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sitanshi talati-parikh

sitanshi talati-parikh

Tag Archives: Art and Design

A Fine Thread

12 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Art, Literature & Culture, Brand Watch, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Art and Design, Louis Vuitton

Published: Vervemagazine.in March 2015

Espace Louis Vuitton Art

How does a weave become a work of art? Not just in beautiful clothes, or in theGodharis of Maharashtra exhibition, but in the way Espaces Louis Vuitton celebrates new and contemporary artworks using the medium of thread. The Espaces of Munich, Paris and Tokyo have been powered with an exhibition that lasts the first half of 2015.

Curated by Michiko Kono, eight international artists take part in the group show, Le fil rouge which translated means ‘the red thread’. Each Espace showcases the work of four of the eight artists, referencing the theme and the other artists’ works in a three-way dialogue. The series opens with embroidery-based works in Munich to site-specific installations in Paris and ends with a summary of the theme in Tokyo.

Referencing the images from the gallery above, Japanese artist, Chiharu Shiota’s work is an installation of lightbulbs suspended in space and entangled by thread, switching on and off; exploring her interest in life and death. Italian artist, Tatiana Trouvé’s installation of 250 suspended plumb lines hovering barely above ground level struggling (and failing to) achieve a vertical stance – suggest the indecipherability between the absurd and the rational, the possible and the unimaginable. In his new film, the Belgian Hans Op de Beeck, employs puppets exploring contemporary society’s complexities and universal questions of the meaning of life and mortality. His film, The Thread, will be shown at all three Espaces. The other artists are Ghada Amer, Tracey Emin, Isa Melsheimer, Michael Raedecker and Fred Sandback.

The release note remarks: ‘Unlike pencil and paint, thread is not linked to an intrinsic finality, and its materiality encourages infinite artistic expressions and explorations. Replacing the brush, thread in contemporary art is embroidered or glued onto the image carrier, and combined with paint. Canvas fragments are sewn together using thread. By stretching lengths of yarn at different scales and in varied configurations, it is employed to form sculptures, trace lines in space, reproduce architectural principles or seemingly suspend the laws of physics.’

It is essential to go back to thread as an art form, rather than a means to a fashionable end. To question the abstract nature of the medium and it’s physical place in society is to give it perspective and suggest relevance. It is also an emphatic way to revisualise the medium and possibly be inspired to suggest creative renditions that may change the face of fabric tomorrow.

Le fil rouge is showing at Espace Louis Vuitton München (Maximilianstraße 2a, 80539) until April 11, 2015; at Espace Louis Vuitton Paris (60, rue de Bassano, 75008) until May 3, 2015; and will be on at Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo (Louis Vuitton Omotesando Bldg. 7F 5-7-5 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku) from April 8 to May 31, 2015.

Pop-culture Candy

27 Monday Sep 2010

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Art, Literature & Culture, Interviews (All), Interviews: The Arts, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Art and Design, Graphic Novel, Literature, Popular Culture, vervemagazine

Published: Verve Magazine, Nerve, September 2010

When Pixar animator and storyboard artist, Sanjay Patel, takes a break, he sketches Hindu deities. Check out his pop-culture illustrations of traditional Hindu marriages

 

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You see The Little Book of Hindu Deities and inevitably think kitsch, mired in the nostalgia of tradition and…cute. Flipping through it, you find yourself amused by artwork that is fresh, appealing and inoffensive; and fascinated by the information that you are, in all likelihood, quite unaware of. And of course, the illustrator’s repertoire is impressive – he is a supervising animator and storyboard artist for Pixar Animation Studios, where he has worked for the last 14 years on features that include Monsters, Inc., A Bugs Life, Toy Story 2, Ratatouille, WALL-E, The Incredibles, Toy Story 3 and CARS. He has worked on The Simpsons for Fox and also with legendary cartoonist John K. California-based Sanjay Patel sends us an illustrative self-portrait, while replying to our questions via email:

 

What brings about the interest in Hindu deities?
For a very long time I had zero interest in anything Indian. Growing up in LA with devout Hindu parents, I desperately just wanted to fit in. It was only until I felt comfortable being myself, did I begin to explore Hindu iconography.

