Prajakta Potnis as part of Artist Dispatch - Residency in Shanghai

Two talented contemporary Indian artists Prajakta Potnis and Dhrupadi Ghosh get an opportunity to present their art in Shanghai, whereas that by Zheng Bo and Liu Wei from China, along with Taiwanese curator Amy Cheng arrives in New Delhi at the same time.

Thoughts, notes and discussions gradually develop themselves into works of art in the next few months to come. This interaction is part of an interesting cross-disciplinary cultural exchange program, entitled ‘‘West Heavens’. It aims at fostering closer and deeper understanding of India and her art through contemporary projects and scholarship.

This is an effort to develop cross-cultural dialogue largely based on vivacious visual culture and specific notions of Asian modernity. Such programs - past and current - cover a vast gamut of social thoughts, urban studies, film studies, contemporary arts, music and such form of events that extend from performances lectures, discussions, and exhibitions to screenings, workshops, and related publications.

Prajakta Potnis received her BFA and MFA from the Sir J.J. School of Arts, Mumbai (1995-2002). Her engaging multi-disciplinary work spans an array of forms like painting, installation, photography and sculpture. It essentially investigates the interpenetrability and porousness of boundaries and binaries like inside/outside, natural/engineered, public/private etc.

The artist has received critical acclaim in India and abroad. Her works has been showcased at prestigious venues including Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art, Paris (2011); Heart Herning Museum Of Contemporary Art, Denmark (2010); Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art Oslo (2009); The Essl Museum of Contemporary Art, Austria (2010); Khoj International Artist Workshop, New Delhi (2009). Her major solos are ‘Membranes and Margins’, Em Gallery, Seoul (2008); ‘Porous walls’, The Guild Art, Mumbai (2008); ‘Walls- In- Between’, Kitab Mahal, The Guild Art, Mumbai (2006).

Prajakta Potnis has received many major awards like the Sanskriti Award for ART (2010), the Inlaks Fine Arts award (2003-04), as well as the Young Artist fellowship courtesy the Indian National Department of Culture (2001- 03).