Making A Mark

This 28-year-old Bhubaneshwar-born artist has impressed with his sensitive and mature work. Paribartana Mohanty was the winner of the prestigious FICA Emerging Artist Award in 2010 and this year will see a lot more of his work. The award has earned him a three-month residency in Switzerland as well as a solo show at Vadehra Art Gallery. Artist Shuddhabrata Sengupta,one of the jury members of FICA,says,“Besides his skill,Mohanty’s work reflects a serious engagement with literature,unrestricted by language. He is willing to take risks and experiments with a variety of media.”

Hemali Bhuta

Noticed for her minimalist-yet-bold work,Hemali Bhuta,32,is being courted by gallery owners,art critics and collectors alike. Her work ranges from installation to video art and photography,and is characterised by a restraint which is rare for a young artist. Though she has also worked in oil on canvas,she is known better for her use of cutting edge mediums. Bhuta has had a number of group shows at galleries like Project 88 in Mumbai and Religare,Shrine Empire and Stainless galleries in Delhi. She is also one of the finalists for the Rolex Protégée and Mentor award,the results of which will be announced in 2011. “Hemali deliberately understates her concerns by adopting a very minimalist approach,thereby forcing the viewer to scratch beneath the surface and understand the true core of her work,” says critic Amruta Nemivant.

Asim Waqif

A Hyderbad-born Delhi-based artist,Asim Waqif has been busy teaching at the School of Planning and Architecture,Delhi,but that may be about to change. Critics are excited about Waqif because he brings a lot of diversity to his work. He has worked in film,television and video art and has a very broad spectrum of reference. Waqif’s installation,a cross between architecture and art,evokes his ecological concerns and will be exhibited at the India Art Summit in January. He has shown with curator Heidi Fitchner in January 2010 and also has a Khoj artist residency under his belt. “His work,when he started with us at Khoj,was fantastic and shot him to fame. He has a very interesting way of approaching space and deconstructing it. Coming from an architectural background,his work is quite unique,” says Sood.

Nandita Kumar

With her first big solo exhibition in place at Latitude 28 in Lado Sarai,Delhi,the New Zealand-based Kumar has established a reputation for her surreal work that takes off from the human psyche and enters a world of hybrid creatures that are part-man,part-machine and part-plant. Her performances,installations and paintings have also been shown in the Living Room in Mumbai,Gully Lounge Gallery in Waikato and Massey University in New Zealand.

Kumar has received the Best Original Music award for her animated film Birth of Brain Fly at the Cinema Mundo festival in Brazil and as well as the Jules Engle Scholarship. Her film has been described as a visual storyboard about the human brain that leads the viewer through a process of evolution and mutation.

“Nandita’s work is beyond the constructs of the material world. She is refreshing,provocative and willing to take a stand. Her work is not coy,and she’s original with not a trace of influence from the senior Indian artists,” says Ina Puri,writer and critic.

The artist has two big shows coming up,at Latitude 28,and at the Hong Kong Art Fair. She will also be showing at the India Art Summit.