SELF Curated by Mohan Kumar T
“slow down and smell the roses, and take a selfie”
‘self’ is an peripheral notion within the contemporary culture we live in. The accessibility to comprehend the notion of ‘self’, used to be embedded within a spiritual process, before the invasion of technology. In contemporary times the notion inhabits a buoyant and ambiguous dimension. It is now a process of technology. ‘Smart’ has become the new local, customisation is seen as an empowering tool and ‘selfie’ is the common ground for universal self expression. Technology has successfully created ‘self’ as one of the permutations of a particular source code.
In this exhibition, curated by Mohan Kumar T, six artists engage with... this illegibility of self in contemporary culture. Illegibility in the context of this exhibition doesn’t function as a disruptive force but as an element of aesthetic index. Like the illegible condition of Mona Lisa’s expression, the notion of ‘self’ has enabled these six artists to provide their own personalised texts on the subject through their work. The works create a dual position of episteme and the nucleus for the viewer to experience the phenomena of ‘self’.
BALAJI N Brick<>self Installation | Multimedia
Balaji positions the ‘self’ as a structural void within the various roles that a person inhabits in their everyday lives. Balaji projects a video that narrates the various roles that an individual inhabits, on an exposed brick wall. The bricks in the wall are handcrafted by Balaji, with an overlay of personalised text. For Balaji, the brick acts as a metaphor for the several roles that together generates a person’s façade, while acknowledging the absence of the brick in the brick wall as a crucial moment within the construct of the artist’s self.
MOHAN KUMAR E Facade for self-expression Sculpture | multimedia | text
Mohan explores the body and the face as objects of self expression. Mohan creates multiple projections of the body in strategic places around the gallery and creates curious conditions of conversations between these bodies. He further plays with the idea of face and body as active mediums for expressions. These mediums are at some places, a TV screen for a face, or a projector feeding calligraphic text upon the body. While creating playful conditions with these forms of human figures and multimedia, Mohan creates characters and situations, out of human mannequins. His work encourages the viewer to become a character within the space and engage in a conversation with the work.
PRAKASH N Narrative motifs Painting | Installation
Prakash has grown up with objects of sound. His family ran a business of renting volume to local events through loud speakers, mic and other ancillary equipments. These motifs, in his paintings, play a significant role in placing the artist’s voice within his work. Prakash juxtaposes his paintings with the sketches that allowed him to reach there and positions the viewer in between, thus becoming part of the process of finding the artist’s idea of self.
VARSHA BHIDE Rhythmic resonance Installation | Sound | Multimedia
Varsha creates a multimedia installation that becomes the architecture place it inhabits within the gallery. The viewer is drawn by architecture of the piece, where Varsha creates a window for an intimate experience. The installation creates an opening for the viewer to find resonance with the datum of life, an index of the ‘self’.
VINEESH AMIN Installation | Multimedia
Vineesh works with the symbiotic relationship between the self and the space it inhabits. His work highlights the ethereal nature of this exchange and tries to search for a form to acknowledge the flux.
VIJAY P Finding self in a traditional technique Miniature paintings | gold | tanjavur
Vijay is an accomplished painter, specialising in Tanjavur painting technique. Vijay finds himself through the everyday objects he uses, which become motifs within his paintings. The objects enter the painting as a medium for the self. Vijay further deconstructs the medium as smaller forms of paintings and disperses them all around the gallery. The paintings become found objects, unraveling a narrative. This positions the audience in a unique position of becoming a character who constructs the narrative., within the artist’s notion of self.
“slow down and smell the roses, and take a selfie”
‘self’ is an peripheral notion within the contemporary culture we live in. The accessibility to comprehend the notion of ‘self’, used to be embedded within a spiritual process, before the invasion of technology. In contemporary times the notion inhabits a buoyant and ambiguous dimension. It is now a process of technology. ‘Smart’ has become the new local, customisation is seen as an empowering tool and ‘selfie’ is the common ground for universal self expression. Technology has successfully created ‘self’ as one of the permutations of a particular source code.
In this exhibition, curated by Mohan Kumar T, six artists engage with... this illegibility of self in contemporary culture. Illegibility in the context of this exhibition doesn’t function as a disruptive force but as an element of aesthetic index. Like the illegible condition of Mona Lisa’s expression, the notion of ‘self’ has enabled these six artists to provide their own personalised texts on the subject through their work. The works create a dual position of episteme and the nucleus for the viewer to experience the phenomena of ‘self’.
BALAJI N Brick<>self Installation | Multimedia
Balaji positions the ‘self’ as a structural void within the various roles that a person inhabits in their everyday lives. Balaji projects a video that narrates the various roles that an individual inhabits, on an exposed brick wall. The bricks in the wall are handcrafted by Balaji, with an overlay of personalised text. For Balaji, the brick acts as a metaphor for the several roles that together generates a person’s façade, while acknowledging the absence of the brick in the brick wall as a crucial moment within the construct of the artist’s self.
MOHAN KUMAR E Facade for self-expression Sculpture | multimedia | text
Mohan explores the body and the face as objects of self expression. Mohan creates multiple projections of the body in strategic places around the gallery and creates curious conditions of conversations between these bodies. He further plays with the idea of face and body as active mediums for expressions. These mediums are at some places, a TV screen for a face, or a projector feeding calligraphic text upon the body. While creating playful conditions with these forms of human figures and multimedia, Mohan creates characters and situations, out of human mannequins. His work encourages the viewer to become a character within the space and engage in a conversation with the work.
PRAKASH N Narrative motifs Painting | Installation
Prakash has grown up with objects of sound. His family ran a business of renting volume to local events through loud speakers, mic and other ancillary equipments. These motifs, in his paintings, play a significant role in placing the artist’s voice within his work. Prakash juxtaposes his paintings with the sketches that allowed him to reach there and positions the viewer in between, thus becoming part of the process of finding the artist’s idea of self.
VARSHA BHIDE Rhythmic resonance Installation | Sound | Multimedia
Varsha creates a multimedia installation that becomes the architecture place it inhabits within the gallery. The viewer is drawn by architecture of the piece, where Varsha creates a window for an intimate experience. The installation creates an opening for the viewer to find resonance with the datum of life, an index of the ‘self’.
VINEESH AMIN Installation | Multimedia
Vineesh works with the symbiotic relationship between the self and the space it inhabits. His work highlights the ethereal nature of this exchange and tries to search for a form to acknowledge the flux.
VIJAY P Finding self in a traditional technique Miniature paintings | gold | tanjavur
Vijay is an accomplished painter, specialising in Tanjavur painting technique. Vijay finds himself through the everyday objects he uses, which become motifs within his paintings. The objects enter the painting as a medium for the self. Vijay further deconstructs the medium as smaller forms of paintings and disperses them all around the gallery. The paintings become found objects, unraveling a narrative. This positions the audience in a unique position of becoming a character who constructs the narrative., within the artist’s notion of self.
