Real Realm

Are there issues which are popular but unreal, or popularity which is materialistic?8221; When curator Ranjita Chaney approached artists with this loaded question over a year ago, she hoped to get them thinking about their surroundings and wider concerns that otherwise don8217;t find representation on canvas.

From bomb blasts to urban development and child soldiers, 14 artists reflect on varied issues through their work

Are there issues which are popular but unreal, or popularity which is materialistic?8221; When curator Ranjita Chaney approached artists with this loaded question over a year ago, she hoped to get them thinking about their surroundings and wider concerns that otherwise don8217;t find representation on canvas. 8220;I wanted them to reflect on popular reality. The term is a clicheacute; but I knew the interpretation would vary,8221; notes Chaney. The conviction stood true and the discussions have found varied hues in the artwork that is on display currently at The Stainless Gallery in an exhibition titled 8220;Popular Reality8221;.

Comprising work by 14 artists 8212; Apurba Nandi, Dileep Sharma, Gaurvi Sharma, Josh PS, Murali Cheeroth, Manil Gupta, Nandan Ghiya, Pradeep L Mishra, Sharmi Chowdhury, Tushar Joag, Vibha Galhotra, Vivek Vilasini, Viveek Sharma and Gigi Scaria 8212; this dwells on issues ranging from urban development to the recent spate of bomb blasts across the country.

If Gigi Scaria depicts the cost of urban development in his work titled The Billboard, Tushar Joag reflects on the modernization of Mumbai through the pen and ink work on paper titled Crawford Market. Nandan Ghiya, on the other hand, compels onlookers to consider the consequences of turning children into soldiers on the war field through the acrylic on canvas titled Mission Abortion that has an armed foetus juxtaposed with a pregnant woman. 8220;The practise is prevalent in different parts of world from Afghanistan to South America and Africa. The unborn children are urging their mothers to opt for abortion rather than subject them to such a cruel fate,8221; says Ghiya.

Delhi-based Manil Gupta takes a more philosophical route as he paints illusions in shades of black and white on his canvases titled Do you see the Grand Illusion and Inevitably Real. 8220;The first portrays how everything is an illusion and nothing is real. Most of the beliefs are part of what has been passed on. In the second canvas, I have tried to showcase how in life moments of chaos and happiness coexist,8221; says Gupta.

As Delhiites give their verdict on reality, as perceived by the artists, the exhibition will soon invite reactions from across the globe when it travels to Dubai and Mumbai later this year.

The exhibition is on at The Stainless Gallery till Oct 7. Contact: 9971164477