Foreign exchange

Take for example Mexican artist Carlos Amorales, who is showing his works alongside Praneet Soi, an Indian artist living in Amsterdam. Titled Bird in Hand, the show premiered at Project 88, Colaba.

8220;One needs to find a balance between being attracted to a country for its exotic natures and being eroticised as a foreigner,8221; says Amorales, whose colourful birds are a mascot for the diaspora. 8220;The shape of the bird is a raven, and I read that parrots and ravens were related, but parrots migrated to tropical climbs and become colourful and exotic,8221; says the established artist who is showing in India for the first time.

Soi8217;s work also looks at being daisporic in Amsterdam but centres on violence. 8220;Showing with Praneet made sense since I do find many similarities between India and its antediluvian history. Mexico also has a past. While our works are very contemporary, both of us draw on the past,8221; says Amorales.

8220;When two artists show together, a relationship between the works is implied. While both our works are stylistically different, my genre is more towards documentary while he is more fantastical, both of us are concerned with issues of diaspora and violence,8221; says Soi.

At another Colaba gallery, The Viewing Room, two artists from the UK, Natasha Kissell and Natasha Law, are showcasing their works for Romanticism nterrupted.

Kissell is influenced by the Modernist heritage in India; her meticulous canvases bring to mind the delicate art of the miniatures. Kissell uses Le Corbusier8217;s Chandigarh municipal buildings as her reference points . She also cues in more recent examples of contemporary Indian design such as the Lonavala Leisure Centre designed by Sanjay Puri Architects.

8220;The depiction of modernity is merged with the timelessness of natural landscapes, the lush bushes and the eternal snow of the Himalaya in the backdrop. In works like Daughter of the Mountain, I comment on this juxtaposing of modernity and tradition,8221; says Kissell.

Law8217;s works are perhaps not directly related to issues of modernity and the exotic, since her signature gloss on aluminum paintings play out a delicate combination of the dressed and the nude. Her works allude to ideas of seduction and intimacy. Alternating between the traditional genres of odalisques and portraiture, Law underlines her models8217; uniqueness and exalts the essence of femininity.

These artists are connected by the strength of their lines, the power of their bright colours, and a shared investigation of the painting medium. More exhibits are on their way, such as Waswox Waswo8217;s exhibition of Indian miniatures in a contemporary style at Museum Gallery currently Nina Pandolfo is showing at Abhay Maskara8217;s gallery Warhouse, while a gallery in Delhi is showcasing works by Pablo Picasso and Salvadore Dali. That8217;s not all, plans to host a Frida Kahlo show at the National Gallery of Modern Art are underway for the New Year.

Art truely knows no boudaries.