Modern Art Gallery presents “Landscapes in Flux”

Modern Art Gallery presents “Landscapes in Flux”

An exhibition that brings together twelve contemporary artists hailing from different directions of the country to explore the idea of how landscapes and architectural designs are perceived from an artist’s glasses.

Modern Art Gallery launches its new vertical MAG Contemporary.

Our vision for MAG Contemporary is guided by our desire to expand our cultural horizons and creative energy to build a collaborative institution that seeks to present art that challenges and inspires while developing a collection of contemporary art. With our inaugural exhibition, MAG Contemporary brings together twelve artists hailing from different directions of the country to present to you “Landscapes in Flux”; the idea of how landscapes and architectural designs are perceived from an artist’s glasses, has been a journey that has made us conscious not just of the undefeatable muse within the versatility of our culture, but also of the art in architecture that psychologically influences and moulds an artist’s perception of the world.

Diptej Vernekar’s geomorphological exploration of the ever-metamorphosing landscape of his coastal hometown, along with his keen sense of visual narration, bring together his collection of artworks in charcoal, that unveils the truth in the traditional telling of a tale and its eventual retelling. He achieves this by his method of drawing and sweeping parts away, making patterns that grow, as if by themselves, into these intense drawings.

Jignesh Panchal’s work is a blend of architectural influences from a childhood spent gazing at the marvels of Indian architectonics. His artwork has vibrance and depth at once, the way he uses the medium says a lot about the intersectional philological perception that is at the epicentre of contemporary art.

Capturing fleeting moments and a perspective that oscillates between hard facts and his personal musings and fiction, Madhurjya Dey believes in the power of being pivoted at a distance, observing the sparse universe of a small town in an introspective manner. Madhurjya’ s experimental methodology is what makes him a forerunner, he uses photographs as inspiration and draws landscapes that are poetic and urge contemplation.

Mayadhar Sahu is a seasoned artist of substantive premise dealing with multiple mediums and perspectives at once. The creations of Mayadhar Sahu are exquisite extractions of ancient Indian architecture mainly pertaining to the traditional temples and other places of worship. His extensive architectural and archaeological knowledge teams with his signature sense of style and his mastery of craftsmanship leading towards a reticulation of artefacts that are in themselves filled with hints of our creative historical evolution and his personal take on architecture itself.

A confluence of Indo-Islamic culture can be witnessed in the works of Sachin Pandey who reimagines architectural masterpieces of Hyderabad, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and brings forth a miniaturist’s take on this very fusion of elements. Sachin Pandey presents us with a revisionist historical perspective of what could have been, through the convergence of these two cultures in a homogenised manner.

Untitled, Tsering Negi, Lithograph, 18×22 in

Tsering is a master printmaker and lithographer, and his strong connect with his mountain roots is evident throughout his practice. Playing the notions of scale and points of view, his two bodies of work that are part of this exhibition offer alternating vantage points to reflect on issues of ecology and climate change. The birds eye view of landscapes- whether the city lights or the river basin, sit in contrast with the detailed decorative portraits of women in the Rear Window Series, both reflecting on that which is at stake of being lost. As one meditates on each of the Rear window portraits, crucial details begin to emerge, the floral patterns of the dress blend into skyscraper like cacti, with a cloud of hovering smoke. Cats hid in plain sight and roses bloom everywhere, defying science and its logic. He speaks to the absurdity of his life in Delhi, where he recently moved, with its alarming air pollution levels which have forced him to bring the outside into the controlled environment of the indoors.

Keerti Pooja’s etchings refuse to be bordered by gravity and a single perspective; she creates a world of fantasy that allows for deep self-introspection. Building on her sketches of people, faces and their public lives, she taxidermies their memories in etchings, bringing to life an upside-down world, where people are often defined by their belongings. She engages with the perplexities of city life, and the chaos that surrounds us, her repetitive strokes reinforcing the internal conflicts of her subjects. Locating and In Search of, both are extensions of her fascination by the “bazaar”, with hawkers, vendors, wanderers, she painstakingly attempts to capture their routines and practices. With keen interest in the rhythm of the daily cycle, Pooja’s aims to foreground the centrality of these workers in the functioning of city life.

Steal me from their stares and mute them into night, Bhaskar Boldoi, 18×18 in, Oil on Canvas

Bhaskar’s works are a dive into the mysticism and mysteries expressed that surround us. He borrows from movies, books, stage plays, music and personal experiences to build an image that is brutally vivid yet a metaphorical depiction of our society and the prevalent socio-political and religious landscape of our nation.

Leena Raj R believes that it is the journey of experiences from childhood to the present that defines the marked space we like to call “Home”. Her definition of “Home” is perhaps a dream beyond any boundaries and thus in constructing this particular space, we intentionally cast-out and shut the door on a lot of other things. But the “Home” is not just a restricted territory of unified/homogenized identities, it is also one of synced/unsynced existences resulting from the affection of camaraderie or the contradictions of unfamiliarity within the interactions of its other members. Leena’s painting depicts a “Home” that opens its door to all directions.

Abdulla. P. A. arrives at such an aesthetic enterprise that is curatorial in attitude. He curates nature as forms of objects ‘found natural’. Objects and machines of human invention sometimes employ a programming that mimics the forms of nature. What happens when the ego-centric human agency in making art is consciously erased for a non-invasive human understanding of nature? One starts re-looking at ‘natural programs’ visible on objects. But putting them in an ‘art context’ is a different exercise. Again, nature looks like a collectible item, thus back into a human design.

A resin artist and a former architect, Harmans works are primarily experimental, and resin helps her explore endless visual interpretations Working with amorphous and meandering shapes allow her to break free the structure of set societal and familial norms, more so for women, and glide into my own inchoate mould of life. Her practice finds its focal point in the manipulation of resin, which plays a critical role in the material translation of my vision. This medium allows for speculation and cast into curvilinear pieces, and thus dispenses a relation between the two and play with the new formations, as opposed to her journey as an architect where the draft to translation of designed space/edifice was primarily in perpendiculars.

Aware of the vast and rich legacy of Indian Miniature Paintings, Divya engages with the tradition, crafting a unique visual language, and painting on themes that are personal yet universal, carefully referencing select imagery to convey meaning and symbolism through her work. A surreal beauty emerges in Divya’s work; she proposes something sublime and mature in hue, expressing balance and flow in pattern repetition, using colours in ways that are striking yet soothing. In an ongoing series, she extends her vision to contemplative yet whimsical landscapes that offer circular realms of escape. As a deep-sea diver the circularity of unending underwater life offers her a contemplation on our personal and universal existential attempts, of ordering the microcosm of our lives with the macrocosm of the universe’s life. This is the essence of her work, an endeavour to bring positivity, beauty and joy into this world

The sheer nature of the medium and its processes; the physical act of its pouring, progressively translates into a pour of a sentiment, a dormant thought, a latent emotion. This is both figurative, and literal, and comes to be defined by the nuances in the physical pour itself. These subtle instructions, mutating within the boundless fluidity of the material, manifest into art that, while free of any definitive or intended formwork, preserves the essence of that subconscious emotion.

By far our most exquisite curation, it is a homage to the glory of India’s rich architectural history and its myriad of perceptions from a naturalistic lens. The works thus presented are a mesh of chronicles and a stimulus to intrigue for generations to come, rousing a sense of wonder around art in the multicultural Indian diaspora.

Dates: 21st -27th July 2023
Venue: The Gallery, Ground Floor, Main Building, Bikaner House, New Delhi