 

Why do you illustrate deities in an irreverent pop-culture format?
To show people a contemporary view of Hindu iconography and their legends. By that I mean, a view from the perspective of someone born between two cultures – the US and India; through the lens of modernism, graphic design, and animation. And from a voice that is rooted in the pop culture of the US and is acutely aware of the relevance of Hinduism and its devotees. This is just a means of communicating with people in my age group, who are culturally disconnected, who love design and animation, who are curious about Hinduism and spirituality, and who just can’t resist something cute.

 

Do you feel nostalgia about tradition creeping in?
I can’t speak to the sense of nostalgia. For me, having an Indian name, background and face, and yet not ever having set foot on Indian soil, can lead to different longings: to have all the things that make me up coexist in creative space. So it’s been incredibly gratifying to finally bring together my passion for Disney animation with the roots of my parents’ traditions and to forge a new cultural symbol in the form of my books.

 

Is pop culture the way of life today, or is it a way to subconsciously subvert culture and tradition?
I’ve definitely used the tropes of pop culture to get a message across that culture is changing: that a person that looks Indian could be American, or that a book that looks like cartoon could actually be a visual temple. The Hindu Deities book looks like pure pop-culture candy, but will hopefully enlighten you without giving you a cavity.

 

What’s your verdict on India’s animation scene?
There is lots of animation work being done in India these days. Most of it is derivative and lacking in its inspiration. But as artists gain confidence, they will undoubtedly begin to create content that is unique. My hope is just as the animation master Hayao Miyazaki manages to tell stories that feel uniquely Japanese, maybe one day there will be Indian animators that will tell tales that feel uniquely rooted to their soil.

Sculpted Vision – Bharti Kher

27 Friday Aug 2010

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Art, Literature & Culture, Interviews (All), Interviews: The Arts, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Art and Design, Bharti Kher, Indian Art, Interview, vervemagazine

Published: Verve Magazine, Nerve, August 2010

Bharti Kher is now considered ‘India’s top woman artist’. We catch up with the 3-time Verve Power Lister post the astounding sale of her sculpture at a recent Sotheby’s auction

 

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Her elephant sculpture, The Skin Speaks a Language Not Its Own, reportedly sold for a hefty $1.5 million, giving UK-born, India-residing Bharti Kher a permanent residence in the top echelons of artistic stardom. In a quick Q&A:

 

Artists stray from using traditional symbols of India, but you are popularising them (elephants, bindi etc) as elements with great depth.
It’s not particular to India as such, what I’m interested in is the ready-made and its transformation, and then the cliché and how it sits in our consciousness. When you use something so obvious there has to be subversion.

 

Every artist strives to have their voice heard and influence public opinion. Do you believe you’ve managed to do that?
I don’t think artists have very powerful voices, we whisper for a long time, perhaps! Maybe people will look at Indian art more, but they have been looking for a long time: this generation has had a lot of exposure already.

 

Does it bother you that Indians are not the ones purchasing the works; it is a foreign gallery/ foreign collectors?
Yes it would if it was true. Indians do buy my work but less than those from abroad…some major works left when they could have stayed.

 

Where do you believe Indian artists fall short in terms of gaining international recognition and acceptance?
Indian artists don’t fall short at all, it’s just that the world is a bit slow and needs time to catch up to them!

 

How does it feel to be one part of a successful couple in the same profession – being married to Subodh Gupta?
We are both working hard right now…we talk, we fight, nothing is easy and we are still sailing.

 

What attracts you to life-size sculpture?
It creates a relationship with the self. Scale is something I enjoy – whether I want the works to envelope you or seem fragile, so that you (the viewer) feel like a giant or an elf.

 

Since you work on each piece for a long duration – a few months at a time – do you ever feel that the idea stops mattering to you or changes?
I usually work on many works simultaneously, so none of them ever reach the same level of completion at the same time – therefore the energy is always different at each stage of a work. I have to keep my sanity!

 

Hypothetically, what do you think your career graph would look like had you remained in the UK and established yourself as an artist from there?
I can’t talk about the things that never were. Maybe I would have been a writer or a mental patient! It’s fun to think about the ‘what ifs’ and go on strange journeys with yourself.

