th St.
T: (212) 725-6092; F: (212) 725-6096, newyork@aicongallery.com
www.aicongallery.com