PRESS RELEASE
Winter Moderns
13 December – 19 January 2008
Opening 12 December, 6.30 – 9.00
This month Aicon Gallery highlights an older generation of Indian artists, frequently referred to as India's modern masters. With works by Jamini Roy, M. F. Husain, Ram Kumar, Ganesh Haloi and Lalu Shaw, the artists in this exhibition form part of a group that is recognized for its success in recuperating Indian art from the visual customs of another culture without sacrificing their own ideals and visual and philosophic traditions. With their internationalist leaning, this generation of artists looked to the early 20th-century modernisms of Paris, London and Vienna for inspiration, whilst their need to belong prompted the construction of a viable "Indian" aesthetic. As such they can be credited for the revival of Indian contemporary art in the twentieth century.
The forerunner of this generation, Jamini Roy (1887 – 1972) studied at the Government School of Art in Calcutta, following the Classical tradition in his education. Soon after completing his studies he began to look to folk and tribal art for inspiration. Between 1921 and 1924 Roy began his first period of experimentation, and by the early 1930s had made a complete switch to indigenous materials, painting on woven mats, cloth and wood coated with lime. Roy's rejection of the then modern style of painting and his foray into the realm of Bengali folk paintings marked a new beginning in the history of Indian modern art.
M. F. Husain (b.1915) is India's most renowned and prolific contemporary artist. Self-taught, he moved to Mumbai at an early age and began his career painting billboards for cinema. Themes in his work repeatedly return to his cultural roots, but Husain has always embraced diverse influences, be that the cinematography of Buñuel to themes that have blended folk, tribal and mythological figures to create vibrantly contemporary, living forms.
Following Husain, Ram Kumar (b.1924) initially studied Economics in Delhi, and only later between 1949 and 1952 left for Paris to study painting under Andre Lhote and Fernand Leger. Like others of his generation, in his work Kumar combined an internationalist desire with the need to belong to his homeland.
Of his work, Ganesh Haloi (b.1936) has stated "Isolation is the most important factor...You are alone with nature…you participate in it". Upon graduating Haloi joined the Archaeological Survey of India to make copies of the early Buddhist murals in Ajanta. He remained there for seven years and, from his return to Calcutta to that of his retirement in 1963, taught in the Government College of Art and Craft. Ajanta influenced Haloi profoundly and his works speak of an innate lyricism. Initially he painted figures in landscapes though gradually shifted his focus purely to landscapes that became ever more abstract. Haloi's work shows his preoccupation with the theme of devastation or calamity and resilience: born in a district that is now part of Bangladesh, his earliest memories of the region are of Brahamaputra and the delta region mixed with communal holocaust and of partition. Like Haloi, Lalu Shaw (b.1937) also studied at the Government College of Art and Crafts, Calcutta. He is widely known for his highly stylized portraits of Bengali women and couples; drawing his inspiration primarily from nature and the Bengali middle class, he frequently depicts quiet scenes from his own life. Shaw's style is unique and modern in its adaptation of academic and traditional Indian formats.
Editors' Notes
Jamini Roy was awarded the Padma Bhusan award in 1955. His work has been exhibited extensively in international exhibitions and can be found in many private and public collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. He spent most of his life living and working in Calcutta.
M. F. Husain joined the Progressives Artists Group in 1948. He has exhibited all over the world throughout his long career, including the São Paolo Biennales of 1971 and 1959, the Tokyo Biennale of 1960 and the Venice Biennales of 1955 and 1953; he has frequently exhibited in national institutions across the world.
Ram Kumar has had several major solo exhibitions, including the International Biennales in Tokyo in 1957 and 1970, the Venice Biennale 1958 and in Sao Paulo in 1961, 1965 and 1972. Ram Kumar received the Padma Shri award in 1971 and is also an author, writing fiction in Hindi. Kumar lives and works in Delhi.
Ganesh Haloi lives and works in Mumbai, India, he has exhibited widely across Asia and Australia.
Lalu Shaw has exhibited extensively in India and abroad since 1956. His works are in the collections of the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, and the Birla Academy of Fine Art and Culture, Kolkata.
Forthcoming exhibitions at Aicon Gallery include a solo exhibitions of foremost contemporary Indian artists Jayshree Chakravarty in March 2008, and Atul Bhalla in May 2008.
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or
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Aicon Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday, from 11am to 7pm.
Tel: +44 20 7734 7575 / email: london@aicongallery.com