The Present Past

27 Sunday Jun 2010

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Art, Literature & Culture, Interviews (All), Interviews: The Arts, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Art and Design, Pakistani Arts & Literature, vervemagazine

Published: Verve Magazine, Nerve, June 2010

Risham Syed is an artist who understands the influence of history in contemporary life, and expresses it through her often ironic and provoking tableaux. Sitanshi Talati-Parikh explores her intent and thought

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See the full gallery on Posterous

Lahore-based Risham Syed stages provocative set pieces by juxtaposing the power of the past with symbols of contemporary Pakistani society. She paints art, historical images or even photographic images in acrylic, which is essentially plastic. Paintings are turned into objects and ‘conceptual pieces’. There is a very strong influence of power play in the mise-en-scene of installation art and the placement of objects. Domestic objects are used to talk about her experience of living in a society “which imposes certain roles on (men and) women who in turn assume these roles most of the time without challenging/questioning them. This is a take on that, but then these objects engage in a dialogue with the larger social/political picture.” She chooses objects that carry a particular historical/cultural context. For example, the white marble mantelpiece is very Victorian with Indian elements. Along with representing the family unit or the institution of it, it represents a certain class. The wall lamp pretends to be ‘Victorian’ but is a very cheap Chinese version of it. The vestiges of cultural inheritance are observed to suggest an origin and it’s very perceived authenticity.

 

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In conversation with the artist:

What inspires your works?
I collect photographs from newspapers, magazines, life around in general on a daily basis. I also collect old photographs that inherently carry a particular context with them. I am interested in history and how it connects itself with the present moment.

What draws you towards historical power play?
I connect history with the present. It is also a way of looking within and outside and I like this recurring dialogue. The way I construct this connection, I feel it remains open and every time a new narrative can appear, depending on the sequence of the connection.

Are you using space as a metaphor?
The most apparent thing is a domestic space that comes through from these constructions. It’s a metaphor for roles, personas, pretences, power play, control, etc. Domesticity is a tool that I use to connect various issues with the larger picture. You see a quiet wall lamp with a small painting under it but on close inspection the painting is of disturbance or violence. In this way within the quiet, apparently pretty domestic spaces, there is another space within the painted surface which again is a metaphor for the space outside of us which is alien yet it’s the space within us.

What does power mean to you?
The idea of power or ego is within us and it manifests itself in various dislocated channels resulting in destruction. There is power play from within the basic family unit structure of the society to the larger global picture. It’s the base of the economic structure and that becomes the driving force. It is connected with identities, images, personas, relationships and attitudes.

Influencing artists Zahoor-ul Akhlaq, Salima Hashmi, Quddus Mirza (her teachers at National College of Arts, Lahore). Indian artists like Amrita Sher Gill, Arpita Singh, Bhupen Khakar, the Warhli tribes.

Love looking at: Rembrandt, Leonardo, Vermeer, Gauguin, Van Gough, Magaritte, Joseph Cornell, Frida Kahlo, Chagall, Rothko, Rauschenburg, Richter, Peter Blake, Hockney, O’Keefe, Cartier Bresson….

Trendsetting Strokes

26 Wednesday May 2010

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Fashion & Style, Interviews (All), Interviews: Lifestyle, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Art and Design, Designers, Fashion, Gaurav Gupta, Interview, Satya Paul, Style, vervemagazine, Wendell Rodricks

Published: Verve Magazine, Nerve, May 2010

The connection between fashion and art is an old one; international trends can be written in no less than multiple coffee-table books. Verve speaks to four top Indian fashion designers who show obvious influences of art in their designs

WENDELL RODRICKS

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On the connect “There has always been a connection between art and fashion. Chanel loved Cubism. Schiaparelli loved Surrealism. And Yves Saint Laurent paid tribute to many artists: Braque, Picasso, Mondrian. Art and fashion are both provocative and often intrigue the general public.”

In my designs “I have used art as an influence not just from the Western world but also from an Asian perspective. I have collaborated with Goan artist Theodore Mesquitta; and did an installation for Habitat Centre (Alka Pande). In fact, I know one day I will paint.”

Fashion as a work of art “Fashion is at the lowest rung of the pure art ladder. Our clothes certainly are a form of art. To elevate them to pure art though is being overly ambitious. Fashion can become art in the hands of Alexander McQueen or Hussain Chalayan who look at clothing and shows as art to begin with. But in most cases, fashion is not art.”

SATYA PAUL

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On the connect “Anything in life has two possibilities – either you can use it to raise or lower the bar. What matters is how one takes it. Fashion is itself an art form, a medium to be used to create amazing art. Broadly seen, it is a confluence of colour, texture and form (by way of weaving, embroidery, printing, and cutting/pattern making). The importance of the two is akin to asking ‘…the importance of oxygen to life?’”

