PRESS RELEASE*
New Wave: Contemporary Indian Art
20 September to 20 October 2007
Bringing together an exciting lineup of new generation Indian artists, New Wave: Contemporary Indian Art features work by Ashim Purkayastha, Adip Dutta, Abir Karmakar, Raqs Media Collective, Subodh Gupta, Ravinder Reddy, Riyas Komu, Partha Pratim Deb and Justin Ponmany. Forming part of one of the most interesting and vital artistic scenes to emerge in recent years, the self-assured diversity of their output reflects the heterogeneity of modern day India on a global stage.
These 'new wave' of artists offer an alternative vision of innovation and a break with tradition. Experimenting with an array of media – painting, sculpture, video and installation - subversive imagery is often combined with outspoken messages. Their work has rightly attracted a rising global interest; it has ensured that the presence of Indian art is increasingly being felt and critiqued amongst leading artists of the international contemporary art world.
In March 2007 Aicon Gallery's inaugural London exhibition featured Riyas Komu's mesmerizing and politically charged large-scale paintings and sculptures in wood and metal; his work has since garnered critical acclaim at this year's Venice Biennale. Ashim Purkayastha sees himself as a social activist as much as a painter and captures the trauma and the problems of his home state, Assam, where an industrializing society threatens older traditions. Adip Dutta's sculptural installations explore resonant themes of gender and displacement, whilst Abir Karmakar, uses himself as protagonist to explore notions of gender and identity, in works that ooze intimacy and eroticism. Karmakar's work will feature in a forthcoming solo show this autumn at Aicon Gallery.
Subodh Gupta's production runs the gamut of mediums, from sculpture and painting to installation, photography, video and performance. With their theatrical sense of scale, his works exploit his country's clichés, elevating the status of everyday items of rural India - cow dung, milk buckets, kitchen utensils, scooters, and firearms – to artworks. Ravinder Reddy fuses Hindu sculptural elements with a contemporary sensibility in his vivid, larger than life creations. Using both traditional materials alongside modern media he references an array of sources - ancient Indian, African sculpture and contemporary works. Reddy often transforms women of today's India into the image of Indian goddesses, reflecting the means in which Indian women are recreating the feminine image to acknowledge tradition, whilst embracing the contemporary world.
Raqs Media Collective (Monica Narula, Jeebesh Bagchi and Shuddhabrata Sengupta) are based in Delhi and have been working together since 1991. Describing themselves as 'media practitioners' and curators, they use installations, video, sound, digital photography and the internet to explore their personal curiosities: the city, the nature of the contemporary world, history, myth and interlocking narratives. Justin Ponmany draws inspiration from Bombay, the constantly evolving city in which he lives and works. Within his paintings and graph paper drawings he chooses to reference an eclectic and 'unholy mix' of religion, cricket, nation and population. The artist will also be showcasing a video work for this exhibition.
The sheer variety and boldness of the work exhibited reveals that this new generation of Indian artists are not only informed by their distinctive histories and traditions, but are also exploring the shifting mindset of contemporary India, within the context of other global cultures.
Special Event: Aicon Gallery is delighted to be hosting the launch of the new book, Made by Indians, during the week of Frieze Art Fair. Published by Galerie Enrico Navarra, Made by Indians is dedicated to the contemporary Indian art scene: alongside comprehensive sections on collectors, dealers and gallery spaces in India, a large number of the artists included - Ashim Purkayashtha, Abir Karmakar, Justin Ponmany, Subodh Gupta, Ravinder Reddy Raqs Media Collective and Justin Ponmany - feature in Aicon Gallery's New Wave exhibition.
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For further press information and visuals, please contact
Rhiannon Pickles on rhiannonpickles@mac.com Tel: +44 20 7096 8809 / mobile: +31 6158 21202 or
Kate Church on katechurch@mac.com Tel: +44 20 7737 0911.
Aicon Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday, from 11am to 7pm.
Tel: +44 20 7734 7575 / email: london@aicongallery.com