Chila Kumari Burman. "Fortune" (2009) is a unique edition of a pigment print that is hand embellished with mixed-media including bindis, stickers, and collage. This work is unframed and in excellent condition.
"Fortune" (2009), is a stunning and unique hand-embellished pigment print on paper by Contemporary Indian female art star, Chila Kumari Burman. "Fortune" at first appears to be simply a visually saturated panorama of colorful flowers piled atop one another, yet it soon unfurls its content which is divided into eight separate rectilinear vignettes. Each of the eight scenes appears nearly identical, lush colorful floral landscapes, however each vignette also includes women's lingerie-- colorful and patterned bras and underwear, camouflaged at first by the flowers. Once these intimate objects are identified, a thematic and emotional shift takes place. As if the varied lingerie and piles of different flowers were not enough super-saccharine visual information, Burman has painstakingly-embellished single flowers with delicate yet gaudy arrangements of traditional Indian "bindis", as well as ornate faux-gemstones, crystals, sequins and stickers. This unique print celebrated the traditions and colors of Burman's native India, yet also has the international feel of Marc Quinn's floral paintings, Mickalene Thomas's abstract collages or Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes's famous floral-based abstract paintings.
Based in London, Chila Kumari Burman has been active on the global art scene from more than 2 decades. Her first solo was in Radical Hair Gallery, London in 1992 followed later by showings at Manchester, Sweden, Liverpool, New York consecutively. She is the recipient of several awards including British Council award to work at Fifth Havana Biennale in 1994; The New Horizons Award for Established Artists by Gulbenkian Foundation in 1994; Tower Hamlets Arts Research Travel Award in 2000; Arts Council Individual Artists Award in 2004. Selected group exhibitions have been at Neuberger Museum of Art, New York (2009) Bodhi Art Gallery, New York (2008), Dubai Art Fair(2008), The Harley Gallery, Nottinghamshire (2004), 100 Tonson Gallery, Bangkok (2004), Cecil Higgins Gallery (2005), Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore (2003), ARCO 2003 Madrid (with Sunil Gupta), London (2003), Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan (2003), Victoria and Albert Museum, London (2000), Khoj International Workshop, India (1998) besides many others. Burman’s works have also been a subject of study for students and research scholars of the leading art schools across the world. The artist lives and works in London.
