Mumbai Gallery Weekend skips pandemic shutdown, makes space for safety protocols; PS: Gallery Maskara makes special appearance
Shilo Shiv Suleman’s I Return to Soil and Live Forever. Pic Courtesy/ART MUSINGS
Last year, while everything but the essential was cancelled out for most months, art patrons and enthusiasts across the city took solace in knowing that they at least got to spend the beginning of it gallery-hopping through the Mumbai Gallery Weekend in the second week of January. So, it’s more than exciting to know that the city’s largest coordinated art event is back for its ninth edition with 22 galleries and venues showcasing diverse artworks, photography and design pieces from the country and overseas. Spread across four days, every gallery will be following strict safety protocols keeping the ongoing pandemic in mind, while allowing visitors to also book slots to visit a space in advance to avoid overcrowding.
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Designer Rooshad Shroff’s collaboration with Tanya Goel at his new design gallery in Horniman Circle
We usually prefer to take in the entire event as a long walk through the day across the city’s art precinct, starting at Art Musings, which is showcasing works by Shilo Shiv Suleman, who has combined ideas of magical realism, technology and social justice in her paintings, sculptures and a series of poetic love letters. This year, you can also stop by Gallery Maskara, that’s opening its doors to the public after almost five years. With a collection called Portraits of Self – II, Parag Sonarghare has painted larger-than-life male figures (which, hard to believe, are not photographs) seemingly unperturbed by the harsh conditions that surround them.
A Bhupen Khakhar piece from his show with Jogen Chowdhury, Proximate Paths, at Akara Art
Our favourite pitstop along the way is always Akara Art, which never fails to present an eclectic curation of artists. With Bhupen Khakhar and Jogen Chowdhury, their current show Proximate Paths covers works from different periods-in multiple mediums and styles-of both artists who had a similar trajectory (as the title suggests). Founder Puneet Shah says, “We have five oil paintings by Jogen, which in itself is rare, as he is mostly known for his crosshatch works on paper, along with Bhupen’s most iconic work, Janta Watch Repairing, from 1972, which has been part of many museum exhibits worldwide, including his retrospective at the Tate, London.”
Street artist Tyler’s show at Method, Kala Ghoda
For anyone with a penchant for watercolours and collages, head over to Tarq to view Rithika Merchant’s use of organic shapes and colours in her work that focuses on the contemporary moment, while searching for answers in the stars. And, for their latest installment Head in the Clouds, Chatterjee & Lal has curated a series of works by several artists, including Anju Dodiya, Rashid Rana and Nikhil Chopra.
Coral Fever by Aditi Singh. Pic Courtesy/Chemould Prescott Gallery©
As you’ll walk towards Fort, you’ll find a solo show by Aditi Singh at Chemould Prescott Road, which is inspired by solitude and nature, with drawings and paintings that play with rich layers of colour, light, shapes and shadows. At Galerie Isa, Spanish artist Antonio Santin’s hyper-realistic, dramatic paintings depicting skilfully executed ornamental tapestries will expose you to the techniques of tenebrism and chiaroscuro that master painters such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio introduced to European painting in the 15th and 16th century.
A design special
For the first time, the weekend will also showcase the art of design with Rooshad Shroff’s collaboration with Tanya Goel at his new design gallery in Horniman Circle. “We realised we never had a space to showcase the furniture we made for people to discover or immerse themselves in design, and celebrate the craftsmanship behind it,” says Shroff. With Goel (represented by Nature Morte, New Delhi), Shroff’s signature C-chairs have been redeveloped with pieces of artwork embroidered on it to create six pairs of ‘Day and Night’ limited editions sets. Another example of unique design to look out for is his handcrafted marble lights. Natesan’s Antiqarts-one of the oldest antique dealers in Mumbai-at Kala Ghoda, will be displaying a mix of rare antiques and artefacts in wood, bronze and stone, spanning across 2,000 years.
If Banksy were in India...
Mumbai’s infamous street artist Tyler will be hosting his first solo exhibit at Method, Kala Ghoda, with all his art pieces being taken off the streets, which will include his signature stencil-art style characters and situations humorously reflecting on various political-, social-, gender- and caste-based situations. For over 10 years, Tyler has boldly expressed his opinions on various matters using the city’s streets as a canvas.
What: Mumbai Gallery Weekend
When: January 14 to 17, noon to 8 pm
Log on to: www.mumbaigalleryweekend.com
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