RECENT EXHIBITION

  • The Observer’s Reflection
  • The Observer’s Reflection
  • The Observer’s Reflection
  • The Observer’s Reflection
  • The Observer’s Reflection

The human face is extremely enigmatic. What impact does a painted, drawn or printed face have? Can an artist’s rendering of a portrait go beyond its surface likeness and convey something deeper, more meaningful? Could a face become a comment on society, a world event, or say something about the inner world of the character depicted?

On May 1, 1954, Akbar Padamsee was asked to remove two paintings from his exhibition at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai (then Bombay) on charges of obscenity – “Lovers No. 1” and “Lovers No. 2”. Both works showed nude couples. Padamsee refused. A famous court case followed and the judgment given by M. Nasrullah, stated “…the pose, the posture, and the facial expressions which I must say are calm and devoid of any glamour, I fail to see how these pictures can come within the purview of section 292 of the Indian Penal Code. I must therefore acquit the accused.” Padamsee, and possibly art, was acquitted based (partly) on the expressions the faces of those lovers communicated.

Artists across the globe in every medium imaginable, have been fascinated and challenged to capture the internal state of mind that facial expressions can reveal or hide. In the terracotta works of K G Subramanyan which were the artist’s response to the Bangladesh war of 1971, Subramanyan fashioned leathery faces with clay, some screaming in agony, others expressionless, revealing the politics of that time. Another arresting image of the most famous visage that came to represent the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984 was a photograph taken by Pablo Bartholomew of the frozen face of a dead, blinded child. This devastating image shook the world as it powerfully depicted the callousness of large industries in their pursuit of power and self aggrandizement. Akbar Padamee’s series of lithographs and watercolours, entitled “Faces” (2000s), were born of his “artistic contemplations…exploring the inner depths of human emotions…and delving deep into the inner anxieties of his figures and projecting their alienation through their faces” (Premjish Archari, 2013).

The Observer’s Reflection asks the spectator to examine the faces staring back at him. In Pallavi Singh’s works, features are clearly defined and neutral expressions seem to be the norm. Does such a treatment reveal the artist’s desire to challenge and question societal expectations, norms, and standardized conventions? Pallav Chander’s energetic brush strokes create images reminiscent of Rorschach inkblots. Can one sense that these frenetic stokes reflect the uncertainty of the individual’s interaction with the world? Susmita Chowdhury’s collages on the other hand, are focused less on the outside world and more on the inner ruminations of a person. And what happens when you strip the face of all its features – replacing it with a series of diagonal and horizontal strokes? Featureless faces in Aban Raza’s serigraphs move us to reflect on fleeting moments that relate to the essence of being. Complementing Raza’s work are the paintings of Avijit Dutta, where the faces of his protagonists are completely hidden. The artist allows us to only imagine what their facial features, expression and intentions could be. On the other hand is Dutta suggesting that the inanimate object, in this case a common shopping bag, that replaces the figure’s face, has become a symbol of want?

Date

26 Apr - 15 Jun 2023

Medium

Paintings & Sculptures


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  • India Art Fair
  • India Art Fair
  • India Art Fair
  • India Art Fair
  • India Art Fair
  • India Art Fair
  • India Art Fair
  • India Art Fair
  • India Art Fair

Art Heritage | Booth G1 | India Art Fair | Feb 9-12, 2023
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Art Heritage is a gallery known to take risks. It’s a space where artists, authors and designers are encouraged to experiment with new ideas and explore concepts. Since its opening in 1977 its dual mandate of commerce and education has provided global audiences an opportunity to not only learn about art, but also own works that resonate with them.

