A Two Letter Poem ~ OK by Jivan Frenster I Opens Thursday May 29 2014

Helmed by a society characterized by helpfulness and carelessness, worship and disrespect, beauty and tragedy, artist Jivan Frenster decided to examine the ambivalence of the reality he encountered.  In dealing with a world full of contradictions, you are forced to practice acceptance, which in a negative sense may lead to insensibility and indifference. 

Attempting to create a contemporary portrait of Indian society, Jivan is investigating this complex interrelationship in an assemblage that oscillates between celebration and critique, which will be presented in his final show titled ' A two letter poem ~ O   K'.

Jivan's residency is supported by the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan 

Magic and Loss by Ragini Bhow | Opens Friday May 16th 2014

Ragini Bhow's work addresses the nature of seeing, illusion, and the human perception of reality. By altering the familiar into the unfamiliar, she is able to traverse an ambiguous space that raises questions on what it means to view nature from the identity of a terrestrial. Her practice explores material relationships that develop from aesthetic observation, visceral exchange, and conversation. Through juxtapositions of man-made elements with the found organic, such as wood and neon light, she transforms the mundane into sacred artifacts that face an alternate dimension.

Ragini completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Minnesota in 2013 with an academic background in Biology. She has been a current resident for 3 months at 1.Shanthiroad.

www.cargocollective.com/raginibhow

PINEAPPLE/SNAKE/ CIRCLE by Benjamin Buchanan I Opens Saturday, 3rd May 2014

Benjamin Buchanan was born in New Plymouth , New Zealand in 1973. He studied Fine Arts at both Dunedin and Auckland University in New Zealand. His practice is engaged with abstraction and pattern making in historical and contemporary terms.

While in India, Buchanan has been inspired by the patterning in everyday culture, from auto decorations to temples. He has amassed a new body of 40 small works on paper and is using these for a large scale temporary installation at 1.Shanthiroad.

Benjamin's residency at 1.Shanthiroad is supported by the Asia-New Zealand Foundation.