Artist Of The Month

Mukesh Salvi work statement Spending his early days in the streets of the beautiful city of Udaipur (Rajasthan), Mukesh Salvi has grown up wandering aimlessly on the bicycle and wondering deep about life and its little ways. He has spent hours in the playgrounds, playing games and often got lost in his own world of fantasy. However, the best time that he has spent was at home, with his family; quarrels with his siblings. He clearly remembers his days at school— classmates.

Mukesh salvi paintings are nostalgic, depicting the rural people he grew up among est. His source of inspiration has been the live of the people from his village. He has created dramatic canvases –Blue, black and white on a red background. His work, done in a fine figurative genre, stands out for its firm line work coupled with a sense of style, on a bold arresting background. His works is a telling statement of our times, typifying the modern concern for our surroundings. The artist's medium of expression is acrylic on canvas. His figurative work has a dream like quality about it. Bold colors coupled with pastel shades give it a textural feel. He strives to establish the harmony between people and their environment of Nature.

 Drawing inspiration from the feeling of nostalgia, Mukesh Salvi has created his new series of canvases— 'My Feelings'. The series depict elementary feelings of human beings, which is a mixed bag of both happy and sad. Mukesh Salvi's choice of palette is something worth looking our for. In most of his works, bold strokes of vivid colors are evident. Patterns in a hazy background with humans resembling puppets, make an appearance in Mukesh Salvi's works. His artworks bring forth deep feelings, which are depicted using surreal figures in various postures. From the very beginning, lines have been the foundation of his paintings. Working with lines and other shapes, Mukesh Salvi has painted different moments. While painting, the artist makes sure that all the elements compliment each other and their amalgamation bring a pleasant essence to his works.

Best wishes 

Mukesh Salvi

September 2013

Artist Of The Month

Uma Bardhan completed her Bachelor of Arts , from University of Calcutta followed by diploma in fine arts from Birla Academy of Art andCulture, West Bengal under the tutelage of eminent artists including Late SreeMakhanDutta Gupta in oil color and SreeManiklal Banerjee.
She specializes in figurative paintings / landscapes in water color on silk, Oil on canvas & recently Water soluble oil paintings on canvas.

In her own words, “God is the Supreme Creator of thie Universe and I as an artist take extreme pleasure in reflecting his creation in their actual form.”

Among her several awards, First prize in Water Color from Govt. of West Bengal deserves special mention.

She has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in prominent galleries in different parts of India.

Her major solo shows includes shows in AIFACS ,Tagore Art Gallery , Academy of Fine Arts , Eye on Art etc.

Participated in various important group shows held across the country including the ones in Jehangir Art Gallery Mumbai, India Habitat Center, Lalit Kala, Sridharani Art Gallery in Delhi , Gallery Chemould in Kolkata, Epicenter in Gurgaon ,ChitrakalaParishad in Bangalore among few.

Her works are included in many discriminating private art collections throughout India and abroad.
To promote arts and work closely with the youth she founded Kalangan – a school of arts at Kolkata.

Best Wishes
Uma Bardhan
July 2013

Artist Of The Month

Manoj Kachangal born in Shadhora, Madhya Pradesh, India on July 5, 1979. He did MFA in painting from Institute of Fine Arts, Indore in 2003.In 2001 Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad, Bhopal honoured him with Raza award.

His art works were auctioned at Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai – 2006 and Millennium Turks at Hotel Trident Hilton, Gurgaon – 2008.

There are over 20 major solo shows including Sublime Lands curated by Johny ML, Visual Arts Gallery, New Delhi – 2012, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai – 2009, Apparo Art Gallery, Chennai – 2009, The Doors of Perception curated by Vinod Bhardwaj, Visual Arts Gallery, New Delhi – 2008, In Search of the Abyss curated by Bhavana Kakar, Mon Art Gallerie, Kolkata – 2008, Dharati – Amber curated by Moit Jain, Dhoomimal Art Center, New Delhi –2007, Antaryatra, Nehru Center Art Gallery, Mumbai – 2007, A Consecration of Space, Marvel Art Gallery, Ahmedabad – 2006.

Participated in various important group shows held across the country including the ones in Tao Art Gallery, Cima Art Gallery, Emami Chisel Art, Crimson the Art Resource, Jammat Art Gallery, Gallerie Nvya, Art Konsult, Religare Arts Initiative and in some group shows outside the country.

Kachangal also has participated in many significant art camps.A book on the art of Kachangal “Doors of Perception, art of Manoj Kachangal” edited by Ratnottama Sengupta was published by Bharatiya Jnanpith, New Delhi, in 2008. Also a documentary film on Kachangal “Doors of Perception, art of Manoj Kachangal” was produced by Kalaroop Films (2008), which was directed by Pravesh Bhardwaj.

The artist’s works are in the collection of Raza Foundation, Sunil Mittal of Airtel, Birla Academy of Art and Culture Kolkata, AIFACS New Delhi, Kala Parishad Bhopal, NCZCC Allahabad, Gifa Indore, ITM Gwalior; Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; Antonio Helio Waszyk, CMD, Nestle India Limited; Gary Bennet, CEO, Max New York Life & India Glycols Limited. His works are also in various private collections in Nepal, Germany, France, USA and UAE.

 

Best Wishes

Manoj Kachangal

Solo Show 'Spirit in Culture' by 'Juhikadevi Bhanjdeo'

Bestcollegeart.com  brings to you the coverage of the very well-viewed and highly appreciated show 'Spirit in Culture' presented by Glenfiddich & Bestcollegeart.com. 

