'Organics' as the core theme of a group show

Twelve Gates Art Gallery in Philadelphia presents 'Organics', a group show of works by Amina Ahmed, Delna Dastur, Ina Kaur, Antonio Puri, Gurpran Rau, and Nitin Mukul. The idea is to highlight the multifariousness of the organic art genre by collating organic works with different inspirations and origins - placed within the realm of the social and personal identity of the South Asian American art.

The force behind Antonio Puri’s work is the deconstruction of identifiable social labels to evaluate the idea of one's existence. Gurpran Rau creates surfaces, which evoke weathered walls that reveal underlying histories and denote passage of time. Nitin Mukul contrasts elements of ‘both the terrestrial and urban’ and employs forms that ‘refer to the worlds constituted by both the biological and social’.

The recurring elements in Amina Ahmed’s work are geometry, repetition and rhythm whereas the richly saturated colors of artist Delna Dastur’s are inspired by nature. Ina Kaur focuses on identity trapped in the continuum of cross-cultural negotiation. Amina Ahmed, a current member of the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts NY, presents an installation that explores pattern and measurement, working with the fivefold symmetry. Here Ahmed explores the way her work “organically unfolds and re-folds tracing the steps of an underlying path.”

Delna Dastur received her BA in Art History from Wellesley College and MFA from American University. She is currently a faculty member at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and The Art League of Alexandria. Ina Kaur is a native of New Delhi and currently heads the drawing and printmaking area at the University of Tampa. Her work focuses on identity caught in the ‘continuum of cross-cultural negotiation.’

Juxtaposition is a major theme in Mukul's artwork. He uses a range of media such as painting, video, installation, and set design. Antonio Puri’s artwork is as complex as the idea behind them, using layers of veneers, glazes, and varnishes. Gurpran Rau is a San Francisco based artist. She studied art at New Delhi Polytechnic, La Sorbonne, The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts (Paris), and Purdue University. ‘Organics’ features a selection of Rau's work that are organic mixed-media.

(Information courtesy: Twelve Gates Art Gallery, Philadelphia)