THE WIZARD OF CODES
From the agrarian, symbolised by the plough that was so intrinsic to the lives of our ancestors, to the futuristic as represented by the ubiquitous dot matrix, Baiju Parthan's compass embraces a wide spectrum of human history and experience. This resulted in the vivid imagery vested in Source Code, his recent path-breaking exhibition at Art Musings.

He effectively combines Internet-based and interactive media work with the more intimate act of painting. Parthan's 'source code' contains all the options that could colour his pictorial applications - be it art history, global media, scientific imaging or religious traditions and iconography. After all, apart from a Bachelor's degree in Painting, he holds one in Botany besides a postgraduate degree in Comparative Mythology!

That Parthan is as preoccupied with genetic engineering as he is fascinated by technological innovation is evident in Yield ("I was interested in the mysterious mind-altering properties of the alkaloids contained in certain plants... and how the tools we fashion reshape our destiny") and Yield 2 - Outsourced ("The painting ponders upon the definitive journey from a farming economy towards a service economy... and even a redefinition of labour itself"). The insightful monograph, Baiju Parthan: A User's Manual by Ranjit Hoskote, released at the preview, is an invaluable guide to the labyrinthine mind of an artist who is unquestionably ahead of his time.

ART ON THE BEACH
The tide is certainly changing for contemporary Indian art, as we discovered on our recent visit to the French Riviera. A chance encounter with a tower of stainless steel buckets rising out of the sands of Pampelonne Beach at St. Tropez aroused the interest of holiday-makers frolicking nearby, but our group of excited Indians recognised it as an installation by eminent artist, Subodh Gupta. Strolling along, we came face to face with three larger-than-life heads that were unmistakably the creations of sculptor, Ravinder Reddy. Further down, there was Sunil Gawde's gigantic Blind Bulb. Our eyes suddenly lit up...the parrot peering down at us at the parking lot must have been a Nataraj Sharma. Was this an Indian summer? Indeed it was... for the fifth edition of L'Art a la Plage, presented by Parisian gallerist/art dealer, Enrico Navarra, turned out to be a celebration of India with a dozen huge sculptures by contemporary Indian artists. Navarra's initiative tried to bring art to people who would ordinarily not visit museums...and he succeeded there. Unfortunately, the placards (if there were any to begin with) identifying the artists/works seemed to have been washed away!

VISUAL READING?
Is it a library? Is it a movie theatre? Is it a laboratory? When Bose Krishnamachari presented LaVa (Laboratory of Visual Arts), what he calls a 'contemporary-temporary library for the visual reader' drew curious crowds. An archival project, his collection of visual art practices drawn from museums, institutions, galleries, shops and streets in major art capitals is a site-specific installation founded on his avid interest in architecture, design, furniture and art. Bose's desire to share the knowledge available from across the globe shaped the library of books, DVDs and CDs covering subjects like cinema, architecture, design, fashion, cultural studies and philosophy.

"What I was missing during my student life, I am trying to share that now within my limitations. A room within an institution, an art project within a museum, a library - that has been my never-ending passion," discloses the artist whose avowed ambition is to create an ideal place for visual art practitioners and theorists, a museum of total knowledge. After Gallery Sumukha (Bangalore), the 'laboratory' moves to Gallery 88 (Kolkata), Bodhi Art Gallery (New Delhi), Red Earth Galleries (Baroda) and Kashi Art Gallery (Kochi) - so catch it where you can.

EXPAT-ART!
With art galleries booked year-round for exhibitions by Indian artists, where do expatriate artists go? Italian photographers, Mino La Franca and Pino Marchese along with Italian painter, Lucia Pescador found the answer at the Italian Art Fest held at Masterpieces Galerie de Designe, a lifestyle store with a mansion-like ambience set within a heritage building at Colaba, Mumbai. A celebrated fashion photographer in Italy, La Franca, who divides his time between Milan and Mumbai showed his images of Rome. Architect by education and photographer by passion, Auroville-based Marchese (who settled down there a decade ago) chose to present his photographs of India; while painter, Pescador, a favourite among collectors in Italy, displayed canvases characterised by vibrant colours.

VERVE LISTING

• Once Upon a Time, Baroda-based Rekha Rodwittiya's series of bold and beautiful acrylics and oils on canvas that celebrate womanhood moved to Nature Morte Gallery in Delhi after being previewed at Sakshi Art Gallery in October.
• Goa-based artist, Subodh Kerkar made waves once again when he created The Mussel Wave, an installation formed out of 20,000 mussel shells at the Busan Biennale Sea Art Festival held in Korea this year.
• Vipta Kapadia's latest collection at Museum Art Gallery reinforced her mastery over pure colour and texture, thanks to the emotional overtones she succeeds in investing into her work.
• When the Icons told their own Stories, recent paintings by Vijaya Kalyan at the Museum Art Gallery, immortalised larger-than-life icons like Amitabh Bachchan, M.F. Husain, Oprah Winfrey and Mother Teresa whose outstanding generosity of spirit set them apart from the rest of the entertainment brigade.
• Love, a solo show by conceptual artist, Sudarshan Shetty at Bodhi Art Gallery, explored one of the most culturally loaded concepts through a medley of large-scale mechanised and digitised assemblages interspersed with multiples of small objects that bear reference to the mass-production that characterises love today.
• Emerge by Arzan Khambatta, presented by Tarana Khubchandani, showcases monumental sculptures celebrating a medley of innovative materials, surface treatments and mosaic-like forms that are reminiscent of fragments emerging from the ground.
• Alchemy of Play by Jaideep Mehrotra will be shown at Gallery 1 x 1 Art Space, 1023, Al Manara, Al Wasl Road, Dubai, from November 28 to December 11.
• From December 15, Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke present the first solo exhibition in India of Kiki Smith, a significant American artist. Her exquisite exploration of the body, the relationship between nature and human nature, and the realm of female superheroes are some enduring themes that will form part of Smith's Mumbai solo. Artist, Atul Dodiya will conduct a conversation with Smith in the Mumbai gallery on December 16.