State of the Art

The Saffronart Blog

Posts tagged with LACMA

Gaitonde Retrospective coming to Guggenheim NY

June 19, 2013

Elizabeth Prendiville of Saffronart  announces an upcoming Gaitonde retrospective in New York.

New York: Coming next Fall (November 2014) the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City will be producing an exhibition of the late Vasudeo S. Gaitonde’s work.

This retrospective of Gaitonde is showing a new trend in the recent programming at the Guggenheim. Having just concluded a premiere retrospective of Zarina Hashimi, the Guggenheim Museum is showing modern and contemporary Indian artists more than ever.

For this upcoming retrospective, the first exhibition of the artist’s work since Saffronart’s show in 2011, Associate Curator of Asian Art, Sandhini Poddar hopes to gather forty pieces of Gaitonde’s work ranging in various mediums including oil and pencil.

These pieces will be borrowed from both private and public collections from all around the world.

Gaitonde’s work is considered non-representational and experimental and he is often referred to as India’s foremost abstractionist. However, prior to his death in 2001, the artist was quick to dismiss the term “abstract art” and preferred “non objective” to describe his subliminal imagery.

Throughout his career his work was included in premiere exhibitions, and is part of the permanent collections of institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Gaitonde was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri Award in 1971.

The Guggenheim hopes this expansive retrospective will tour to other institutions such as the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi and their international sister institution Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, scheduled to open in 2017.

No matter the institution, a retrospective of Gaitonde’s work is sure to offer a collection of exceptional and pivotal paintings.

Urban Art in India

February 14, 2013

Guest blogger Hena Kapadia reflects on street art in Delhi and Mumbai and its value

Banksy Maid, London, Courtesy BBC

Banksy Maid, London, Courtesy BBC

Mumbai: Of late, there have been several instances of urban art in India and internationally that have grabbed the attention of people in both the art world and everyday life. While graffiti has been a part of urban life for years now, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art  (LACMA) held the first major show of street art in the United States in 2011, creating a new and more formal context for street artists like US based Shepard Fairey and UK based Banksy. These artists have worked extensively both in the street as well as through a concentrated and decidedly commercial studio practices. Read more about this exhibit.

Street Sign, Daku, New Delhi, 2013

Street Sign, Daku, New Delhi, 2013

India has it’s own brand of urban art – which so far hasn’t found its way into museums, and exists exclusively on the streets. Some of it is created organically, appearing innocuously all around us. Organic street art like the work of Daku, seen above on street signs in Delhi and below, as graffiti in Mumbai, have a sense of the uncanny, making them subtly provoking. By almost becoming part of our urban surroundings, Daku’s works leave viewers pleasantly surprised and amused.

Graffiti, Daku, Lower Parel Mumbai, 2012, Courtesy NH7

Graffiti, Daku, Lower Parel Mumbai, 2012, Courtesy NH7

At other times, street art in India is created for specific festivals and public spaces as temporary installations on the street. Mumbai recently saw the return of the Kala Ghoda Festival, which serves as host to several installations on the street, some of which are constrained by the public nature of the festival. For example this work by Paresh Maity titled “Ants” that blends in with the surrounding mechanical environment in the city. What is lost at times is the sense of subtly and cheek that is evident in Daku’s work.

Paresh Maity, Ants, Scrap Metal, Mumbai 2013

Paresh Maity, Ants, Scrap Metal, Mumbai 2013

What is interesting is which we perceive to be as street art  and  how we value these types of works. How much are these installations or reproduced pictures of them worth? Is its value in the free access it allows individuals to art? How is value ultimately affected by the artist’s decisions to work more out of a studio than on the street? Would you buy this kind of work from an art fair?

Hena Kapadia is a Mumbai based art professional, who has a Master’s Degree in Modern and Contemporary Art World Practice.