In my designs “Art is anything done with heart! In that vein we have made numerous collections over the years where art of different artists, and movements of art is the basis. Recently, Chola period brozes and Pop art have been referenced in our collections. In addition, we have explored and developed a new visual language.

GAURAV GUPTA

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On the connect “Sure there is: fashion is simply commercial art.”

In my designs “I’ve always been inspired by art. Think architecture by Gaudi, movements like Surrealism, Dadaism, the art nouveau and art deco realisations. While it is nothing obvious and direct, there is a subconscious connect. Recently, I collaborated with artist Akshay Singh Rathore, taking off from his light-box installations. We’ve independently been working towards similar things – a more landscape-like feeling. Tartan checks can be rigid; with this concept, they became more fluid, draping well.”

Fashion as a work of art “Some of them are! Designs are sculpted around a body. Sculptures have a mood; and in fabric draping, construction and moulding, it is like working with clay. One of my saris for instance was displayed at the Portugal Biennale (an international art exhibition) late last year.”

POONAM BHAGAT

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On the connect “Art and fashion are both intertwined. Both are highly creative fields. One uses a canvas with brush strokes or mixed media while the other uses fabrics and threads on cloth. The difference is, the latter is turned into a structured garment while the former is flat with sometimes a 3D effect. Artists have even started incorporating materials available to fashion designers in their art.”

In my designs “My spring summer 2010 collection was inspired by the works of world renowned Spanish artist Joan Miró, who was known for his very vibrant, childlike paintings and use of primary colours. I borrowed elements from his art and gave them my own TAIKA twist using vibrant appliqués and embroidery on ivory linens and cotton-silks. The recently concluded WIFW AW 10 showcased my collection inspired by abstract expressionism, a modern American art movement which took wing post World War II in the late ’40s and flourished till the early 1960s, putting New York on the global art map for the very first time.”

Designer in an art show “For me art speaks; so does fashion. The first ever group art show I participated in was organised by Polka Art Gallery at The Visual Arts Centre, New Delhi in August 2007. It was a showing of extremely eminent artists. I was the only fashion designer and the only one to create tapestries on fabric with embroideries.”

Designs as works of art “My designs are just fashion statements, to be worn and enjoyed. Not to be treasured!”

Moving Images

27 Saturday Mar 2010

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Art, Literature & Culture, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Art and Design, International Art, Photography, vervemagazine

Published: Verve Magazine, Nerve, March 2010

Two Australians set off on a bike ride through Rajasthan clicking photographs along the way, which were later auctioned for charity. Verve brings an exclusive showcase of four of the shots taken by veteran director Baz Luhrmann and People’s Choice Award-winning artist Vincent Fantauzzo

A Snappy Portrait

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He’s the hot young artist with a wife of Indian (think Goa) origin and a three-month-old baby. Preferable medium of choice, oil on canvas – with a cinematic approach. Vincent Fantauzzo likes using photography and film to create a narrative that the viewer can relate to. “It’s all real art. I do a lot of photography, filming, sculptures and abstract painting. I’m completely open to all forms, letting it evolve naturally. Photography and film inspires my painting.” Not surprising then, that he’s in talks with director Baz Luhrmann (also inspired by visual arts) to blur the line between painting and film with animation.

The 33-year-old UK-born-Australian-resident exhibited his works (besides painting a mural with Luhrmann) at the Le Sutra art concept hotel, Mumbai. He’s exhibited in India three years ago, but this journey was a little bit different. Luhrmann and Fantauzzo set off on a bike ride through Rajasthan to take pictures of anything interesting that came their way, the shots then being auctioned for charity – a positive gesture through a creative act.

Going back to his stunning paintings of the late Heath Ledger and the child actor Brandon Walters from Luhrmann’s Australia that earned him the People’s Choice Award, the soft-spoken Fantauzzo says, “I’m interested in a story behind the person. Sometimes that is a space with the person in it – close-up crop section of the person. A picture speaks a thousand words and a face can do the same thing. A single image can tell a whole story leaving room for interpretation, where multiple stories can evolve. It is about not complicating art. I don’t want a person to have to be an academic or an art historian to connect with my work. It’s for everyone.”

