Tamarind Art is pleased to announce “Mind, Matter and Mystique”, an exhibition featuring seven promising Indian painters: Maneesha Doshi, Dipankar Dasgupta, Eleena Banik, Sharmi Chowdhury, Mahula Ghosh, Nikita Parikh and Nimesh Patel.

Within the context of contemporary Indian art, the last decade of twentieth century is very important towards the development of modernity. Indian artists today are living in several cultures and times simultaneously. As times and cultures converge, the past exists as a living entity alongside the present, illuminating and sustaining each other. Many young and promising artists have tried to come out of conventional ways of image making practiced by their predecessors of the past decades. They have absorbed in themselves the turmoil created by globalization and its outcome- the market economy, which brought along with it an enormous shift in socio-political and cultural values. They have reacted, restrained or raised a voice of rebellion against these changing spheres through their art.

Mind, Matter and Mystique is an attempt to bring together the conventions of conceptualism, unification of multidirectional norms, and mystical faculty of vision, and other varieties of the Indian Contemporary Art practice.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Eleena Banik Through the use of contrasting textures and materials, Eleena creates art that conveys myriad layers of meaning and feeling. Her large canvases, rich with additive, expressionistic marks and bold lines have a strong epic presence. Her work’s dark obsessions operate internally in the viewer, playing on their psyche, their own doubts, fears and prejudice. While feminist concerns and sexuality continue to be the undercurrents for much of her distinct work, the works on display voice a protest against the violence and terrorism in the world.

Sharmi Chowdhury Figurative in nature the paintings depict the complexities of human relationships that the artist presents from personal experiences. The artist is a passive observer of the scene she has created. Multiple perspectives, reminiscent of miniature paintings, have been used by Chowdhury very effectively in order to delineate various related events. The use of theatrical backdrops adds drama to the overall composition.

Dipankar Dasgupta In the abstracts of Dipankar Dasgupta, we are also shown a world that is bleak, empty, and sometimes dark. The rough side of existence is juxtaposed with ornamentation, which can be interpreted as the divisiveness of a caste system or modern society’s enticing cover-up, distracting us from the darker, bleaker side of an industrialized world. Dasgupta shows the devastation left behind when an industry has eaten its fill and moved on to greener pastures. Modern architecture is depicted as a maze of jagged lines and, like Patel, man and nature is shown connected by wires rather than the natural flow of energy and emotion between all living things.

Maneesha Doshi Drawing close affinity with Mexican master Rufino Tamayo’s philosophy, Doshi’s art germinates from her inner being, involving her emotion and passion for life and existence. Human persona coupled with the divine is the basic theme and characteristic of her expressions. She explores her very self, delves deeper into it and from the depth of her being tries to comprehend the world around her. She uses jubilant colors, carefully meditated atmosphere, flat compositions and simplified conception of forms to decipher the complexities of reality.

Mahula Ghosh Many of Ghosh’s works appear deceptively serene from a distance. However, upon closer inspection, one sees depictions of war and terrorism, destruction and chaos. Tanks and war machines, automobiles broken by bombs and the silent faces of witnesses all express a world where car bombings and death has become the day-to-day backdrop for many as they go about their lives. As newspaper articles and news programs bombard us with images of war, terrorism and torture, there is poignancy in seeing these topics represented in acrylic, watercolor and gauche. Works with titles such as “View from Distance” and “ Eyewitness” present an abstract representation of what for so many have become commonplace, and give homage to their experience.

Nikita Parikh Like many Indians, Nikita Parikh in her childhood imbibed a rich storehouse of mythical and magical narratives. As an artist, she carefully reconstructs Indian myths and fables mingled with nostalgia to achieve an atmosphere of alternative fantasy in her work. There is a definite and deliberate naivety and innocence in her unique style which is reminiscent of modern masters such as Ken Kliff, Chagall, Miro and Kandinsky. The tinge of humor of her earlier work has evolved into subtlety of statement gaining mature adaptability of style where Western influences do not remain as alien in Indian context. She often embellishes her work with playful, narrative captions that adds ambiguity more than giving a clue to the images shown by her.

Nimesh Patel Nimesh Patel’s work makes us question the progress of a world in which we are hooked-up, linked-in and tied-up to a constant barrage of information and misinformation, sound and sound-bytes, blocking out our finer sensibilities, sensitivities and humanity.

“Reproduction before Revolution” series portrays the production house, one of a kind with simultaneous exploration of the repercussions of its products on the society. The seduction and intimacy offered by laboriously rendered images, far from being repellent or horrific, makes an everlasting statement which finds complete acceptance in our minds.