Latest news with #PhaneendraNathChaturvedi
The Hindu
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Phaneendra Nath Chaturvedi and a Metamorphosis in Banaras
Change is inevitable, and more often than not, unpredictable and unconforming. It is the only thing that can challenge the status quo, and enable transformation. In his latest exhibit titled Metamorphosis, Phaneendra Nath Chaturvedi, 44, holds on to this idea of change and celebrates it through 59 pieces of carefully composed artworks. 'For the last 25 years, my art has explored themes of self, duality, and transformation,' he says. 'As an artist, I've always been drawn to the blurry line between human and non-human, real and unreal, natural and artificial. These tensions show up in my human-like figures — creatures stuck between species, genders, eras, and feelings.' With his childhood and formative years spent in Banaras, Chaturvedi's body of work heavily draws inspiration from the old city of temples. A place that in its capacity of life and death, in everyday moments of rituals, symbols, and myths, has shaped his artistic bearing. 'Varanasi does not exist on a map; it breathes, decays, regenerates, and transcends. It is a living paradox — timeless and contemporary, sacred and nonreligious, private and harrowing. These contradictions have definitely affected me. The images that made up daily life in Varanasi were monkeys swaying on crumbling balconies, the fragrance of marigolds, chanting of mantras, smoke overhead as funeral pyres were lit. All of these negated the temporal and metaphysical, and my early exposure taught me to look beyond the surface of things, to see beauty in decay, and to imagine story in silence. That intuition still informs how I create compositional landscapes and characters.' Speaking through the butterfly Through paper, wood, stainless steel, fibreglass and larger-than-life canvasses, Metamorphosis explores how we handle inner shifts in a world that's always changing. It's like a picture diary showing perseverance, self-reflection, and personal growth. A stand-out symbol in Chaturvedi's works is the butterfly, an omnipresent element that serves as a signifier and a tenuously-balanced witness of transformation. It speaks a great deal about several themes the visual artist likes to work with: fleetingness, renewal, beauty born of struggle, and the fragile interplay between vulnerability and strength. 'In many cultures, butterflies are seen as the souls, messengers, or metonymic symbols for transcendence. For me, they have become a metaphor for the human condition. When I portray butterflies in stainless steel sculptures, their iridescence acts as a metaphor for fragility and resilience [against] the artificiality of the industrialised world. And in my paper works, they appear in ambiguous situations, serving as witnesses to change.' No Kafkaesque inspiration At a time when the art world is under a lot of scrutiny, because of the Anita Dube-Aamir Aziz controversy — involving the usage of the latter's poem without due credit or consent — Chaturvedi's exhibit appears closely reminiscent of Prague-born German Franz Kafka's seminal novella in both name and nature. 'If my work has anything in common with Kafka's ideas, it's by chance, not on purpose,' he shares. 'My art comes from a whole different background, rooted in my own life story. So, while Kafka wrestles with alienation, absurdity, and psychological transformation in the context of Europe, I engage in similar ruminations through the lens of Banaras, and the mythological, ritualised and everyday life in India.' Metamorphosis, curated by Sanya Malik, is on view till today at Bikaner House, and till May 30 at the Black Cube Gallery in Hauz Khas. The independent writer is Delhi-based.
Hindustan Times
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
HT City Delhi Junction: Catch It Live on 4 May 2025
A post shared by Black Cube Gallery (@ What: Metamorphosis – Works of Phaneendra Nath Chaturvedi Where: CCA, Bikaner House, Pandara Road When: May 3 to 8 Timing: 11am to 7pm Entry: Free Nearest Metro Station: Khan Market (Violet Line) What: 13th Delhi Literature Festival Where: Bikaner House, Pandara Road When: May 2 to 4 Timing: 11am to 8pm Entry: Free Nearest Metro Station: Khan Market (Violet Line) What: Meri Biwi Ki Shaadi Where: Lok Kala Manch, 20, Lodhi Road When: May 4 Timing: 4.30pm Entry: Nearest Metro Station: JLN Stadium (Violet Line) What: Nashist – Dilli Jo Ik Shahar Hai ft Swapna Liddle, Sohail Hashmi, Saif Mahmood & Sanjeevv Upadhyaya Where: Gulmohar, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road When: May 4 Timing: 7pm Entry: Free Nearest Metro Station: JLN Stadium (Violet Line) What: Swathi Smriti 2025 | Pt Suresh Gandharv (Hindustani Vocal), Vidushi Monica Vaid & disciples (Bharatanatyam) Where: Samvet Auditorium, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), Janpath (Near Western Court) When: May 4 Timing: 6pm Entry: Free Nearest Metro Station: Janpath (Violet Line) What: An evening with Burman's songs Where: Museo Camera, Shri Ganesh Mandir Marg, DLF Phase IV, Sector 28, Gurugram When: May 4 Timing: 6pm Entry: Free Nearest Metro Station: Phase 1 (Rapid Metro) What: Mid-Life Ghabrahat ft Angad Singh Ranyal Where: Guftagu Comedy Club, Guftagu Cafe, 34 Main Road, DLF Phase 2, Sector 25, Gurugram When: May 4 Timing: 6pm Entry: Nearest Metro Station: Phase 2 (Rapid Metro) What: The Flea Street Exhibition Where: Epicuria – Food & Entertainment Hub, Nehru Place When: April 19 to May 4 Timing: 2pm to 1am Entry: Free Nearest Metro Station: Nehru Place (Violet Line)
