PRESS RELEASE
Anandajit Ray
Inflate
April 2 – May 9, 2009
Opening reception: Thursday, April 2, 6 – 8pm
35 Great Jones Street, New York
New York, NY, April 2, 2009 - Aicon Gallery New York presents Inflate, the first New York solo exhibition of artist Anandajit Ray. From his studio on a farm in Baroda, India, Ray creates works that transverse numerous sources of inspiration, from pop comic strips to themes in South Asian miniature painting motifs, to the menagerie of animals that inhabit his daily life. Ray shrouds these accessible, somewhat adolescent themes inherent to his imagery to create works that are both mysterious and oddly intimate. In his paintings, carefully rendered appendages and objects float in an abstract mass of ink and paint, orbited by figments of mythological beings and objects, which are often traces of past memories from his adolescence.
Inflate explores a societal pressure to maintain an image of beauty and optimism. Dubbed the "feel good factor" by Ray, he explains, "there is a pervasive attitude I have experienced in today's society to always appear positive, cheerful, and healthy. Despite its prevalence, there seems to be a lack of belief that it exists. This makes it a superficial feeling, which in turn causes a subconscious anxiety. How does it end? What will this 'constant happiness' accomplish?" Inflate explores these issues through a range of mediums, including watercolor, gouache, and aquarelle pencil. On view at the gallery will be 15 new works created in the last two years.
About Anandajit Ray
Anandajit Ray was born in Kolkata in 1965, and attended the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda where he eventually received a Masters in Fine Arts Degree in painting in 1991. He has had multiple solo exhibitions throughout India, and has participated in group exhibitions in Europe, India, and the United States. The Indian government awarded him the prestigious Sanskriti award for art in 1999.
Upcoming Exhibitions at Aicon Gallery New York
Sakti Burman, May 14 – June 16, 2009
Debanjan Roy, June 11 – July 18
South Asian Diaspora, July 24 – September 5
Farida Batool, September 24 – October XX
For more information on Aicon gallery, images, or interviews, please contact:
Priyanka Mathew
priyanka@aicongallery.com,
T (212)725-6092
www.aicongallery.com