‘Meri zameen’ is the solo exhibition of senior artist Shri Umesh Verma ji, recipient of National Award from Lalit Kala Akademi in 2004, to be displayed at galleries ‘A’ and ‘B’ of All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS) New Delhi. The exhibition, sponsored by AIFACS, will be inaugurated at 6 pm on 3rd June 2016 by Shri Ram V. Sutar ji, renowned sculptor and recipient of the Padma Bhushan award in 2016. The exhibition will include 53 works of the artist and will be open for the public daily from 11 am – 7 pm till 9th June 2016. His paintings fall under the genres – semi realism and abstractionism, and are essentially focused on the message that the artist wishes to convey. Most of the works are from the period 2000-2014, although there are a few that date as far back as 1962. The artist uses multiple media on canvas including acrylics, oils, paper and even digital prints. With more than 50 years of life dedicated to art, the artist has been able to put forward a display that expresses his feelings and emotions and generally stems from his experiences and responses to the macro (world events) and to the micro (nature and the immediate world around him). The desire is not to shock but to engage and in this the artist has been successful. Umesh ji also uses words and metaphors extensively while creating these visuals, at times putting self composed poems using many scripts (English, Hindi, Arabic and even Japanese) on the canvas.
‘Making via Unmaking’ is the first solo exhibition of the scientist, Dr. Sukant Khurana, in India. He holds doctorates in neurosciences and computations, and has been working in the spheres of Data computing and analysis, and drug discovery. He is a versatile individual using many mediums of artistic creativity like poetry, painting, articles and books. He has released many papers in his fields of expertise and has also published books that include his art juxtaposed with the poetry of Luisa Scott (’Circling While’ available on Amazon and Createspace). His exhibition of 65 paintings displayed in galleries ‘C’ and ‘D’ of All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society (AIFACS) will be open to public daily 11 am – 7 pm from 3rd – 9th June. Sukant’s art is more about the creation through destruction. He uses multiple layers of different mediums and using multiple procedures to create newer textures each time. With each new coat of paint or procedure (making), the previous layer is somewhat lost (unmaking), despite leaving traces and adding to the new look. The show has an autobiographical flavor and follows some of the series that he has worked on – ‘Circling while’, ‘Fake smile’, and ‘Breaking through’. The art ranges from impressionism to semi-abstract, and abstractionism. The viewer is forced to create a dialogue with the artwork and envisage their personal narrative.
Aakshat Sinha is the curator for both the shows. He is a Delhi based artist, curator, writer, comic creator, and baker. His curated show – ‘Pratibimb-Reflections’, an International artists’ group show (India, Russia, Australia, UK, USA, Nepal, and Sri Lanka), which was held at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi 10th-16th April 2016 garnered lots of International coverage and recognition, and it was also a part of the International digital art show ‘Man and the city’ held at the Stieglitz Saint Petersburg State Academy of Art and Design, Saint Petersburg, Russia 14th April – 5th May 2016. He has held 2 Solo shows (of his art) and has participated and organized multiple group art camps and exhibitions. He was invited to represent India and participate in the International Silk Route Forum exhibition, held at the House of Artists, Moscow, Russia in September 2015.
