What: Anubhav Nath- Director of Ojas Art Gallery presents - Message from the Trees, an exhibition of painting relating to Trees by Bhajju Shyam, Mayank Shyam , Ram Singh Urveti , Durga Bai & Subash Vyam and Abhishek Singh
Where: Ojas Art@1AQ, Near Qutab Minar, Mehrauli, Delhi 110 030
When: Friday, August 2 – September 01, Sunday, 2019
Timings: 11 am to 7 pm daily, (Closed on Mondays, 15th August, for Independence day)
Anubhav Nath- Director of Ojas Art Gallery presents - Message from the Trees, an exhibition of painting relating to Trees by Bhajju Shyam, Mayank Shyam , Ram Singh Urveti , Durga Bai & Subash Vyam and Abhishek Singh.
Known for presenting thought provoking and ground breaking exhibits, Anubhav Nath, Director, Ojas Art Gallery is presenting the show - Message from the Trees, an exhibition of paintings relating to trees, that discuss age-old Gond tribal legends, and celebrate some of their mythological beliefs from the past from 2nd August – 1st September 2019 at Ojas Art Gallery, Mehrauli, New Delhi.
This exhibition opens on the 2nd August, 2019 will host works by Artists: Bhajju Shyam, Mayank Shyam , Ram Singh Urveti , Durga Bai & Subash Vyam and Abhishek Singh.
An exhibition that brings together group of well known artists, that the Gallery has worked with in the past and have these artists, known to possess the inherent ability to magically transform simple subjects like the trees to a sacred being, this they can achieve by approaching their work with a unique language of their own, a diligence, their unique tribal legends adding a mystical hue or may be a tone seeped in their rich heritage or the knowledge of mythology.
All artists in this show belong mainly to the Gond tribal community, barring, one, being Abhishek Singh, a well known illustrator artist, with an exceptional talent of relating stories from the Hindu Mythology.
Speaking about the exhibit, Anubhav Nath, Director of OJAS Art Gallery, said, “Undoubtedly, the environment is extremely important. "A Message from the Trees," has some poignant artworks that we need to look at it as a wake-up call; before it's too late. All Gallery visitors will be given seeds to plant, to help. Increase greenery."
The artists Bhajju Shyam further adds, “‘Ped Jeevan hain’ -Trees are life and we cannot survive without them. Its better we listen to them before it’s too late, that’s why through art we try to communicate the importance, of the trees. In Gond art we tell our age old stories, wildlife, rituals, that involve and symbolize trees.”
The artists are all strongly connected to the trees, making them in a way a messenger for the trees , sensitizing them to the environment around us an to respect the importance of trees. This is evident from their elaborate, detailed depiction of trees that are symbolic of the messages or stories that their work unfolds.
About the artists:
Abhishek Singh has been working on imagery of gods and goddesses for nearly two decades. His graphic novel, Krishna –A Journey Within, Deepak Chopra and Shekhar Kapur's Ramayana 3392 A.D, Kali and Shiva, have sold over half a million copies and have been translated in four languages. In 2014, Ojas Art’s Shiva in Varanasi curated by Anubhav Nath showcased his artworks in a public setting, on the Ghats of the Ganges in Varanasi.
Bhajju shyam
Bhajju is a well known Gond artist, having exhibited his work at the Museum of London and on tour in the UK, Germany, Holland, Italy and Russia. Born in 1971 in the Gond tribal village of Patangarh, sixteen year-old Bhajju travelled to Bhopal where he became apprentice to Jangarh Singh Shyam. His best-known work, The London Jungle Book, is a visual travelogue of his 2002 visit to London, where he went to paint the interior of an up-market Indian restaurant.
Mayank Shyam
Mayank Shyam (b.1987), the son of legend Gond artist Jangarh Singh Shyam, staying away from the rat race, has already created a space for himself in the world of art with his signature style of artworks. At the age of 21 he was featured in the book ‘Freedom: Sixty Years after Indian Independence’ (published by Art and Heritage Foundation. 2007), along with Rabindranath Tagore, Paramjit and Arpita Singh, Jamini Roy and other contemporary artists. In 2018, he participated in Ascending Roots exhibition at Ojas Art.
Ram Singh Urveti
Ram Singh Urveti, is from Madhya Pradesh and along with Jangarh Singh Shyam, is known to be one of the eminent historical figures in contemporary Indian tribal art. Ram Singh Urveti has taken part in many exhibitions in India and overseas: The exhibition Freedom, for the sixtieth anniversary of the Independence of India, alongside the greatest names in modern and contemporary Indian art (CIMA, Centre of International Modern Art, Calcutta, 2008). In 2010, in the exhibition Non metropolitan, Five Contemporary Artists from India held in the Rob Dean Art Gallery in Pasadena, California. On that occasion, the New York Times saluted the return of the great names in tribal art.
Durga Bai Vyam & Subhash Vyam
Durga Bai Vyam (Dindori-M.P.) is a Pardhan Gond artist from Bhopal. She started her journey, by making Dignas, colourful clay patterns drawn on walls, at the age of six, as early as in 1996 at an artist's camp organized by Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal. At the age of 15, Durgabai married Subhash Vyam, a clay and wood sculptor. Durgabai’s artistic career has flourished even further not only by her marriage to Subhash Vyam but also by the veteran Gond Artist, Jangarh Singh Shyam.
Subhash Vyam (Dindori-M.P.) is a Gond artist from Madhya Pradesh, who was awarded the 'Rajya Hastha Shilpa Puraskar' by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in 2002. He likes using the colour black and often uses ink on paper as his medium. His favourite themes are of aquatic life, which he saw while growing up in the village of Sonpuri, near Patangarh. Inspired by his wife Durga Bai, who has a vast reservoir of folk tales, Subhash has also started painting characters and scenes from these stories. He works extensively with clay and wood too.
