TERROR STRUCK
There is no disputing the fact that Ratheesh T’s paintings are born out of an unlikely alliance between the picturesque landscapes and bustling townscapes of his native Kerala – for the tension between tradition and modernity is palpable in the concerns he explores. Environmental degradation and social instability are evidently major issues that disturb him and his hyper-realistic paintings place them centerstage through the juxtaposition of unrelated backdrops and colourful characters in his dramatic compositions. The artist distances himself from the victims of discrimination and degradation in order to draw himself closer to his vision. Using the tools of fantasy along with allegory and parody, he wields together two separate worlds to conjure up a reality of his own – his emotion-laden brush building up vivid images that are menacing even as they seem compassionate, leading one to wonder if these are the artist’s dreams… or nightmares. Jitish Kallat said in the catalogue essay of the group show Min(e)dscapes, featuring Ratheesh T. with Anil Kumar Janardhanan and Prajakta Palav at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke last year: “In these dark brooding pictures distanced from the rays of the sun, activities as varied as tending to cattle or going to battle are overcast by an interrogating stillness.” The questioning stance still remains, as is evident from his recent oils on canvas.
At Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai, from December 4 to January 5.

REAL-LIFE DRAMA
Over the past 33 years, Sudhir Patwardhan’s pencil and brush strokes have captured distinctive and universal themes that emerge from the theatre of life as lived by the working classes. The urban landscape filled with construction sites, suburban trains, sleepy cafes and busy streets invariably forms the backdrop against which the heroes of his narratives act out their chosen roles…. All this and more, we can expect to see again in his recent paintings and drawings. The urban dweller makes a fascinating case study when held under the microscopic gaze of the artist who once was a radiologist. This is truly as real as it gets.
At Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, from November 15 to 28 and at Jehangir Art Gallery from December 3 to December 9, the show subsequently moves to Kolkata, New Delhi and Vadodara.

ROOMS WITH A VIEW
It is always interesting to see how a gallery space is divided amongst the artists participating in a group show, but Frame/Grid/Room/Cell evokes greater excitement by virtue of the fact that the curator, Gayatri Sinha will be allotting a structured space to each artist invited to use it as the site for his/her artwork. Though they are interconnected, the movement through each white cube is the sole preserve of the concerned artist. “The room is a psychic space, one that occupies the ground between an objective and a subjective reality. It will thus afford opportunity for mounting painting, text, the introduction of sculptural and design objects; equally it is site for video and light projection,” discloses Sinha in her concept note. With artists like Anita Dube, Jagannath Panda, Nalini Malani, Riyas Komu, Shilpa Gupta, Sunil Gawde and Surekha, who range in age from 36 to 61 and engage in art practices as varied as painting, sculpture, photography, site-specific sound and light installations, video art; architectural design by Rahul Mehrotra’s RMA Associates and a curator who started out as an art columnist in the early ’80s, this is definitely one show that will accommodate many viewpoints.
At Bodhi Art Gallery, Mumbai, from November 5 to 25.

ASCENT OF A WOMAN
Minal Damani’s first solo show, Refilled, at Gallery Beyond in Mumbai, consisted of oils and gouaches based on the notion of emptiness and its relationship to change. Art critics were full of praise for the unique language of this emerging talent…and almost two years later, Damani seems to be fulfilling the promise of her maiden show with paintings that will be seen at the 2007 International Incheon Women Artists’ Biennale. Titled Memory Drawings, the series (previewed at Project 88) deals with one’s tendency to return to the realms of memory and fantasy in order to fill the vacant spaces in one’s life with an invented reality that anchors the self and lends a sense of security. The young artist fabricates empty spaces within an object or surrounding that is otherwise complete in meaning and existence and fills the evoked emptiness with images from an altogether different sphere. Like the temporary drawings on objects/body parts that make up these works done in water colour and ink on paper, the invention of temporary alternatives is gratifying to those who experience isolation. Sensibility, Pink, Cyborg, Imperfect Structure, the section that features her, also includes the work of Indian artists like Reena Saini Kallat, Suhasini Kejriwal and Mithu Sen, along with about about 60 well-known international artists.
At the Incheon Multiculture & Arts Centre, Korea, from November 10 to December 10.

CROSSING BORDERS
In 2005, his digital print All Eyes Skywards during the Annual Parade was one of the highlights of a key exhibition of art from Pakistan. Part of the section called Creating Identity, it depicted a mass of people that, on closer examination, were each made up of miniature images drawn from Bollywood scenes! Over two years later, Rashid Rana’s preoccupation with building up the whole with fragmentary parts continues in his solo show Dis-Location – which will be held almost simultaneously at two art galleries. He divides his time between Lahore and Toronto. Travelling with practised ease between the realms of painting, photography, video and installation, Rana blurs the borders that may exist between them…just as his work (a blend of parody and social/political commentary) breaks the mythical boundary wall between India and Pakistan. An integral part of the young and thriving artistic scene in his home country, Rana’s focus is on the present and he deals with issues ranging from the depiction of reality, form, identity to the politics of gender, violence, faith and popular culture.
At Chatterjee & Lal, Mumbai, from November 13 to 17 and at Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai, from November 13 to 29.