Osian’s Gets 2008 Off and Running

The new year got an early kick-start as far as prices go as Osian’s Mumbai presented their Indian Modern and Contemporary 100 Years of Art sale on Saturday, January 19. Total take for the first major auction event of the year was over just over $8,000,000 USD (converted from INR at the time of this writing) with several works garnering hefty prices Indian art collectors have come to expect in recent years.

Top draws were Perception XV by Jagdish Swaminathan and S. H. Raza's Encounter that both went down at a final bid of nearly $800,000. Case in point that Indian masterpieces continue to appreciate nicely is that the Swaminathan went up for sale at Sotheby’s in 2006 where it sold for half as much. Other masters of the Progressive Artists Group also fared well, as per the norm of late, as works by Tyeb Mehta, F N Souza, and M F Hussain also crossed the half million-dollar mark. Contemporary artists Pestonji Bomanji, K Khosla, P T Reddy, S G Vasudev, Sanat Chatterjee were among younger painters whose pieces also sold well on this day in Mumbai.

The Bengal school section likewise did well with artists such as Sanat Chatterjee, Ganesh Pyne, Bikash Bhatacharjee, Ganesh Haloi, Shyamala Dutta Ray and Jaya Ganguly all receiving solid prices for their selected works up for sale. And was a great day for Tagores' works, as both Abnindranath and Rabindranath Tagore paintings achieved new highs.

The 168 lots included important works from the Dr Suhridchandra Collection and Mukund and Neerja Lath Collections. And while the emphasis seems to remain on the economic aspect of Indian modern and contemporary art, perhaps the focus may be shifting to a more critical and knowledge-based review of art, paving the way for the growing global expansion of Indian talent and creativity. Spring auctions may prove this to be the case.

Tamarind Art's Metaphysical Spaces

Tamarind Art's upcoming exhibition called Metaphysical Spaces features works by six young and talented artists, all exploring the vast possibilities of abstraction. However, each artist approaches abstraction from a very personal level, thereby creating a style unparalleled and unique. Some of the works carry hints of landscape or still-life, and yet the main focus is on the forms, colors, lines, textures that make up the image rather than a direct reference to our natural world. While others use emotive colors, abstract shapes and surface texture to create visual metaphors for contemporary life.

Participating artists: Sumana Chowdhury, Dipankar Dasgupta, Krishna Priya Dasgupta, Touhidul Islam, Arunava Mondal and Viji Reddy.

Sumana Chowdhury graduated from Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan in 1993. She is an award-winning artist who has been participating regularly in numerous exhibitions since 1991 in Calcutta, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, and the United Kingdom. Some of here solo exhibits include, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat, Bangalore in 1995, Time and Space Gallery, Bangalore in 1999, and Sumukha Gallery, Bangalore in 2006.

Dipankar Dasgupta graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University, Baroda. He has participated in a number of group and solo exhibitions including, Recent Works at Chitrakoot Art gallery in 1998. That same year he was also in Autumn Explosion at the Birla Academy in Kolkata, a group show at Sanskriti Art Gallery in Delhi. In 1999 and 2000 he showed his works at Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai. In 1997 he had a solo exhibition at Gallery 88 in Mumbai.

Krishnapriya Dasgupta is a self-taught artist from Kolkata. His works have been exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibition in India including, a group show at Gaganendra Pradarshani in Kolkata, at the Birla Academy of Arts and Culture, Kolkata in 2002, and at Cymroza Gallery in Mumbai in 2006.

Touhidul Islam graduated from Rabindra Bharati University in 2006. Islam’s paintings have been exhibited in several shows all over India including, The Birla Academy of Art and Culture in 2007, a group show at Gallery with a Difference in 2007, The Academy of Fine Arts in 2006, The West Bengal State Academy in 2005. Islam has also had a solo exhibition at Gallery Exposure in 2007.

Arunava Mondal is a young talented artist and has recently graduated from Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan. In recent past he has exhibited in several group shows including, Only Seven, 2004, Sprouts at Kaleidoscope, Vadodara in 2006, Pratiti at Birla Academy in Kolkata. He was also one of the participants of Eleven Talented Artists from Bengal in 2006.

Viji Reddy is an artist from the Indian Diaspora, based in Florida. She has exhibited her works mostly in India and had a solo show at Shrishti Art Gallery, Hyderabad in 2005. The same year she was also participated in a group show at Time and Space Art Gallery, Bangalore. Her works can be seen in many art collections around the world.

Opening reception will be 22 January 2008 from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm. RSVP to rsvp@tamarindart.com. Metaphysical Spaces will run until February 9. 2008.

Maps, Metaphors and Mythologies extended an extra week

Tamarind Art is excited to announce that it’s successful show Maps, Metaphors and Mythologies will be held over for an extra week. According to Tamarind Art the public’s response to this exciting show has been overwhelming. This show has 4 artists 3 of whom are working with installations each in their own unique way

Anupam Chakraborty who in addition to his installation has also created a number of objects for the show out of cast paper. In his installation Crèche he creates a series of whimsically patterned mattresses arranged as a grid that are an extension of the absent toddlers. A hundred little mattresses, pristine, untousled to suggest a hundred tiny bodies relaxed in sleep

Sudhir Kumar Duppati made We – Our – Us, which according to the artist, “Explores the human conditions currently effecting the human existence not for the purpose of identifying the ‘WHO’, but to resolve the insecurities and dilemmas existing in the contemporary societies of the world, with a common understanding and attitude that reflects our desire to live but with a favorable atmosphere.”

Kausik Mukhopadhyay has created a whimsical piece completely out of found objects, titled Incomplete Tourist Map of New York City; this piece was created during a month he spent in New York City on an artist residency.

M. Sashidharan, the lone painter in the show has 3 paintings from his Incubator each of these pieces are metaphors for the unconscious, sites for breeding and nurturing all those repressed impulses and desires censored for the moment by social pressure.

If you have not visited this dynamic show you really should these four artists have created some amazing works of art. If you have seen this show than you will understand how exciting this show is and I recommend you come for a second or third viewing as you will discover new surprises in each piece upon additional viewings.