Date

9 Feb - 12 Feb 2023

Medium

Paintings & Sculptures


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  • Archaeology of the Self – Archives, Anarchives & the Artist
  • Archaeology of the Self – Archives, Anarchives & the Artist
  • Archaeology of the Self – Archives, Anarchives & the Artist
  • Archaeology of the Self – Archives, Anarchives & the Artist
  • Archaeology of the Self – Archives, Anarchives & the Artist
  • Archaeology of the Self – Archives, Anarchives & the Artist
  • Archaeology of the Self – Archives, Anarchives & the Artist
  • Archaeology of the Self – Archives, Anarchives & the Artist
  • Archaeology of the Self – Archives, Anarchives & the Artist
  • Archaeology of the Self – Archives, Anarchives & the Artist

“…the idea of accumulating everything, the idea of constituting a sort of general archive, the desire to contain all times, all ages, all forms, all tastes in one place, the idea of constituting a place of all times that is itself outside time and protected from its erosion, the project of thus organizing a kind of perpetual and indefinite accumulation of time in a place that will not move – well, in fact, all of this belongs to our modernity.”

– Michel Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge

Art Heritage presents Archaeology of the Self: Archives, Anarchives and the Artist, curated by Dr. Arshiya M Lokhandwalla, is a proposition to artists to delve deep into their own practice, to excavate/exhume a significant engagement that ties in the past, present and future with a specific body of work or a period of their practice through the lens of their own personal archive.

For the artist the archive is a source of inspiration and material as they engage discursively with historical and cultural artifacts, including photographs, documents and objects. Art Historian, Hal Foster further emphasized that “archival artists seek to make [visible] historical information, often lost or displaced, physically present” through the archive. German philosopher Walter Benjamin suggests that the archive is not simply a repository of historical facts, but also a site of cultural memory. Undoubtedly, the archive is defined by the past, represented in the present and anticipates the future. In a similar manner, as we move into the future at lightning speed aided by technology, our obsession and need to engage with the past in the form of the archive only grows stronger. The exhibition also engages the counter-narrative of the “anarchives,” referencing historical material that is unrecorded.

The nine contemporary artists in the exhibition – Anita Dube, Astha Butail, Jitish Kallat, Mithu Sen, Nikhil Chopra, Pushpamala N, Raqs Media Collective, Thukral & Tagra, and Vivan Sundaram – reflect on the archive (as an entity and their own practice) from different perspectives – as a site of resistance, that not only disseminates knowledge, which allows them to subvert and critique dominant narratives and power structures, not as static entities, but those that are in a constant state of flux. Raq Media Collective reflects on an earlier work, while Jitish Kallat and Vivan Sundaram distort time by fusing the past into the future; Mithu Sen and Pushpamala N ask the viewer to consider the case of an archive that is deliberately hidden, and the efforts of protest and resistance it takes to bring such works back into the public consciousness; Anita Dube and Thukral and Tagra prompt us to deal with the volume of information an archive holds – what should be retained or excluded/censored? And finally, Astha Butail and Nikhil Chopra probe the idea of an anarchive through oral traditions and performance-based work.

The archive is thus not just a repository of the past, instead, it challenges us to rethink and reimagine the role it can play in shaping cultural memory and history of the future.

Date

3 Feb - 31 Mar 2023


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  • The Firing Line
  • The Firing Line
  • The Firing Line
  • The Firing Line
  • The Firing Line
  • The Firing Line
  • The Firing Line

Ceramics is a mediums that has regularly been showcased at Art Heritage from early on in its inception in 1977 – including exhibitions by some of the pioneers and well-established names in the field: K G Subramanyan (terracotta works), Himmat Shah, P R Daroz, Jyotsna Bhatt, Devi Prasad and Ira Chaudhuri to name a few. Further, as an institution that serves to promote young and emerging talent, in addition to regularly placing works by younger artists in group shows, our annual emerging artist On the Threshold of Time show (2016-17) was almost exclusively devoted to ceramics.

The Firing Line, curated by Kristine Michael, is the first exhibition at the gallery after the COVID-19 pandemic, exclusively focused on ceramics, reaffirming the gallery’s commitment to the medium. The exhibition showcases seven contemporary artists from India – Aarti Vir, Devesh Upadhyay, Khanjan Dalal, Panthini Thaker, Sandeep Manchekar, Ray Meeker and Ruby Jhunjhunwala – whose use of the medium as a major vehicle of expression demonstrates the pluralistic approaches to the contemporary ceramic discourse. They span multiple generations, often connected to one another’s past histories. The works take on multiple expressions – not just related to the shape, colour or finish, but also how they are meant to be displayed – many of the works are framed and envisioned to be hung on the wall, like paintings, rather than being displayed as sculptures on pedestals or directly on the floor. The works foreground the establishing of new parameters and an agenda for a fresh vision of practice that strives for a modern idiom asserting itself independently from clay’s historical connection with the vessel – so that the material is dynamised and brought into the realm of a new language!

