Manifestations 5

April 18 – June 18, 2011

Manifestations 5, an exhibition of 75 works by significant Indian artists of the 20th century, is part of Delhi Art Gallery’s biannual series introduced to fulfill the need to present an edited slice from its collection. Its format consists of a single work of each chosen artist which is carefully examined within the unique experiences of his artistic journey. What is exciting is the freedom to select artworks without constraints of chronology, style or subject. Such a vast survey of artists and time spans has been possible because of the artworks collected over the years which, by intent, are not restricted to the few who have been well documented in Indian art history. Manifestations 5 includes works that cut across histories and geographies, mediums and materials, to represent a slice of the best in Indian modern art. Scholars and art-historians have documented these works at some length, describing each work for its uniqueness. The result is a range of artistic interpretations that examine conflicting ideologies and purposes, experiments in materials and mediums: all making us aware of the constant shifts and changes that art undergoes as artists take on fresh challenges and risks. 

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Chittaprosad, A Retrospective, 1915-1978

July-August 2011

One of India’s most principled, humane and compassionate painters, Chittaprosad’s work here is documented in full, comprising of his political drawings, his propaganda posters, his rich oeuvre for children, and his experiments across mediums that included puppetry. Mounted on a scale that aims to do justice to his intellect, curiosity and experimentation, this is among the most important exhibitions ever to be mounted on an artist in India. For some, it will change their understanding of Chittaprosad; for others, it will change the way they view art.

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Gogi Saroj Pal

August-September 2011

One of India’s earliest artists who have been tagged ‘feminist’, and certainly the first woman artist to wear that label, Gogi Saroj Pal’s work, important as a seminal study of the issues, concerns, challenges and solutions to be found within the paradigm of the feminine gender, spans her entire career. The works represent her growth as an artist and map her changing concerns, though the central theme remains that of gender and society.

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Manifestations VI

October-November 2011

The sixth edition of the biannual exhibition from the Delhi Art Gallery collection that takes 75 iconic artists (and their most seminal works) and grounds them in extensive research and documentation. In being non-thematic and non-linear, the process allows for the best selection based on each artist’s unique or distinctive quality, and is among the most looked-forward to events on the Indian art calendar.

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G R Santosh

January -January 2012

India’s best-known tantric artist was an unparalleled abstractionist whose mystical paintings unfold the secrets of one of India’s best-known philosophies. This retrospective aims to explore his genius whose carefully calibrated interpretations are read by scholars as one of the best treatises of modern art explored in the modernist idiom.

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Bengal

January-February 2012

A complete and holistic view of the most important art movements, schools and groups that emerged from this state at the cusp of the 18th-19th centuries, and had an all-pervading influence on the development of Indian modern art. The Bengal School, Calcutta Group and Santiniketan, among others, produced artists whose footprints have left a deep impact on the genesis and growth of 20th century art in India. Yet, no overview has looked at all these movements comprehensively together. Simply put, this will be one of the most important exhibitions of modern art in India.

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Amitava Das

March 2012

Born in the year of India’s independence, Amitava Das imbues the quintessential modern artist whose work is free from the constraints of ideology, letting him explore his subjects of nature, humanity and the elements in an intimate dialogue outside external influences. As a result, his growth has been mapped out along a path of his own individual growth in which he has moved trajectories often, but with a conviction that comes through in all his work.

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