Prajjwal Choudhury

Prajjwal Choudhury, in his work titled 'Everything has been done before, but we would like to go back and begin all over again', displayed at 'Re-claim, Re-cite, Re-cycle' sets up a recycling machine apparently operating as a kinetic conditioned to reprocess and reproduce matchboxes. He says: "There will be 2000 match boxes placed inside the mixer which will be falling on a moving steel plate. All the match boxes will be accumulated together and once the mixer is empty they will go back into the mixer by vacuum process so the process of recycling begins".

It is obvious that Prajjwal is at war with the way in which everyday objects are taken for granted. He gathers his preliminary fuel from such objects like matchboxes to engineer his thought-provoking creations. These matchboxes filled in the recycling machine carry a realistic visual appeal, but with a wry humor, deceiving the onlooker. The cover of the matchboxes carries images of the works of the world-famous artists-Andy Warhol, Picasso, Damien Hirst, Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dali, Dhruva Mistry, Jitish Kallat, Subodh Gupta and Atul Dodiya.

(Profile by Latitude 28)

Ranbir Kaleka

Ranbir Singh Kaleka was born in Patiala, Punjab, in 1953. He studied painting at the College of Art, Punjab University in Chandigarh, and subsequently took on a teaching assignment at the Punjabi University and College of Art in New Delhi. He later obtained his Master's degree in painting from the Royal College of Art in London.


Kaleka’s paintings, both on paper and canvas, in oils as well as mixed media, are almost surrealist in their treatment of scenes from everyday life. The lines are suggested, rather than sharply traced, and the colours almost deliberately restrained. Kaleka’s interest in cinema also lead to the advent of his video art, where he explores the effects of combining the physicality of the painted image with an image made out of light. The result is a ‘sort of hyperimage’, which achieves an intensity and subtlety of colour, and imbues the static with a sense of movement through the superimposition of sound and movement. The artist’s movement into video art has been an essential endeavor for his further exploration of the ‘psychological event’, an event that can only take place outside the physical confines of the frame of the painting, through the usage of light to create the image and the subsequent aura of the image. Kaleka has also created and exhibited photographs and installations. 


The artist’s work has been widely exhibited in India and abroad. His most recent solo and group shows include the 4th Guangzhou Triennial, 2011; MediaArtLab in Moscow, in 2011; Prague Biennale 5, in 2011, Lalit Kala Akademi’s ‘Tolstoy Farm- Archive of Utopia’, in 2011; ‘Contemporary Masterpieces from Private Collections’ at Singapore Art Museum, in 2011; ‘Finding India, Art for the New Century’ at MOCA Taipei, in 2010; Hong Kong Art Fair, in 2010; ‘Sweet Unease’ at Volte Gallery, Mumbai, in 2010; ‘Reading Man’, in 2009, and ‘Fables from the House of Ibaan: Stage I’ in 2008, at Bose Pacia Gallery, New York; Chalo India at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, in 2008; a multi-media installation commissioned to the permanent collection of the Spertus Museum, Chicago, in 2007; the Sydney Biennale, 2008; Urban Manners at Hangar Bicocca, Milan, in 2007; New Narratives: Contemporary Art from India at the Chicago Cultural Center in 2007; Horn Please: The Narrative in Contemporary Indian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Berne, in 2007; Art Video Lounge at Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, in 2006; Hungry God: Indian Contemporary Art at Busan Museum of Modern Art, South Korea in 2006; iCon: India Contemporary at the Venice Biennale, 2005; Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India at the Asia Society, New York, in 2005; Culturgest-Lisbon in 2004; Zoom! Art in Contemporary India, Lisbon, in 2004; and subTerrain: Indian Contemporary Art at the House of World Culture, Berlin, in 2003. ? 

Ranbir Kaleka lives and works in New Delhi.


(Profile by Saffronart)

Prabuddha Dasgupta

Prabuddha Dasgupta’s photographs are dynamic yet soulful. His personal portfolio explores a variety of subjects such as friendships, family ties, personalities, relationships, personal spaces and dwellings, journeys and landscapes. Time and space, the two frameworks so embedded in our psyche, become irrelevant in Dasgupta’s compositions. He goes beyond explicit spatial and temporal locations to explore the triumphs and victories of an individual within a complicated society consisting of multiple layers and many contradictions. Some of the main issues his body of work addresses are those pertaining to the self, gender, sexuality and relationships. 


