Drawing, considered a poor second to painting, is rarely celebrated with such aplomb as planned by Gallery Espace on its 25th anniversary. Titled “Drawing 2014: Seven Decades of Indian Drawing”, the show is co-curated by Prayag Shukla along with Annapurna Garimella and Sindhura Jois DM from the Jackfruit Research and Design, Bangalore, and will be held at Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts from November 10 till November 28.
“Drawing is the foundation of all art and the basis of all disciplines. It was legendary M.F Husain who introduced me to the finer nuances of drawings and the intimate, small format nature of this genre has remained a personal favourite with me ever since. The smoothness of a Jamini Roy drawing, the performative nature of Husain’s own works, drawings by Laxma Goud and Manjit Bawa – these were part of my initial introduction to this genre,” says Renu Modi, Director, Gallery Espace.
The show features works by several artists including Jogen Chowdhury, Ganesh Pyne, Bikash Bhattacharya, Arpita Singh, Meera Mukherjee, Nasreen Mohamedi, Ghulam Muhamed Sheikh, Nilima Sheikh, Madhvi Parekh and Himmat Shah.
Apart from the drawings, there will be several collateral/outreach events that will reflect on the significance of drawings in art and other disciplines.
The exhibition will showcase more than 100 artists from India and feature works dating from 1947 to the present in which drawings are presented as a broad and inclusive practice. Along with works on single sheets of paper, there will be artists’ books, studies for other projects, multiples, laser drawings and animation. This breadth allows curators and viewers to understand how an academic practice moves between the pedagogic and the conceptual realms and between established and experimental ways of working.
Regarded as an essential part of training for any artist be it a painter, sculptor, or a designer but with artists experimenting with the form, it has also come to stand as the final art work.
“Drawing 2014” seeks to highlight how Indian artists have adopted and experimented with ideas and materials which are brought from elsewhere.
Why does an artist perceives drawing as a work of art and how does he or she distinguish drawing from any other work of art? By asking such questions, the exhibition seeks to document, analyse and celebrate several historically distinct Indian approaches to drawing.