Date

22 Nov - 14 Jan 2023

Medium

Ceramics


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  • Illuminations
  • Illuminations
  • Illuminations
  • Illuminations
  • Illuminations
  • Illuminations
  • Illuminations

Art Heritage’s Annual Show for the Festive Season.

Date

12 Oct - 12 Nov 2022

Medium

Ceramics, Paintings, & Sculptures


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  • On The Threshold Of Time: Immersion
  • On The Threshold Of Time: Immersion
  • On The Threshold Of Time: Immersion
  • On The Threshold Of Time: Immersion
  • On The Threshold Of Time: Immersion
  • On The Threshold Of Time: Immersion
  • On The Threshold Of Time: Immersion

Art Heritage is a gallery known to take risks. It’s a space where artists, authors and designers are encouraged to try out new ideas and explore concepts. Since opening in 1977, its dual mandate of education and commerce has provided Delhi audiences an opportunity to not only learn about art, but also own works that resonate with them.

 

On the Threshold of Time is an annual exhibition, now in its ninth year, which promotes young and emerging talent from across India. The works that are selected have either been spotted by us at the various colleges of art or brought to our notice by the artists themselves. This year’s edition, entitled Immersion, explores the engagement by 7 emerging artists – Avijit Dutta, Gautam Rahul, Jasmi Paladiya, Neeraj Singh Khandka, Prabhakar Singha, Susmita Chowdhury and Tahsin Akhtar – with the world around them.

 

Neeraj Singh Khandka and Jasmi Paladiya’s begin from a place of introspection – Khandka’s incisive powers of observation of the evolving city around him and his interaction and response to it are evident in large canvases.  While COVID times resulted in the shrinking of his world to the four walls of his house, he used the opportunity to re-engage and adapt to his environment, producing prints and canvases dense in details. Jasmi’s sculptures and watercolors withdraw even further within, analyzing and evaluating her cultural roots, wherein the five natural elements organically combine to give birth to the material and content of her work. Susmita Chowdhury’s dreamlike metascapes, with intermingling figures and objects visualize pure emotion and sensations.  Her works draw on past experiences and memories, and like the medium she uses – watercolour combined with gum – concepts amalgamate into flowing lyrical compositions. Many of her works also speak to societal norms and predilections.

 

Rather than focusing on the self, Avijit Dutta is preoccupied with the attachment we have to inanimate objects and places. Central to his work is a simple carry bag, which conveys themes of anonymity, constraint, limitation, but also a space to hide within it messages of hope and aspiration. Prabhakar Singha projects messages of positivity in a metropolis of stress and anxiety – uncovering smiles embedded just beneath the surface. Gautam Rahul’s drawings and sculptures unabashedly shed all preconceptions.  Not only are figures in his work set against barren and sparse landscapes, they are denuded. Transitioning from a two dimensional surface into sculpture permits Rahul’s work to re-contextualize itself within the environment in which it is placed. Finally, Tahsin Akhtar takes a step beyond sculpture into the realm of installation and digital work, focusing on the ordinary and mundane, manipulating objects and natural phenomena with digital effects and projection mapping, thereby infusing them with new perspective and meaning.

 

Taken together works in Immersion remind one that an artist’s journey begins with the self – looking within or looking outward by commenting on what is immediately around him. It is with such perspectives that worldviews and narratives evolve and develop that afford us, the audience, a glimpse into the artistic process.

 

Art Heritage is pleased to welcome visitors to the gallery to view the individual works in-person, while adhering to strict COVID-related safely protocols.

 

For any query please email us at ahg@artheritagegallery.com

or call/WhatsApp us at +91 98186 96193

Date

24 Aug - 30 Sep 2022

Medium

Paintings, Prints and Sculptures


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