Architectonics

Palette Art Gallery presenting ‘Architectonics’ showcases how today’s artists are reflecting the age-old alliance of visual art and architecture. The exhibition features artworks by artists – Joydip Acharjee, Sharad Sonkusale, Anil Thambaia and Narayan Biswas. Each artist presents a subtly different dynamic between the individual, art and architecture.

The inception of physical architecture often starts from the development of a two-dimensional visual language. The combination of materials, weight, light and form, are all potentials that can be greater than the sum of its parts leading to the creation of tension and mystery. It is in this mystery through which our imagination is activated, enabling us to relate, contextualize and go beyond our physical experience.

Born in 1980, Anil Thambai held his initial years of visual art praxis in the serene nature of Kerala. Hailing from a family of masons, Anil while studying Masters in Baroda further pursued his fascination with the human behavior to build something. His series A Nap Under the Cloud depicts classical architectural elements followed by the details of an unusual perspective of the monuments. For Thambai any architecture is a monument , memorializing the forgotten labour which defines our inhabitations.

Baroda based Narayan Biswas’s sculptural work is an artistic response to the urban architectural developments which are contrary to the notions of formations, motifs, values and heritage. The sculpture compels us to consider whether architecture can be defined by its functionality: the experiencer’s ability to interact with it. Even in its title, Virasat foregrounds this dialogue between viewer and experiencer, spectacle and environment, artistic and architectural design.

Trained initially in Tripura and later in Kolkata, JoydipAcharjee conceives architectural elements in painting as a vehicle for playing with light and shadow. In the series Anatomy of Structures, the buildings in the artworks, reflect and absorb the atmospheric light. The sunlight in Charjee’s Sky & Heave series, albeit unseen, is a central presence in the work. Hence leaving behind the etched ostensible contours. Joydip’s work has been featured in CIMA (Centre of International Modern Art).

While many of our artists create faithful representations of architectural structures, others use architecture as a springboard into abstraction. Sharad Sonkusale became fascinated with the urban landscape while training at JJ School of Art in Mumbai. His works in this selection, Connecting with the Unseen and Stillness II, explores how the individual creates and interacts with the metropolis. Sharad’s works narrates about the spaces that are specifically designed to accommodate the temporary and embrace change as a constant state.

The collection speaks to dynamics in our built environment that we already understand and consider on a daily basis. The artists make these dynamics visible to the audience that does not think about architectural space in this way.

When: 5:30 pm onwards; January 12 – 25
Where: Palette Art Gallery 14 Golf Links, New Delhi – 03