The show was the first solo-exhibition by Juhikadevi Bhanjdeo, the winner of the the first 'Emerging Artist of the Year 2012 Award' held at Nature Morte, The Oberoi, Gurgaon on 5th April 2013.

 Juhika was the one lucky and very talented artist, who was awarded with a prize money of Rs 10 lacs last year and was sent on a 3 months residency to Scotland where she practiced her arts in a more elaborate way. All the works of Juhikadevi, which she accomplished in Scotland, as a part of her residency were displayed there.

Scroll through some of her works and the media coverage of the show. Cheers!

Juhikadevi with her artwork

Peter Nagy at the show

Mr Kapil Chopra at the show

Juhikadevi with her artwork

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Media and Press Release

 

Media and Press Release

An arty affair

(From left)The jury Kapil Chopra, Andy Fairgrieve, Swapan Seth, NitinBhayana, Peter Nagy, Rajiv Bhatia, JitenThukral, SumirTagra and Veer Munshi

What might world-class whisky and art have in common? Well, though making good whisky can be scientifically explained, it remains in the realm of art that's executed by skilled craftsmen. "So the qualities required for making good art and good whisky are not dissimilar!" said the kilt-clad Andy Fairgrieve of Glenfiddich, who was in India for a purpose.

Glenfiddich (the single malt Scotch whisky) has collaborated withbestcollegeart.com, an online Indian art gallery, to hunt down promising new Indian artists for its prestigious Artists in Residence Programme (AiR). The award called 'Emerging Artist of the Year' is in its second edition this year. AiR culls eight artists from across the globe each year, who are invited to Scotland for a three-month residency.

For this year's award, a top-notch nine-member jury including leading artists and collectors, besides Andy Fairgrieve, co-ordinator of the programme, picked 625 artists who feature in bestcollegeart.com.

From among them, the best five were shortlisted as finalists and feted at an evening dedicated to them. Sharing the stage were fresh new names — Chennai's Yuvan Bothisathuvar, Shivanand Shyagoti from Bangalore, Calcutta's Sumantra Mukherjee, Delhi-based visual artist Ankush Safaya and Gurgaon-based Poorvesh Patel. The event, dubbed as 'Five For The Future', was held at art gallery Nature Morte at The Oberoi, Gurgaon, where their works were displayed.

Kapil Chopra, president, The Oberoi Group with winner YuvanBothisathuvar

A bashful Bothisathuvar was declared the 'Emerging Artist of the Year' for his amazing work in paper/newsprint. Bothisathuvar has just earned himself an award which carries a total value of Rs 10 lakh including one lakh in cash, a residency in Scotland courtesy Glenfiddich, a monthly stipend, material allowances, travel, accommodation and – to top it all – a solo show at Nature Morte in 2014. Soon, Bothisathuvar will set off for Dufftown, home to the Glenfiddich distillery, and take inspiration from his surroundings and create his artwork.

Kapil Chopra, mentor, bestcollegeart.comand president, The Oberoi Group, said: "The award seeks out the next generation of artists and also nurtures and supports emerging talent." Chopra's bestcollegeart.com, by the way, is a veritable hotbed where young Indian contemporary artists reach out to collectors. Artworks are priced between Rs 60,000 and Rs 2.7 lakh.

The task of short-listing the five best artists from among the 625 (and a total of some 2,500 artworks) fell on a hotshot jury that spent months before arriving at the five final names. The jury comprised Chopra, Fairgrieve, Peter Nagy, director of Nature Morte, artists Veer Munshi, Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra, art collectors Rajshree Pathy, Swapan Seth, Nitin Bhayana and Rajiv Bhatia, director, William Grant & Sons, India sub-continent.

Last year's winner of the 'Emerging Artist of the Year' award, textile artist Juhikadevi Bhanjdeo, is still feeling the after-effects of her stint in Dufftown: "It proved life-changing for me," she gushed. She used the money to start her own studio in India.

By Samita Bhatia

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130414/jsp/graphiti/16782187.jsp

Artist Of The Month

My age is 80 years. I discovered my true calling of art very early in life. I completed my primary education from Hathras in U.P. a small town, where my father a railway station master settled after retirement in the year 1942. I had to curtail my desire to study further as  lack of a college coupled with financial constraints forced me to move to Delhi to eke out an honest living at a very young age.

I started my humble career designing sewing reel labels for a small printing press in Old Delhi. It was during this phase that I was appointed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on a short term basis to illustrate pottery and antiquities found in their various excavation of ancient sites. My art talent and vision found a permanent place with ASI and I spent many fruitful years drawing inspirations from travelogues with them. In my quest of learning  I received a Diploma in Art from the prestigious Sir J.J School of Art, Mumbai in the year 1963.. During my stint with ASI, a veritable treasure trove of Indian art, I sought my inspirations from temple sculptures, caves such as the Khajuraho and Ajanta murals. I painted many ancient ruins to life during the day and my own art by night. Many of these found a pride of place at the National Museum, New Delhi and won me accolades and recognition galore. I retired as Chief Artist from ASI.

I have been pursuing my dreams ever since. My creativity is infused with the atmosphere of joy and life, and the belief I am capable of creating my own happiness. My body of work is polyphonic. I have explored a multitude of painting genres and have begun to explore the endless pathways that my creative mind is discovering.

Lalit Jain