PRESS RELEASE*
Solo Exhibition
SHOBHA BROOTA
Aicon Gallery, Palo Alto
Opening reception, Friday February 1, 2008
Artist will be in attendance
Aicon Gallery Palo Alto is delighted to present a solo exhibition for Shobha Broota. She has painted various subjects and themes and has experimented with both figuration and abstraction. These recent works, as Anirudh Chari eloquently notes in the catalogue essay, are "emancipated from the shackles of motif." Hence Broota's works take on a more minimalist language.
Interestingly, her canvas work uses different media such as paper, wool and thread. As she weaves the material into crudely textured grids, the earthy and grounded comfort of a quilt is evoked as is the ritualistic nature of the age-old practice. Given the abstract nature of her intentions, these associations are not deliberate. But if visually we are stuck with an abyss of form, Broota's work makes a human connection because of her gift to draw in the emotional and the real within abstraction.
With her more traditional oil and acrylic on canvas works, she plays with the role of light. The Living Core for example is a soothing, serene void that transports one from a core of pure color to pure light. This energy seems to spill beyond the confines of the canvas. Within a white cube surrounding, the work inevitably transcends itself. Another work, Celestial Music exudes lyrical flow and harmony. Overall, Broota's oeuvre, irrespective of medium, is diaphanous and suggests a spiritual quest for the undefined.
Broota was born in 1943 in New Delhi. She completed a Masters in Vocal Indian Classical Music at Sangeet Visharad and received a diploma in Fine Arts at the College of Art in 1964. Since 1992 she has had select solo exhibitions in India, the US, Australia, England, Holland and Singapore. She has equally participated in group shows all around the world. Various awards and distinctions include the AIFACS (1982), the Sahitya Kala Parishad (1986), the Scholarship, Ministry of Culture from the Government of India (1982) as well as the Fellowship-Ministry of Culture (1996).
For more information and visuals, please contact: newyork@aicongallery.com; 212 725 6092