A lens-worthy construction

27 Saturday Mar 2010

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Art, Literature & Culture, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Art and Design, Indian Art, Photography, vervemagazine

Published: Verve Magazine, Nerve, March 2010

Verve takes a look at artist Yamini Nayar’s photographs, created for the lens and destroyed right after

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BROOKLYN-BASED AND DETROIT-BORN YAMINI NAYAR HAS found recognition in the top international magazines. Drawing inspiration from industrial and post-industrial towns, she combines sculpture, installation and photography in her images of imagined spaces. Using raw, industrial and discarded materials, her table-top to room-size installations are built for the lens: the scenes are photographed with a large-format camera and are destroyed once the photograph is generated.

The 34-year-old artist says, “The digital studies are created parallel to the constructed images, in which they conceive of spatial systems within images of found settings, including sites of decaying industrial towns and manufacturing sites.” She goes on to elaborate, “Space is where design and everyday life intersect. It is layered; public and private grow and overlap in the traces and material culture of inhabitants – habits, histories, desires, neuroses. In addition, I’m drawn to a kind of makeshift construction and architectonics, a repurposing of materials, mirroring what you see in developing global cities where there is an inventiveness with materials, realising what is possible with what is at hand.”

Project Bandaloop aerial dancers live in action

06 Saturday Mar 2010

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Musings

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Art and Design, Indian Art, Performance Artists

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Suspended in air and against a building, aerial dancers from California.

Art and Conversation

27 Friday Nov 2009

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Art, Literature & Culture, Interviews (All), Interviews: The Arts, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Art and Design, Charles Saatchi, International Art, Interview, Kay Saatchi, vervemagazine

Published: Verve Magazine, Features, November 2009

Photograph: Ritam Banerjee

Former wife of advertising magnate and art collector Charles Saatchi, Kay Saatchi has been following the path to international curating. At the Art Expo in Mumbai, she talks to Sitanshi Talati-Parikh about watching Damien Hirst as a student, living with unliveable art, and being Kay Hartenstein Saatchi

 

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In the maze of people at Nehru Centre, it took a while for us to find each other. Once I did, it took but a moment for me to realise the lady embodies resilience and vulnerability. There has been much said and a lot more not said about Kay Hartenstein – former wife of the reclusive art collector and advertising magnate Charles Saatchi, who after their divorce in 2001, married celebrity chef Nigella Lawson.

 

American-born Kay had moved to London to start an art gallery of her own, but not long after ended up curating around 30 shows in eleven years at Saatchi gallery (and a dozen more after) while being Mrs. Charles Saatchi. All through she concentrated on “mothering” young artists. “I like watching them develop their career along the way. I’m not really in it for financial reasons, but you can’t help but feel clever when you buy an artist when they are terribly young and discover that you have made a good investment 20 years later.” She met the now internationally-renowned English artist Damien Hirst when he about 19, an art student going around the degree shows. “I saw his very first show…when I was married to Charles Saatchi, we gave him big shows – I’ve known him always and forever.”

 

How does she pick up on who will be the next big art sensation? “After all these years of going around shows, your gut instinct becomes the strongest factor. Artists have to have skill, and conviction about what they are doing. I spend a lot of time talking to them about why they want to be an artist and what they’re trying to say with their art.”

 

The 56-year-old Southern belle with a clipped British accent maintains her interest in art began when she was a baby. “I am quite creative as a person – I paint and draw and take photographs. Every Saturday I would wander into art galleries – it’s always been a part of my life. The process was that we (Charles and I) would go see everything. We would travel to Zurich, New York…that was the fun bit, I loved that. I have behind me 25 years of learning – meeting and talking to dealers, collectors. If I see a work of art in a degree show, I will immediately know if it connects up to something I’ve seen before. Artists tend to copy other artists – they tend to be greatly influenced by the work they admire…until they find their own voice. I can sift through that.”

 

She has seen all kinds of art – beautiful, outlandish and even macabre. Can she live with the things she buys? “I do! But also, I have had the incredible privilege of having a gallery with my ex, where we can exhibit things that would be of too big a scale or too demanding to have at home. I have had some wild things at our house (think Damien Hirst). It changed for me when I had a child in 1994 and I thought, ‘I don’t want this little toddler growing up and looking at rather shocking art.’”

