‘All Sunsets are Sunsets’ at Nature Morte

Nature Morte hosts an exhibit of recent works of art by Bangalore-based Krishnaraj Chonat. This is his first solo in the capital city of India. Employing a wide range of techniques and materials, he creates complex sculptures, which resemble both landscapes and figures, albeit always just barely, hovering between the illusive and the recognizable, between the man-made and the organic.

Born in Chennai in 1973, Krishnaraj Chonat lives and works in Bangalore. He earned a BFA degree from the Karnataka Chitra Kala Parishad, Bangalore in 1994 and went on to get a Post-Diploma degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda in 1996.

Thus far, solo shows of his work have been mounted at Gallery SKE in Bangalore (2004 and 2010) and Project 88 in Mumbai (2007). He has participated in a number of important museum survey exhibitions of Indian contemporary art including those mounted by the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2011); the Essl Museum, Vienna (2009); the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2008); The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh (2007); the Daimler Chrysler, Berlin (2007); and the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris (2005).

An accompanying note to his solo, entitled ‘All Sunsets are Sunsets’, mentions that Krishnaraj Chonat is inspired by the phenomenon of mass tourism in the globalized context. He states ‘the solo seeks to highlight the significance of the human emotional component in the experience of the tourist landscape.’

His works challenge our preconceived notions of the exotic, the authentic, the synthetic, and the quotidian, all slippery slopes indeed. His constructions refer to museum dioramas, historical artifacts, architectural models, natural history specimens, and displays found in sporting goods stores. Included in the exhibition are his paintings on paper, delicate and resonant works that sketch out the ghostly apparitions of monuments, tourist sites, and the mirages of historical events.

The show will continue at Nature Morte’s Delhi venue until March 16, 2013.