Dasgupta has also created a series of portraits of Indian women. These images of urban Indian women represent their strength and stability, emphasizing their overall demeanor and personalities rather than just their physical beauty.


Dasgupta’s commissioned works include images for the magizines Vogues and Elle, campaigns for luxury brands Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Ravissant and Ganjam, and calendars for prestigious brands such as Vama, Grasshopper and Interglobe. 


Prabuddha Dasgupta was born in 1960 in Kolkata. In 1991, he received the Yves Saint Laurent Grant for Photography. Since then, he has participated held several solo shows worldwide, the most recent being ‘Longing’ at Bodhi Art, New York, in 2007; ‘Myth and Memory’ at Galleria Carla Sozzani, Milan, in 2007, and at Bodhi Art, New Delhi, in 2006; ‘Photographs’ at Franco Maria Ricci, Milan, in 2005; 'The Erotic Landscape’ at the Biennale Internazionale di Fotografia, Brescia, in 2004; ‘Lakshmi’ at Atelier Degli Artisti, Brescia, in 2002; and ‘Ladakh’ at Le Cashmerien, Paris, also in 2002. His recent group endevors include 'Click! Contemporary Photography in India' at Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi and Grosvenor Vadehra Gallery, London, in 2008; 'Lens’ at Bodhi Art, Singapore, in 2007; 'What Wears Us’ at Matthieu Foss Gallery, Mumbai, in 2007; 'Act of Faith’ at the Noorderlicht Photo Festival, Netherlands, in 2007; ‘India Photography: Four Voices’ at Galleria Carla Sozzani, Milan, also in 2007; and 'The Incredible Moment’ at the Maurya Sheraton Hotel, New Delhi, in 2005.


(Profile by Saffronart)

Vidura Jang Bahadur

Born in 1975, in Lusaka, Zambia, Vidura Jang Bahadur studied at St. Xaviers College, Mumbai, and went on to receive his Master’s degree in Mass Communication from MCRC at Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi. Following his graduation, Bahadur spent three years travelling in China, where he taught English, studied Chinese, and learnt more about the various facets of complex Chinese culture. Through his work, Bahadur tries to create a better understanding of communities and individuals. His recent projects include a series of photographs that focuses on the Chinese community in India. 


Bahadur’s solo shows include 'Tsampa on my Shoulder' at Bodhi Art, New Delhi, in 2007; and an exhibition of his photographs on China titled ‘Meiyou Wenti’, at the India International Centre, New Delhi, in 2003. He has also participated in a few international group exhibitions including 'TADAIMA: Looking for Sweet Home', an exhibition of Asian contemporary Art at Gallery Artlier, Fukuoka, in 2009; the Singapore International Photography Festival in 2008; and 'Click!: Contemporary Photography from India’ at Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, and Grosvenor Vadehra, London, in 2007-2008. 


The artist lives and works in New Delhi.


(Profile by Saffronart)

Laxma Goud

Born in 1940 in Nizampur, Andhra Pradesh, K. Laxma Goud completed his diploma in Drawing and Painting from the Government School of Art and Architecture, Hyderabad, in 1963; he then went on to study Mural Painting and Printmaking at the Faculty of Fine Arts at M.S. University, Baroda, from 1963 to 1965. Goud displays versatility over a range of mediums, from printmaking, drawing, watercolour, gouache and pastels to glass painting and sculpture in bronze and terracotta. Over the many years of his artistic career, he is known to have moved from one medium to another with élan. Fellow artist T. Vaikuntam, in one of his interviews, reminisces that it was Laxma Goud who introduced him to the art of sketching and made him aware of the possibilities of this medium. 


When one looks at Goud’s work, rustic, raw, and potent might be the first words that come to mind. His portraits of men and women represent the dynamic Indian ethos rather than particular individual identities. A recurrent theme with the artist is that of the erotic, treated as an active and powerful aspect of male and female sexuality and existence. Goud’s work is dramatic; his protagonists are raw and vivacious in their appeal, imbibed with energy that reverberates through his strokes and textures. Most of Goud’s art is centered on the rural, recreating landscapes from his childhood as if they were frozen in time. In the artist’s later work, his figures turn softer, more introspective than brash in their outlook. 


