From the age of prints and paper

Gallerist Priyasri Patodia curates an exhibition which draws out the nuances of printmaking while exposing the public and the art-viewing cognoscenti to different methods and approaches of the subject. From tinted memories to lithography, Priyasri and her group of artists want to awaken people into the beautiful art of printmaking and of buying prints which makes art enter ordinary homes. Priyasri muses, “Printmaking is for everyone and it’s an art we need to revive,” and that is exactly what the exhibition aims to do. Pablo Piccaso used this form of art to get into the hearts and homes of a middle class. Raja Ravi Varma with his oleographs did the same in 19th century India. As one of the participating artists, Anupam Sud says, “I am deeply anguished by the fact, that today artists and galleries are complicit in misleading the public about printmaking with reproductions being passed off as originals.”
Contemporary Printmaking in India is on view at Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai until August 12.

Snap Judgements

In the 1930s, Jacques Derrida gave the world ‘deconstruction’ which made multiple perceptions of a creative piece of work possible. That there will always be different views to the same object was the core of the theory. When one watches Fabien Charuau’s work, thoughts of poverty and sadness creep into the mind – that have been so easily programmed by mass media. It’s only when the French photographer explains that his projects – one being The Great Unwashed – aren’t an exotic western view on poverty in India but that which celebrate their humanity, do the hues of their skin and everyday banalities come alive to the conditioned eye. Another of his projects, Stumble Asleep is a suite of photographic series, each one unravelling the thread of a dream left on a Mumbai street. With a dreamer as a point of departure for each series, the photos reveal dreams that take shape in the heat and dust of Indian streets. Based in India for the last 12 years, Fabien’s identity is defined by the confluence of two cultures; the one he was born in and the one he lives in. Sensitive to the placement of the body, its grace and the play of clothes on the body, his images conjure a pulsating vitality.
The Great Unwashed and Stumble Asleep will be on view at Matthieu Foss Gallery, Mumbai all through September.

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