Latest news with #ProgressiveArtGallery
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- General
- New Indian Express
Jangarh Kalam, the next generation
"The Gonds were not mainly known for making art," said Harsh Vardhan Singh, the director of Progressive Art Gallery. It was only after Jangarh Singh Shyam began painting that Gond art found a new identity and style, he added. The Progressive Art Gallery which is supporting the 'Jangarh Kalam – Continuing in Patangarh' exhibition is being held at Triveni Kala Sangam under the aegis of The Raza Foundation. It features 30 artworks made by 18 Gond artists. 'Jangarh Kalam' is now considered a new school of Indian art named after the popular Adivasi artist, Jangarh Singh Shyam. Born in 1962, in the Patangarh village of Madhya Pradesh, Jangarh, as he came to be known in the art world, started from painting temple walls to becoming a globally recognised artist. His work is characterised by careful dotting, fine line work, and the use of vivid colours to make whimsical beings, deities, flora, and fauna. The artist was discovered in the 1980s by anthropologist and the then director of Bhopal Bhavan, Jagdish Swaminathan. Swaminathan was amazed by the young painter's work, and invited him to work at Bharat Bhavan's newly established Roopankar Tribal and Folk art Museum. Jangarh was offered materials like paper, canvas and painting tools which were previously unfamiliar to him. While Jangarh passed away in Niigata, Japan in 2001, at just 39, his artistic legacy lives on among his family members and disciples, inspiring artists from the Gond heartland.
Indian Express
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Protests by artists, beyond political
Does art necessarily need to be overtly political to challenge the establishment? Can resistance be wielded by rejecting rigid ideologies or attempting to assert individuality? The exhibition 'Intertwined: Revisitation of the Indian Art Narrative' at Progressive Art Gallery in Dubai attempts to ask these questions through the works of some of India's most significant artists. 'Art's relevance lies not in the adherence to any ideology, but in its potential to dare, to question, and to unearth the unseen truths of its time,' states curator Wendy Amanda Coutinho. On the walls in the gallery are works of India's most significant modernists, from founders of the formidable Progressive Artists' Group — MF Husain, SH Raza, FN Souza, KH Ara, HA Gade and SK Bakre to artists KG Subramanyan, VS Gaitonde, Jehangir Sabavala, Bhupen Khakhar and J Swaminathan. 'The exhibition assembles an ensemble of artists whose legacies are intricately connected to the currents of protest — political and personal — that defied and defined their time. These interconnections reexamine the individual artistic journeys that shaped collective movements and dialogues, spanning generations, challenging and questioning the status quo,' notes Coutinho. Primarily selected from the gallery collection, the display includes works that signify transitions in artistic practices. Among others is SH Raza's 1956 Le Village, painted in gestural brushstrokes to depict his early impressions of European village-scapes years after he moved to Paris in 1951, as well as his 1990 canvas Genesis, where his trademark bindu occupies the centre. If Jehangir Sabavala's 1966 Mirage has two shrouded figures seated in an arid desert, Ram Kumar is represented by an abstract landscape in an untitled 1992 canvas. J Swaminathan's 1971 oil on canvas comes from the period when he was embarking on a new pictorial language of conceptual landscapes. Sohan Quadri's meditative abstract comes from his dot series, and Sakti Burman has a playful canvas Musicians Playing for Krishna. Arpita Singh — whose first solo institutional exhibition outside India is currently on at the prestigious Serpentine North Gallery in London — is represented by a 1974 ink and watercolour on paper. Husain — the maverick for whom Dubai was also home for a brief period in his latter years — is represented, among others, by his trademark horses in Murano glass. 'The artists featured in the exhibition have not only redefined creative boundaries but have also placed India on the global artistic map with their bold visions and timeless works. Through this exhibition, we celebrate their individuality and the profound impact they've had on art and culture, not only back home, but worldwide,' notes Harshvardhan Singh, Director of Progressive Art Gallery — incidentally, named by Husain.
