A double solo show that harps on conceptuality

There’s a renewed interest in conceptual discourse in Indian art, according to noted curator-critic Heidi Fichtner. The thought processes that go into an artwork are much more theoretical now since the country is placed and working within the global realm, he adds in an interview.

Fichtner is the program director of the Seven Art Gallery, Delhi. He is known to work with talented concept artists across a wide range of media. In fact, concept art gained currency as a mainstream genre in the 1990s thanks to artists like Subodh Gupta, Bose Krishnamachari, Atul Dodiya, Riyas Komu, N. Harsha, TV Santosh, Shilpa Gupta, Mithu Sen, Bharati Kher and Jitish Kallat.

These artists started working on ‘concepts or ideas’ - both abstract and realistic - in different mediums. Fichtner pointed out that many leading galleries were promoting upcoming artists who could well hold their own internationally, to compete with artists who have a greater conceptual and theoretical grounding.

Incidentally, Gallery Seven Art Limited is currently hosting a double-solo show of the works of the Chennai based artist, Ganesh Selvaraj and the Baroda-based Japanese sculptor, Shinobu Mikami. The latter works in a variety of media like drawing, sculpture, installation etc.

Delicate, deft and quite poetic in its visual expression and vocabulary, Shinobu Mikami’s work is firmly grounded in a rather unusually subtle and intimately personal conceptual framework. Revolving around the specificity of the diverse materials that she employs (wood, fabric, drawings and language) juxtaposed with the experiential memory embedded into them and her forms, the artworks resonate with her interpretation of the world around, unveiling its subtleties.

On the other hand, Ganesh Selvaraj’s paintings are large and imposing; they speak about perception of the world around. The artist's new series is made of paper shreds culled from old news magazines. The artist here relies on the notions of time, infinity and his own personal experience. The concept of the new series is seed that can symbolize an idea or the centre of the flower. Each paper shred is akin to a seed, the artist elaborates.