The exhibition ‘Patterns of Intensity’ will provide a platform to young, emerging contemporary and new artists to showcase their work

Taking forward its initiative to offer space for incubation of new narratives and fresh creative energy, Art Alive brings to you a group show which will provide a platform to 11 young and emerging contemporary artists and launch two new artists.

Titled ‘Patterns of Intensity’, the exhibition will bring together, as a constellation, a number of young artists whose practices are strongly engaged with the challenges of habitation and its relationship to the perennial questions of belonging, settlement, design, and the environment.

“In a world assailed by pandemic, dislocation and uncertainty, these artists offer us hope in crafting a way out of seemingly impossible predicaments; they inspire us with the freshness of their approach to problems and materials, their recalibration of traditional questions of form, content, and the relevance of art to life,” reads the curatorial note.

“‘Patterns of Intensity’ is a cross section of 11 of the most exciting young artists currently active in India, their practices exploring various aspects of the kaleidoscopic Indian present, their choices of media distinctive and compelling, ranging from ceramics to drawings to metal and terracotta sculpture, to trans-media montage,” says curator Ranjit Hoskote.

Indeed, they work at the porous border between art and life: some of them produce layered or mixed-media surfaces, others arrive at their provisional conclusions through assemblage or through bricolage. Some engage with built form or organic and natural forms; their media span terracotta or ceramic sculpture, found metal, and drawing; variously, they cite the mappings of geometry, the protocols of architecture, the textures of conservation, and the intricacies of textile surfaces.

“My works are an investigation into the idea of what constitutes the idea of architecture in history. For me, architecture is more about the process of how something is built and not just the end resultant. While we see the buildings and structures we see the complete absence of the labour. I try to retrieve this collective labour which is erased within the meanings and are attributed or appropriated after,” explains Anil Thambai, one of the artists featured.

The exhibition is on view at Art Alive Gallery till April 30

(Cover image : Chandrashekhar Koteshwa)