 

If people are going to think twice about housing a work of art, what purpose does it serve? There is an idealistic spark in her eyes as she warms up to the topic. “It’s the creative process,” she emphasises. “Whether or not it sells! It’s good for the artist if it does, so they have the money to pay the rent and keep making more art. Some people like living with very shocking art…art is less about shocking now than it once was. Lately there is a trend towards beautiful craftsmanship and beautiful sculpting. In the English art world people wanted attention and publicity and that worked very well. There would be huge headlines about artist Tracy Emin’s ‘unmade bed’ (from the series My Bed) and that’s good up to a point. It’s not what the real meaning should be.”

 

As she winces at the state of her hair in the local post-monsoon humidity, she confesses that she is very partial to India. “Art is born out of the culture and this is a culture that I am very interested in. Some of the Indian artists are fantastic – I love Anju and Atul Dodiya’s work.” She pauses and as an afterthought adds, “The Indian art market has developed very quickly – it has had to slow down like the rest of the world because of the economy, and that is probably not a bad thing. A little correction and not everyone thinking they can start a gallery without doing their homework!”

 

“It’s okay not being a part of the Saatchi gallery anymore. At the end of the day, speaking about owning things, they are just things. I buy art all the time. I don’t want to have a gallery again – neither commercial nor private. I buy small things, emerging artists, things I can house. I try to get my other friends that are collectors to buy what I love! What I liked about doing things at the gallery was getting to know the artists, handling the shows, introducing art. When we started doing this, there wasn’t too much contemporary art being shown in London. It was just the excitement of it all and the memory of that which keeps me going. I like to look forward, not backward.”

 

I delicately broach the topic of the love of art bringing two people together and then suddenly realising that the love for art is all that’s left. That, and a teenage daughter (Phoebe) she talks fondly about. She seems perturbed by all the “rubbish about her past life” that has perpetuated on the Internet. While she considered going back to her maiden name after her divorce, she found that people remembered her as Kay Saatchi – “besides, it helps to get a table reservation!” she quips. On a more serious note, “I hope I am defined by my efforts in the art world and not by my name.”

Photographic Paths and Terracotta Tiffins

28 Friday Aug 2009

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Art, Literature & Culture, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Art and Design, Indian Art, Photography, vervemagazine

Published: Verve Magazine, Nerve, August 2009

It is inspiring to see young believers who go far from the madding crowd with a desire to express themselves. Sitanshi Talati-Parikh discovers the method to the madness of two such artists

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The 21-year-old Bangalore-based artist believes it isn’t age that helps one translate thoughts on life experiences, but rather one’s sensitivity and empathetic nature. Inspired by TS Eliot’s “ability to create allusions which seemed so everlastingly contemporary to all times,” Sohini Chattopadhyay picks up on the thoughtfulness of the subject and creates metaphors on life’s situations using photography as a medium to create digital prints on archival paper. She attempts to “create the drama (or action) of images” – at the same time “generating exaggeration and levels of articulation” in her imagery, often creating a lyrical atmosphere. Perhaps cynicism hasn’t caught up with her, as she says: “The sense of striving for freedom is present in my works because I think there is a backbone of hope prevalent. And this hope is the hope of moving out, breaking paths, creating paths and striving for the goal (freedom).”

Take a peek at Sohini’s photographic imagery in her debut solo show Step In Light at Art Konsult, 23, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi (Tel: 011-26523382) before August 15.

 

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Twenty-five-year-old ‘studio potter’, Rashi Jain puts a clay foot forward

Is ‘Studio Pottery’ a fancy term for a terracotta art?
A ‘studio potter’ is an individual who experiments with different kinds of clay and does not merely produce pots repetitively but also extends the craft to an art form and furthermore; as a medium of expression. Unlike Europe, Japan and China, where the craft has evolved over centuries and been supported by royalty, ceramic art in India is still nascent and tagged as the common man’s matka for drinking water. Pottery has remained a craft form and innovative exploration has been bound by tradition.

Why utensils and crockery?
I see chai wallahs at every corner of a city, rows of dubba wallahs at Andheri station and peanut shells in paper cones lying on the road. The tin kettle, tea glasses and steel tiffin boxes are passive witnesses of lives unravelling, emotions and conversations. Recreating them in clay brings to life the moments that I spend with the objects.

Clay breaks away from the common mould…
Clay as a medium is flexible and allows one to explore the three dimensions thoroughly. It has a dual quality of being brittle as glass and timeless and hard as a fossil. Working with clay involves not only the bodily senses but all the forces of nature (earth, water, fire and wind). Working with one’s hands gives a tremendous feeling of control over one’s creation.

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