The Gamut
paintings by Nidhi Agarwal, Ramakrishna Behera & Basist Kumar
October 5 - 23, 2010
New Delhi
GALLERY NATURE MORTE
A1 NEETI BAGH, NEW DELHI 110 049 INDIA
OFFICE: (91) 11- 2956-1596 GALLERY: (91) 11-4174-0215
info@naturemorte.com / www.naturemorte.com
Press Release
“The Gamut”
Paintings by Nidhi Agarwal, Ramakrishna Behera and Basist Kumar
Opening on Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
Exhibition continues to Saturday, October 23rd
On display at Nature Morte in October will be a show of paintings by three artists which explores the diverse strains of imagery in painting today. A “gamut” is the complete range or spectrum of possibilities. Landscapes, portraiture and abstraction come together in the works of these three young artists.
New Delhi-based Nidhi Agarwal paints aggressive, muscular abstractions that harbor figurative passages and landscape tendencies. Violently expressionistic, her color palette is both complex and acrid and her subject matter often perverse. Her paintings are almost anti-decorative and a suite of works on paper update the nihilistic heads of F.N. Souza with collage techniques and advertising images. Born in 1972, Agarwal studied painting at the College of Art, New Delhi and has had solo shows of her work at Art Konsult Gallery (1999) and Dhoomimal Gallery (2009), both in New Delhi.
The paintings of Ramakrishna Behera are most certainly landscapes and are inspired by real places: the caves of Ajanta, the mountains and monasteries of Ladakh, the countryside and temples of Orissa, even the interior of the artist’s home. Yet the works employ distorted perspectives and fold in images of outer space to become something more like psychological maps or hallucinatory visions. While their palette of colors is realistic, their spaces certainly are not. The surfaces of his paintings are buttery and their details are seemingly coaxed spontaneously from their making. Behera, a self-taught painter, was born in Orissa in 1977 and lives and works in Barauni in Bihar. He has held solo shows of his works at Bose Pacia in both Kolkata and New York and at Seven Art Ltd. in New Delhi.
Trained in Santiniketan, where he continues to live and work, Basist Kumar fuses singular portraits with iconic landscapes, resulting in paintings that are indebted to both Science Fiction and Symbolism. He pairs individuals in confrontational poses with boulders, trees, sea-scapes, or architecture to create diptych paintings that are both balanced and dynamic. Born in 1984, the artist earned a BFA degree from the College of Art, Delhi University and an MFA from Vishwa-Bharati University in Santiniketan. Kumar has exhibited his paintings in the past few years at both Bose Pacia Gallery in Calcutta and the Davide Gallo Gallery in Berlin.
Nature Morte is open Monday through Saturday, from 10am to 6pm and closed on Sundays.
For more information, contact Geeta Bajaj or Vandana Saluja at (011) 4174-0215.
Artist CV's
Nidhi Agarwal
Born in 1972, New Delhi
Education: 1993 B.F.A, College of Arts, New Delhi
Lives and Works in New Delhi
Solo Exhibitions
2009
“Existence is Bliss”- Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi
2006
“Water”- Triveni Gallery, New Delhi
2005
Creativity Art Gallery, New Delhi
2000
“Portraits of the Next Millennium”- Food for Thought, New Delhi
1999
Art Konsult, New Delhi
Triveni Gallery, New Delhi
1997
“The Different Faces”- Triveni Gallery, New Delhi
1993
AIFACS Gallery, New Delhi
Group Exhibitions
2010
“The Gamut”- Nature Morte, New Delhi
“Pretty Ugly”- Bose Pacia, Kolkata
2009
“Collector Stop Gallery, New Delhi
“Annual Show”- Gallery Muller & Plate, Munich
“Drawing: The Essence” - Visual Art Gallery, Habitat Centre, New Delhi
“Deep in Black”- Gallery Muller & Plate, Munich
“Untitled”- Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi
“On Canvas” - Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi
2008
“101 Indo-Korean Exhibition”- Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi
2007
“Archival Show”- Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi
2006
“Synergy for the Destiny”- Visual Art Gallery, Habitat Centre, New Delhi
“Indo-Korean Exhibition” - AIFACS, New Delhi
“51 Women Artists” – Lokayata, New Delhi
Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi
Gallery Muller & Plate, Munich
Gallery Muller & Plate, Munich
Collections and Commissions
Park Royal Hotel, Delhi
Hotel Siddhartha, New Delhi
Holiday Inn, Manali
New Centaur Hotel, New Delhi
Ashoka Hotel, New Delhi
Taj Hotel, Mumbai
Hotel Hans Plaza, New Delhi
Escorts and Hero Honda, New Delhi
Remari Enterprises, New Delhi
Japan College of Art, Japan
Awards
AIFACS Awards for Drawing 2007
28th Annual Art Exhibition Award for Painting, Sahitya Kala Parishad 2004
66th AIFACS Awards for Painting and Drawing 1995
67th AIFACS Awards for Painting and Drawing 1996
68th AIFACS Awards for Painting and Drawing 1997
7th Yuva Mahotsava Award Painting 1992
ITDC Award in Painting 1989
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RamaKrishna Behera
Born in 1977, Mayurbhanj, Orissa
Lives and work in Barauni (Bihar)
Working with Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Barauni Refinery as Senior Process Engineer
Education: 1996-2000 B.A. Chemical Engineering IIT, Rorkee
1994-1996 Intermediate, College of Basic Science & Humanities, OUAT, Bhubaneswar
Solo Exhibitions
2010
Bose Pacia Gallery, New York
2009
Seven Art Gallery, New Delhi
Bose Pacia Gallery, Kolkatta
2007
“Curvature”- All India Fine Arts and Craft Society, New Delhi
Group Exhibitions
2010
“The Gamut”- Nature Morte Gallery, New Delhi
2009
“Towards A New Viewership/Audience”- Bakul Art Fest, Orissa Lalit kala Akademi, Bhubaneswar
2008
“Dimensions & Directions”- Curated by Prof. Deba P Patnaik, Mon Art Gallery, Kolkatta
2007
“Earth on Canvas’- WWF India Secretariat, New Delhi
2003
“Home Bound We”- Orissa Lalit kala Akademi, Bhubaneswar
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Basist Kumar
Born in 1984, Bihar, India
Education: 2009 M.F.A. Vishwa Bharti University, Santiniketan, West Bengal
2007 B.F.A. College of Art, New Delhi
Lives and works in Santiniketan, West Bengal
Solo Exhibitions
2009
“Reality Uncertained”- Davide Gallo Gallery, Berlin
Group Exhibitions
2010
“The Gamut” – Nature Morte, New Delhi
2009
“Bologna Art Fair”- Davide Gallo Gallery, Berlin
2008
“De Facing”- Bose Pacia, Kolkata
2007
“Speculum Mundi”- Davide Gallo Gallery, Berlin
“Preview Berlin”- Art Fair, Berlin
Awards
Merit Award 2008
Bishwanath Mukherjee Award 2007
Certificate of Merit 2005