Renowned artist N. S. Harsha has turned the ancient miniature painting tradition into a contemporary form, which lets him fuse the specific with the universal. The figures floating in his sly and playful painterly realm, invariably focused on an event, will point to something odd, incongruous or absurd. The wit lies as much in the grand scale of the delicate depictions as also in the telling detail of the vignette.
Akin to a clever chronicler, he refers from popular stories and peculiar perceptions of news events. He meticulously portrays small town/city life in an increasingly globalized world, by juxtaposing seemingly disassociated local images within an international spectrum. To put it in his words, 'I continue to search for a way in which to portray large crowds or gatherings and their collective absurd acts. It is interesting to observe a crowd which has lost its collective rationale - or its attempt to achieve a collective rationale!'”
The artist invests his works with acute n awareness of the medium, wherein the figures turn into an audience for a presupposed viewer, who then becomes complicit with or somehow activates that incident depicted. In honoring him with the prestigious Artes Mundi Prize in 2008, the jury members mentioned of his vast scope of work, its range and diversity such as painting, installation and even community activities. Among the largest art awards internationally, it recognizes outstanding emerging practitioners, who refer the human condition.
He artist draws his motifs from a spate of news-driven images and traditional symbols to concoct a pointed socio-political commentary. He portrays ironies of small town/city life in an increasingly globalized world. His multi-dimensional oeuvre includes semi-abstractionist panels, detailed figurative painting, large scale installations, miniature drawing, and cross-disciplinary, research-based collaborations.
His multi-layered narratives suggest how the global is invariably located and sub-consciously seeped within the local imagination. The sensitive practitioner continues to draw on both traditional narratives and popular culture, deftly interweaving international and local points of reference in his diverse art forms.
Akin to a clever chronicler, he refers from popular stories and peculiar perceptions of news events. He meticulously portrays small town/city life in an increasingly globalized world, by juxtaposing seemingly disassociated local images within an international spectrum. To put it in his words, 'I continue to search for a way in which to portray large crowds or gatherings and their collective absurd acts. It is interesting to observe a crowd which has lost its collective rationale - or its attempt to achieve a collective rationale!'”
The artist invests his works with acute n awareness of the medium, wherein the figures turn into an audience for a presupposed viewer, who then becomes complicit with or somehow activates that incident depicted. In honoring him with the prestigious Artes Mundi Prize in 2008, the jury members mentioned of his vast scope of work, its range and diversity such as painting, installation and even community activities. Among the largest art awards internationally, it recognizes outstanding emerging practitioners, who refer the human condition.
He artist draws his motifs from a spate of news-driven images and traditional symbols to concoct a pointed socio-political commentary. He portrays ironies of small town/city life in an increasingly globalized world. His multi-dimensional oeuvre includes semi-abstractionist panels, detailed figurative painting, large scale installations, miniature drawing, and cross-disciplinary, research-based collaborations.
His multi-layered narratives suggest how the global is invariably located and sub-consciously seeped within the local imagination. The sensitive practitioner continues to draw on both traditional narratives and popular culture, deftly interweaving international and local points of reference in his diverse art forms.
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