An intriguing insight of captivating cityscape

Works by Prasanata Bandyopadhyay, Rajesh Kargutkar, Buddhadev Mukherjee and Sheetal Gattani form part of a new show at Mumbai based Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke. An analysis of their specific work and a perspective on their art practice is offered by Jasmine Wahi from New York in an accompanying essay as follows:

Sheetal Gattani’s work explores the physical identity of the city. Her suite of 10 paintings, Untitled (acrylic on canvas), which formally seem to derive from Abstraction, unveils a more intricate aspect of the city’s cosmetics. It induces a sense of nostalgia that only those who have experienced the cramped and over-priced living quarters of large, old cities like New York and Mumbai would understand.

Buddhadev Mukherjee’s ‘Race’ (henna, ink and watercolor on Paper) and ‘Man With Wounded’ Brothers (henna, ink, dry pastel, and watercolor on paper) probe at the culture of a city and, more specifically, at the idea of mass culture within urban confinement. Beyond the somewhat sarcastic take on consumerist culture, his work explores darker theme of loneliness in the city. A sad albeit bitter paradox of most major cities is that in spite of their large populations, they can come across intensely isolating places for those slipping through the cracks.

A pervasive sense of loneliness is omnipresent in a painting, entitled ‘Seat #32’ (oil on canvas).
Formally, the work ties together varied ideas like cramped space, layering as well as unceasing motion found in the other works in the exhibition. Rajesh Kargutkar’s large sand-colored work, entitled ‘Between The Input and The Output VI’ (gesso and acrylic on canvas), tries to emphasize a very basic yet undeniable physical aspect of the cityscape. His canvas through a series of extruding textural blocks gives a bird’s eye view of an ambiguous city.

The works together offer an intriguing insight of a captivating albeit highly complex cityscape, which must not be missed…