Recently, the artist has worked on a series of lush landscapes in vivid colors reminiscent of his youth spent in rural Andhra Pradesh. Like most of the artist’s work, these are generally executed in a miniature format, in what is perhaps an attempt to create an intimate atmosphere in which the viewer can engage directly with his creations. 

In 2007, the exhibition, ‘Laxma Goud 40 Years: A Retrospective’ was organized by Aicon Gallery, New York. Other recent solo shows of Goud’s work include ‘Sculptures, Bronze and Terra-cottas’ at the Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2006; ‘Recent Terracotta, Ceramic, Bronze Sculptures’ at Gallery Threshold, New Delhi, and Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2006; and those held at Aicon Gallery, New York, in 2003; and Grey Art Gallery, New York, in 2001-02. Some of the noted group shows in which his works have been features are ‘From the Vault’ at Aicon Gallery, London and New York, in 2007; ‘17th Anniversary Show’ at Gallery Sanskriti, Kolkata, in 2007; and ‘Back to the Future’ at Gallery Espace, New Delhi, in 2006. Goud’s work has also been a part of the São Paulo Biennale, Brazil, in 1977; and ‘Indian Art Tomorrow’ at the Philips Collection, Washington D.C., in 1986. 

The artist lives and works in Hyderabad.


(Profile by Saffronart)

Prabir C. Purkayastha

Despite his original intention to join the army like his father, Prabir Purkayastha, born in 1952 in Central India, graduated with a degree in English Literature from the University of Delhi and moved to Thailand in 1973 to work as an editor for a leading business publication. Upon his return to India in 1980, he worked for 20 years with multiple distinguished advertising agencies in the country. 


As his interest in documentary and fine art photography grew, Purkayastha started spending more and more time photographing the lonely yet traditionally abundant cities of India, particularly those in Ladakh and Assam. Ladakh, nestled deep into the northern Himalayas was the inspiration for a critically acclaimed picture book he produced in 2005, which encapsulates the beauty and remote atmosphere of the region. Accentuating the richness of its old Tibetan culture, and successfully capturing its ways of life, each photo tells an intimate story laced with ancient history. At a recent talk in New York, the artist spoke of the ways in which he had incorporated particular techniques into these photographs, which were suggested to him by the local monks themselves. The book has won several awards and critical recognition, including the ‘Book of the Month’ honour from Better Photography, UK; the B/W Photography Magazine Spotlight Award; a Gold Medal from the All India Federation of Master Printers; and a Silver Medal from SAAPI , Jakarta, in 2006. 

The lack of colour in Purkayastha’s photographs by no means makes them less dramatic or dominating. Rather, it makes each one stand out more, enhancing its content and landscape by filtering the distractions that colour and embellishment bring. Purkayastha’s photographs have been published in a variety of newspapers, magazines and calendars, and have also won him awards from the most prestigious art and photography institutions. His honours include being selected as one of Fuji Film India’s Super Six Photographers for 2009 and the ‘Habitat Award’ for the best photography exhibition in 2002. 

The artist’s most recent exhibitions include a summer talk-show about his work in Ladakh in various Californian cities in 2004, and, the following year, a talk-show at the Rubin Museum of Arts in New York about his unique collection of wall mural photographs. Several exhibitions of his work have been held in India and abroad, including ones in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New Delhi, New York and Mumbai. When he is not shooting on location, Purkayastha lives and works in Gurgaon, Haryana.


(Profile by Saffronart)

Surekha

Surekha completed her diploma in Painting from the Ken School of Arts, Bangalore in 1990, and completed her MFA in Painting from Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan in 1992.


She was also the Artist-in-Residence, at the Aarau, Switzerland in the year 1999. Paintings, photographs or works which involve the 'needle and thread', Surekha manages to embody various new trends which serve as a performance, as the work interacts with the viewer. She has a number of solo shows to her credit including ones at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, 1993; Crimson Art Gallery, Bangalore, 1996; Sista's Art Gallery, Kalayatra, Bangalore 1997 and Rathaus, Aarau, Switzerland, 1999. She has also participated in various group shows, prominent among these being Ken-90, Bangalore, 1990; 'Women Artists-94', Hyderabad, 1994 and 'Edge of the Century', New Delhi, 1999. 


Surekha presently lives and works in Bangalore.


(Profile by Saffronart)