PRESS RELEASE*
Indrapramit Roy
THE TEXTURE OF THE DRIFT
Aicon Gallery, Palo Alto
May 18 – June 10, 2007
Artist interview, May 17, 6:00 – 7:30
Diana LaVigne, Bay Area Chapter Coordinator of the South Asian Journalists Association, will interview Indrapramit Roy at Santa Clara University's de Saisset Museum. This event is co-sponsored by Berkeley's Center for South Asian Studies and is free and open to the public.
Opening reception, May 18, 6–9m
Artist will be in attendance
Aicon Gallery Palo Alto hosts the artist Indrapramit Roy at the opening of his exhibition The Texture of the Drift. This event is free and open to the public.
Indrapramit Roy is one of India's finest upcoming artists. Born in Kolkata, India he received Bachelors in print-making at the Visva Bharati in Shantiniketan in 1987, before doing a Masters in Painting in 1989 at the Maharaj Sayaji University in Baroda. After receiving the Inlaks scholarship, a Research Grant for outstanding Artists by the Government of India, Roy studied for a Masters in Painting at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London in 1992 including a term each at the Cite des Arts in Paris and the Hochschule der Kunst in Berlin on the Erasmus Exchange Scholarship. His academic honors have included the Fulbright Fellowship, a travel grant from the Getty Museum, and the Burston Award and the Fleur Cowles Award for excellence from the RCA.
Roy currently lives and works in Baroda. He paints and exhibits internationally and has represented India at the Cairo Biennale and International Asian Art exhibition in Macau. He is a multi-talented individual, and is interested and involved with many aspects of the Arts. He was taught painting by such great artists as Sanat Kar, K.G. Subramanian and Rekha Rodwittiya, and since 1995 Roy has taught at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University in Baroda. Over the years he has teamed up with Tara Publications and the J. Paul Getty Museum to illustrate numerous award winning books. The beautiful silkscreen on handmade paper publications are entirely crafted and bound by hand and they have been greatly received, winning the Alcuin Citation for Excellence in Book Design. Roy's expertise expands into the realm of theatre, the field of his father's profession, as he has designed stage settings for numerous plays as well as for the World Social Forum closing ceremony in Bombay.
Roy's artworks are powerful and atmospheric. He lets the demands of each work determine its medium; some are painted in oil, others in watercolor. For him the medium and the image are undividable, one dictates the other. He strives towards lucidity in his works and one common thread that can be traced throughout his oeuvre is an appreciation of life's simple and familiar things. He says "The simple thing need not be simplistic and uncomplicated. I often use objects or spaces that have the feeling of being lived in, everyday, felt, touched and smelt things which have a direct relationship with you."
About Aicon Gallery
Aicon Gallery, formerly Gallery ArtsIndia, has long been the definitive outlet for Indian art in the United States. Aicon began as the first online gallery of Indian art based in the United States. Physical locations were added in New York (2002), Palo Alto (2004) and London (2007). Today, Aicon also runs two private equity funds mandated to invest in contemporary Indian art. In June 2002, Aicon acquired a substantial part of the renowned Herwitz Collection, comprising works collected by the eponymous couple over a 35 year period. Aicon has curated several shows from its collection of works by modern masters including M.F. Husain, F.N. Souza and Laxma Goud. Along with participating in contemporary art fairs in Istanbul and Miami Aicon has collaborated with museums, loaning works to Tate Britain, the San Francisco Asian Art Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum, and to the city of Lille in France. Contact (650) 321-4900 www.aicongallery.com
Information: T: (650) 321-4900 F: (650) 321-4934 E: paloalto@aicongallery.com
Location: Aicon Gallery, 535 Bryant Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301