RANJANI SHETTAR
Epiphanies
October 27, 2007 to January 31, 2008
Talwar Gallery, New Delhi is pleased to announce Epiphanies an exhibition of Recent works by Ranjani Shettar. The works will be on view from October 27th through January 31st, 2008.
In Epiphanies, Ranjani Shettar explores the relationship between materials and meaning by using manmade materials to mimic forms occurring in nature. In Me, no, not me, buy me, eat me, wear me, have me, me, no, not me, she creates organic, pod like forms from the discarded remains of used car bodies. By weaving the mild steel into overlapping strips, the artist evokes the multiple, intersecting histories of the material alluding to cycles of consumption and commodification, prompting a reflection on technology-driven modernity and its relationship to nature.
Drawing from similar concerns and awareness, in the second installation thousands of wooden beads form swirling patterns across the expanse of white walls. The beads are modest in isolation but dynamic and beautiful in unison. Inspired from the vantage point of the plant Touch Me Not, from which this work takes its name, Shettar points to the vulnerability we face as individuals, collectively gravitating towards some unknown destination.
In this exhibition, Shettar extends her focus to using natural materials to communicate a larger sense of history and evolution. In choosing materials whose meanings are literally inscribed in their forms, the artist urges the viewer to uncover, in gentle epiphanies, the stories contained therein. Philippe Vergne, Chief curator of Walker Art Center writes, “Drawn to the intrinsic qualities of extremely simple materials, Shettar creates installations often intended to reveal the process of perception and apprehension of the built and non-built spaces she makes her own. In this way she establishes a metaphorical relationship with the very body of a space and the space of a body, with those cycles and reactions whose center- if indeed there is one – is the sensory experience of the surrounding world.”
Shettar’s work has been shown in a number of international exhibitions including most recently in the 9th Lyon Biennial, Lyon, France (2007) as well as the Sharjah Biennal, Sharjah (2007). Last year, her works were on view at the XV Sydney Biennale in Sydney, Australia and in Freeing the Line, curated by Catherine de Zegher for Marian Goodman Gallery, New York (2006). Earlier in 2006 she was invited by Douglas Fogle as the International artist-in-residence at Artpace, San Antonio, Texas. In 2005, her works were shown in J’en Reve (Dream on), at the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art in Paris, France, as well as in Landscape Confection, curated by Helen Molesworth at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. In 2003, her works were on view in How Latitudes Become Forms at The Walker Center, Minneapolis. In 2008 Shettar will have her works will be on view at Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Boston, MA. Ranjani Shettar received her Bachelors (1998) and Masters (2000) in Sculpture from Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore.
Ranjani Shettar lives and works in Bangalore, India.
The Exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog.
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