PRESS RELEASE*
Winter Moderns
M.F. HUSAIN, F.N. SOUZA, SHYAMAL DUTTA RAY, SATISH GUJRAL and B. PRABHA
Aicon Gallery, NY
Dec 14 – Jan 21, 2007
Opening Reception Friday, December 14, 6 – 9pm
Aicon Gallery is delighted to present a group show of five canonical figures in modern Indian art: M.F. Husain, F.N. Souza, Shyamal Dutta Ray Satish Gujral and B. Prabha.
M F Husain (1915- ) rose from humble beginnings – a painter of Hindi movie posters – to become the indisputable master of modern Indian art. Husain developed his monumental themes by working in series, canvassing eastern and western cultures and distilling the icons. Some of the most well-known series include the early Dolls series (inspired by an early job of hand-painting children's toys) from the 1950s, the Ramayana and Mahabharata series from the 1960s and 70s, the Mother Teresa series of the 1980s and the more recent Gaja Gamini series of the 1990s. Ever the restless talent, Husain has worked in a variety of media – print, paper, sculpture, canvas – and a variety of art-forms that include writing and film-making. His first film, Through the Eyes of a Painter, was awarded the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival of 1967.
Nicknamed the angry young man of Indian art, F N Souza (1924-2002) was also the most articulate (and activist) of the Progressives. He was expelled from the Bombay art school for participating in the Quit India movement in 1942. He also exhibited a frontal nude Self-Portrait at an early exhibition in Mumbai which was deemed obscene. The work has since received international acclaim and was exhibited at Tate Britain in 2006. In 1949, Souza moved to London and by the early 1960s had become a household name. In 1967 he moved to New York where he lived for the rest of his life. Critically, Souza's art is inspired by Hindu erotic sculpture and Christian iconography. Several themes recur in Souza's work throughout his career – portraits (or, more specifically, heads), nudes, still-life and landscapes. The work is marked by bold figuration and, in later years, ambitious color.
Shyamal Dutta Ray (1935 - 2005) contributed immensely to the evolution of the Bengal school of art. By adding depth and intensity to the medium of watercolor, he generated more melancholic and pensive imagery. They are closely connected to the city life in Kolkata and its contradictory energy: its happiness and sorrows, struggles and poverty amidst hope, etc. Ray studied at the Government College of Art and Crafts in Kolkata and has received numerous honors throughout his career including the Award of Merit from the Lalit Kala Academy.
Satish Gujral (1925 - ) has worked in various media and is known for developing a more traditional Indian modernism. He attended the J.J. School of Art in Mumbai in 1944 where he met the Progressive Artists Group. Their European vocabulary and techniques however deterred him. He was more drawn to the social realism of Mexican masters, Diego Riviera and David Alfaro and apprenticed with them in the early fifties. He has received numerous national and international awards including India's second highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, Mexico's Leonardo Da Vinci Award and the Belgian Government's Order of the Crown.
B. Prabha ( -2001) has immortalized the Mumbai fisherwoman. Her women, gracious and elongated are easily recognizable with their distinct hairstyles and bright saris. She paints their youthful beauty and fragile, rustic innocence, but beyond that, a certain chagrin looms. In her own words, "I have yet to see one happy woman." Prabha has addressed various social issues like famine, drought and homelessness but her unequivocal subject has always been the trauma and tragedy of women. She attended the Nagpur School of Art before the Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai. B. Prabha held over 50 exhibitions in India and abroad before her passing and has received several prestigious awards.
For more information and visuals please contact:
Newyork@aicongallery.com or 212 725 6092