SAKSHI GUPTA
MARIAM SUHAIL
AVINASH VEERARAGHAVAN
April 3 - May 2, 2013
Opening Reception: Wednesday, April 3, 6-8pm
Tilton Gallery is pleased to present the work of three artists currently living in India: Sakshi Gupta, Mariam Suhail and Avinash Veeraraghavan. An opening reception will take place on Wednesday, April 3rd, from 6 to 8 pm.
Sakshi Gupta
Sakshi Gupta's work stems from a desire to challenge the turning point in life when facing a confrontational moment, one must choose one of two directions - either to sink further and hit rock bottom or to channel one's entire being to push forth to overcome the challenge. This experience is rendered metaphorically through Gupta's sculptures of animalistic creatures, whether a wild boar with all its animal ferocity, or a small elephant wrapped in its own trunk, caught in the suffocating act of trying to soothe itself. In each case, Gupta's sculptures are unambiguously affirmative. As with another work that captures the transformation of a plant-like form into a bird, for Gupta the beast is intrinsically vulnerable and achieves relief through transformation. The work marks the ephemeral moments of a break or shift and portrays the struggles demanded of change through altering, shedding and mutable layers.
Sakshi Gupta (b. 1979) is a sculptor based in New Delhi, India. Gupta's most recent solo exhibition, Become the Wind, was shown at GALLERYSKE in Bangalore (2013). Recent group shows include Indian Highway, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Julia Peyton-Jones and Gunnar B Kvaran, shown at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art Beijing (2012); Shadow Lines, Biennale Jogja XI, Jogja, (2011) and Homespun, Devi Art Foundation, Delhi NCR (2011). Also in 2011, Gupta exhibited at Gal-erie Krinzinger in Vienna and in 2009 her work was featured at Paris-Delhi-Bombay, Centre de Pompidou, Paris and the Belvedere Museum, Vienna. In 2007, she received the Inlaks International Scholarship, with which she participated in a resi-dency at Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto, Italy. Gupta was recently granted the Illy Sustain Award (2011) and the Civitella Ranieri Fellowship (2011/2012).
Mariam Suhail
Mariam Suhail's work is inspired by the incidental, undocumented minutia of conversations, media, culture, and the everyday. She employs language from these sources to dissect and re-present what may exist in the spaces between exchanges, ideas, historical events and daily occurrences, resulting in works in sculpture, video, digital images, text and drawing.
Originally from Islamabad, Pakistan (b. 1979), Suhail now lives and works in Bangalore. She completed her BFA from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi. Most recently, Suhail's works were on view as part of the Skoda Prize 2012 Exhibition at the NGMA, New Delhi (2013). She has shown at GALLERYSKE, Bangalore and her work has been included in group exhibitions at Gallery BMB, Mumbai (2010), Anant Art Gallery, Delhi (2007) and the National Art Gallery, Islamabad (2007), among many other venues. She has participated in the Tanera Mor 3-island International artist residency in Scotland (2007) and was part of the Khoj International Artists' workshop in Mumbai (2005). Suhail has taught at the School of Visual Arts and Design, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore and the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi.
Avinash Veeraraghavan
Avinash Veeraraghavan draws on his interest in the visual language of popular culture and digital imaging to create graphic books, layered prints, and multichannel video installations. He is interested in images of all kinds, from photographs, patterns in print and textiles, wallpaper patterns, and wrapping paper to motifs taken from different cultures. Veeraraghavan constructs his works through meticulously manipulating digital images that are skillfully layered and juxtaposed to open up new possibilities of meaning. These complex visual collages reflect a deep-rooted and often manic exploration of the structure of emotions and the interstices of the mind. He has described his work as "'psychic shimmers' devoid of narrative, but derived from images of the flotsam and jetsam of everyday lives."
Veeraraghavan (b. 1975) has shown at Gallery SKE, Bangalore, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna and Tilton Gallery, New York. His work was included in the Prague Biennale in 2011 in a section titled, Crossroads: India Escalate. Veeraraghavan has participated in many Indian and international shows including Indian Highway, Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Denmark (2010) and Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo (2009); Still Moving Image, Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi; and at Priyasri Gallery, Mumbai; Gallery Espace, New Delhi; and Hangar Bicocca, Milan. In 2009 Veeraraghavan received the Illy Sustain Art prize at Arco, Madrid. He lives and works in Bangalore, India.