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Showing posts with the label Gallery Gitanjali

A Mirror to Society

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The title of Praveen Naik’s exhibition Notes from the Zeitgeist has embedded in it the idea that an artist is the product of his culture and that the art he produces is the reflection of that culture. Zeitgeist, a German word, comes from a combination of two words: zeit (time) and geist (spirit). Zeitgeist is then taken to mean the ‘spirit of the age’, which echoes the singular attributes of a particular period. India is at the threshold of monumental change which is evident in the social upheaval, unfettered voices and daring revolution being experienced in the country. It is this developing process that has been captured by the series of paintings in Notes from the Zeitgeist . Artist Praveen Naik is a graduate of the Goa College of Art having secured his degree in Visual Art. This resident of Kumbharjua, Goa, has participated in solo and group exhibitions in India and Germany. His most recent exhibitions have been Kama, Interrupted at Gallery Gitanjali, Goa, and Pushing Boundaries in

The Power Within

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From anthropologist to writer, from NGO (Tara Trust) founder to artist, Katharina Kakar has donned many mantles and excelled in them all. However, it is art that fires up her passion in every other area. ‘I am just driven by it. Art has always been my oxygen,’ she says. Her mother was an artist and, as the daughter of an artist, Katharina’s own foray into the world of art was anticipated. The influence of art was all pervasive in her life, with her mother taking the family to exhibitions which developed Katharina’s sense of ‘seeing’. She and her siblings were also encouraged by their mother to experiment with different things and exercise their creativity. Despite the expectations, Katharina chose to study Anthropology and Comparative Religion in Germany. It has been a few years since she came back to art as a full-time occupation, and in doing so she has come full circle. The journey of research, teaching, writing and social work she has made to this point now serves to enrich her ar

Framed-The Festakars of Goa

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The month of January saw a flurry of postings on social media about the portrait photography of Alex Fernandes titled Festakars . The delicacy and other worldly beauty of these photographs, which captured the essence, the inner soul, of every one of the models who sat for him, is so very evident. This self-taught photographer of Goan origin wields the camera with great artistic expertise. ‘I am actually a product of the advertising and fashion industry,’ says Alex, who began his foray into the world of fashion and advertising as an assistant photographer in 1984 in Mumbai. From 1987 to 1990 Alex worked at his first job as a commercial photographer in the Middle East. The aftermath of the first Gulf War saw him join the Kodak distributor in Kuwait. He says, ‘During my tenure (1992-2001) I also conducted lighting workshops for the company. The workshops for Profoto film and Potra paper which were Kodak products used exclusively for portraiture were on behalf of Kodak (Near East) based in

Inspiration from Art’s Divine Master

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Your first meeting with Clarice Vaz will find you a little overwhelmed by the enthusiasm this amazing human being exudes. Her exuberance comes across vibrantly through her vivid paintings, awash with a myriad of colours. As she begins to unfold her artistic journey before you, you realise there is the existence of a great deal of testing, out of which these wonderful paintings have evolved. Clarice excelled in academics but her empathic nature lead her to choose nursing over a more self-serving profession. After the birth of her sons, Clarice gave up nursing full-time and restricted her practice to the quaint village of Saligao where she lives. When her sons left to pursue further education she filled the vacuum with her childhood inclination to paint. In spite of having no training as an artist, Clarice possesses a mastery over her paints that can only come from deep conviction and her love for God. During her early days she produced paintings of the Last Supper, the Saligao church, p

Artistic Expression, Uninterrupted!

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From 13th to 17th February, Gallery Gitanjali will bring to us Kama, Interrupted , an exhibition of drawings, paintings, sculptures, installations and assemblages that propose to reinterpret the Sutra of desire. The seventy five artworks, which form the core of the exhibition, will be inaugurated by eminent psychoanalyst and writer, Dr Sudhir Kakar. The exhibition has voluntarily been rated 18+ by the organisers. Apurva Kulkarni treads on contentious grounds as he prepares to present his latest curated art exhibition. The political atmosphere, as it is today, subscribes to Victorian Age prudery. We, Indians, enjoy the pretence that there is no such thing as sex and refuse to address concerns of sexuality and sexual desire. By feigning asceticism, we hope to portray ourselves as virtuous beings, on a higher rung than our Western contemporaries. A section of the Indian population, enlightened by education and experience, has opened up to the reality of Kama or desire. These would best co