In a culmination of striking works, Kalakriti Gallery in Banjara Hills will be hosting an exhibition, Unravel The Résidence Artist’s.
The display, according to the gallery, will be showcasing, “a journey from idea to final piece, and some version of it is transported to the viewer. There is an intimacy perhaps, that enables the work to contain a memory of the artist, a physical touch, a process that survives the age of mechanical reproduction.”
The artists
Often working with canvas and acrylics, Delhi-based Suchismita Sahoo uses her art to communicate with future generations on topics such as humanity’s questionable interaction with nature.
Girish Chandra Behera from Odia is inspired by Mughal miniature paintings. Despite using mostly watercolours, his dreamy works carry a lot of weight — one recent show generating discussion on the struggles of India’s fishing communities.
Kumari Ranjeeta, who was born and brought up in Patna’s Harijan colony, conveys the cultural evolution and the struggles of the Indian labour classes through her work. Labour of the Unseen is profoundly impacting for highlighting the marginalisation through labour of caste and gender. Her Dalit status has not held her back, but has actually motivated her to strive until she was invited to the Clark House Initiative in Mumbai and break down intellectual misogyny.
Fellow Clark House Initiative artist Naresh Kumar has broken down issues regarding the transgender community and social stratification as he did in his Paris performance art show Revolt of the monkeys — Tardis . Naresh also dips into cigarette ash and other gritty materials as he did in his Faces of History collection.
Kerala-based Vikram Valsala, through charcoal, splays the dark sides of emotion and the shadows of conditioned minds across his chosen canvas, while touching on themes of truth “provoked by some kind of illusion which been developed with the keen self-observation.”
Growing artscape
While this is obviously not the first resident artists’ show at Kalakriti, curator Ruchi Sharma shares the gallery hopes to host shows like this more frequently. She observes a bright future for these artists and is thankful for the rapidly-evolving local appreciation for the arts. “Hyderabad is making great moves in the art scene, promoting local artists and ensuring their work is celebrated. From a Delhi perspective, it’s growing incredibly fast here and there’s still room to keep going. These artists have a message through their art and at Kalakriti we do not commercialise their stance, otherwise it wouldn’t be art anymore.”
Ruchi adds, “Considering Kalakriti has the connections-base it does, we can provide a platform for artists such as these. Krishnakriti Foundation continues to propel these opportunities, providing scholarships, fellowships and exchanges with reputed art capitals such as Bordeaux. In fact, one of our Hyderabad artists, Masuram Ravikanth is undertaking a residency programme there and his art show, Photography a Reflection of Yesterday Truth and Today’s Imaginations , will be opening on the same day as Unravel The Résidence Artist’s , which is really exciting.”
‘Unravel The Résidence Artist's’ will be on display from June 28 until July 10 at Kalakriti Art Gallery, 11am - 7pm.
