<p>Instances of acclaimed artists working on the same artwork may not be uncommon but it is indeed a rarity for an established contemporary artist to work with a folk artist on the same canvas.<br /><br /></p>.<p> Silent Dialogues, a group show hosted by Art Perspective, is a unique attempt to open up the pictorial dialogue between two spheres of creativity – contemporary and folk art, involving both celebrated and unknown artists. <br /><br />In this exhibition, contemporary artists Anupam Sud, Achuthan Kudallur, Anil Kumar, Jai Zharotia, Rini Dhumal, Seema Ghurayya, Shipra Bhattacharya, Vasundhara Tiwari and Lalitha Lajmi have worked with folk artists Nankushiya Shyam (Gond art, MP); Neela Akbari (Rajasthani art); Akhilesh (tribal art of MP); Narayan Bariki, Luthfa Chitrakar, Rahim Chitrakar and Nirmal Yadav (Orissa’s Pattachitra artists) and Warli artists of Maharashtra-Gujarat Komal Ramesh and Poonam Devi.<br /><br />Says Suruchi Saraf, Director, Art Perspective, “As a new gallery hosting its third show, we want to highlight traditional folk artists who otherwise remain on the fringes of our art heritage. And what better way to showcase their work than in collaboration with some of the most reputed names in Indian contemporary art. More so, the division between traditional and modern art is fast disappearing as people have started recognising the worth of indigenous arts.”<br /><br />In Anupam Sud and Nankushiya Shyam’s Untitled canvas in mixed media, for instance, a bluish figure appears to be swimming in a crystal-clear lake where several marine forms – fish, crocodile, turtle are seen alongside a swimmer. While the main figurative form, rendered by Anupam, has been made in her quintessential realistic manner, the marine life is painted in the signature style of Gond art by Nankushiya. This collaborative effort creates a perfect harmony between two styles, creating a utopian world where each coexists with the other.<br /><br />Achuthan Kudallur and Neela Akbari’s colourful interpretation of a city life looks like a patchwork quilt. The main image in the work, by Neela, is a blue horse that looks like a Rajasthani cloth puppet while the other figure in the work, that of an elephant has been rendered as a hybrid creature by Kerala’s Achuthan. The front of the elephant begins with modernist abstract strokes, its flank is characterised in the Indian miniature tradition.<br /><br />In Shipra Bhattacharya and Warli artists of Maharashtra-Gujarat Komal Ramesh and Poonam Devi work, Shipra has made a masculine body in contemporary style, while, on the rest of the canvas the Warli artists have created stories and myths around their everyday activities from pastoral festivals like sowing and harvesting to important death and birth rituals. A perfect combination of the traditional and the modern.<br /><br />The exhibition is on at Art Perspective, Lado Sarai till October 30. Bringing together both the celebrated and the unknown masters.<br /></p>
<p>Instances of acclaimed artists working on the same artwork may not be uncommon but it is indeed a rarity for an established contemporary artist to work with a folk artist on the same canvas.<br /><br /></p>.<p> Silent Dialogues, a group show hosted by Art Perspective, is a unique attempt to open up the pictorial dialogue between two spheres of creativity – contemporary and folk art, involving both celebrated and unknown artists. <br /><br />In this exhibition, contemporary artists Anupam Sud, Achuthan Kudallur, Anil Kumar, Jai Zharotia, Rini Dhumal, Seema Ghurayya, Shipra Bhattacharya, Vasundhara Tiwari and Lalitha Lajmi have worked with folk artists Nankushiya Shyam (Gond art, MP); Neela Akbari (Rajasthani art); Akhilesh (tribal art of MP); Narayan Bariki, Luthfa Chitrakar, Rahim Chitrakar and Nirmal Yadav (Orissa’s Pattachitra artists) and Warli artists of Maharashtra-Gujarat Komal Ramesh and Poonam Devi.<br /><br />Says Suruchi Saraf, Director, Art Perspective, “As a new gallery hosting its third show, we want to highlight traditional folk artists who otherwise remain on the fringes of our art heritage. And what better way to showcase their work than in collaboration with some of the most reputed names in Indian contemporary art. More so, the division between traditional and modern art is fast disappearing as people have started recognising the worth of indigenous arts.”<br /><br />In Anupam Sud and Nankushiya Shyam’s Untitled canvas in mixed media, for instance, a bluish figure appears to be swimming in a crystal-clear lake where several marine forms – fish, crocodile, turtle are seen alongside a swimmer. While the main figurative form, rendered by Anupam, has been made in her quintessential realistic manner, the marine life is painted in the signature style of Gond art by Nankushiya. This collaborative effort creates a perfect harmony between two styles, creating a utopian world where each coexists with the other.<br /><br />Achuthan Kudallur and Neela Akbari’s colourful interpretation of a city life looks like a patchwork quilt. The main image in the work, by Neela, is a blue horse that looks like a Rajasthani cloth puppet while the other figure in the work, that of an elephant has been rendered as a hybrid creature by Kerala’s Achuthan. The front of the elephant begins with modernist abstract strokes, its flank is characterised in the Indian miniature tradition.<br /><br />In Shipra Bhattacharya and Warli artists of Maharashtra-Gujarat Komal Ramesh and Poonam Devi work, Shipra has made a masculine body in contemporary style, while, on the rest of the canvas the Warli artists have created stories and myths around their everyday activities from pastoral festivals like sowing and harvesting to important death and birth rituals. A perfect combination of the traditional and the modern.<br /><br />The exhibition is on at Art Perspective, Lado Sarai till October 30. Bringing together both the celebrated and the unknown masters.<br /></p>
