Mar 25, 2010

mumbai update 2010 march

Mumbai report March 20th 2010,

nothing much to write.
My rankings: * to ****************************************endless......

Performance 1 **hmm ok one more *

artist name: Nikhil Chopra
country: India
Location: Chatterjee and Lal ( no it is not a chartered account's office it is a kool gallery), Mumbai
timing: 12 to 5-- woooo for 5 days

set: drums drums drums, beer beer beer, cig, cig cigssss, and dark dark dark, with 1spot light
costume: daily different, golden to chikimiki black/blue i dont know the blue was the light or the dress, but black for sure.

Photo:
i could take photo without permission :-)

concept: drink drink drink and beat the drum, sometimes the artists little 2 or 3 yrs old son came to offer help as the child thought he can beat up the drum better. But the talented upcoming son was ignored by the drunk jealous father, so the son preferred to take a revenge by loudly howling and then we saw the son was shooed way.

i would say Nikhil Chopras this performance was like an interval, retaining his english babu style

PS: by the way i heard he was beating these kind of drums for the first time.


Show no 2: **

Artist name: T Venkanna
Country: India
Location: Gallery Maskara, Warehouse on 3rd Pasta' (this is not the italian pasta lane)

Photo strictly prohibited – the quality, my cell ph image gives anyways the artist would have committed suicide.

Need to know badly why the gender and sp the male gender has become so important, is it because now people are open, coming out of the closets? Or is it a in thing. 10 or maybe 20years back it was female female gaze then the migration, race and other stuff even like child labor came as a fashion now we have the Male ko dikhao....

toys were made well.

I think Maskara had few brilliant shows in his first year. He claims Venkanna to be his best but i disagree.

Show no 3: ***

Artist name: Bharat Sikka
Country: India
Location: Project88

why to take a photo of a photo?

Nothing much to say

Show no 4:
front:*
back:***

Artist name: Sunil Gawde
Country: India
Location: Sakshi

old work displayed before, but this was his 2nd edition and this edition went to Venice Biennial. And then he completed his half century.

Big Joos after that.

Show no 5**********************************conti....

The Artful Pose: Early Studio Photography in Mumbai
(c.1855-1940) at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Jijamata Udyan, Byculla
collection from Alkazi Foundation for the Arts

was so much into the works forgot to take photographs not sure of permission but purchased a book.


The last thing of the day i wanted to watch Road Movies but alas it is gone hope it is going on somewhere but now will see LSD for sure.

Cycle is going quite strong – had a round in SG Park –nice to cycle there but rs 20 every day is quite bizarre.

Earlier shows which continued till this week:

Show no 6 – Pink *
Opening was filled with all kinds of Stars so she gets pink star

Artist: Mithu Sen
Country India
Location: Chemould Prescott Road, Queens mansion

Title of the show: Black Candy (iforgotmypenisathome)
Many people actually forgot their pen by mistake instead of ......

Title had too much fire without a lighter. People went mad on the title. It became a trend in FB and there was a Black candy language created -like we had silsila sarees in fashion in the late 80s. But my grammar and sentence making is better than the BC lingo.


Show no 7– 2 spaces one space gets ** &little more and another gets *

Artist: Shreyas Karle
Country India
Location: Gallery Pundole and Project 88 (2 solo together actually he should get more stars i will check on my rating soon and consider the application.

Will he become the future star or will he become a falling star? Political humor needs more understanding and polishing. But good approach and like the simplicity. But lacks stability. He is walking on the thin line so he might fall either ways –need to watch


Show no 8 : *

title of the show: Her Work is Never Done—I, II

what does the title exactly mean?

Do u mean she never works or she only works and doesn't do any masti? Or it is a very complex superwomen? 'HER' is addressed to exactly whom? But the concept says she is a supper heroine, then my question is if she is a superwomen then chutki mai kaam hona chaheye boss.

delhi update march 2010


performance 1

Artist Name: Han Bing
artists country: china
location: khoj, Delhi

idea: making love to the garbage
source of the garbage: nearby mall
dress: skin tight chaddi
timing: 45min

set: glass room, one side garbage other side for the camera and audience to stand.
from ceiling some thermocol small white balls showering on every bodies head like stars or flowers in weddings

performance: artist passionately started making love to the garbage and and and and for 45 min, but as he couldn't reach the high point he had to quit.

Backstage story: the garbage came in the morning, the artist asked the helpers to sterilize it and then it came to the stage as a mock garbage.

After performance: artist ran to have a bath because the garbage still seems to not let go its identity, so it was proved it was a pure respectable garbage.

performance 2

Artist Name: Han Bing
artists country: china
location: Espace, Delhi

idea: making love to the Stone
dress: wearing white lungi
timing: 45min

set: road, open air, stones between cotton(rue) with 7 rickshaw men chiter-bhiter all around lying on stones. each person one stone, artist has his own stone

performance: artist passionately started making love to one of the stone and and and and in 20 min, he had to quit again.

Backstage story: 7 rickshaw guys where asked to be in tight skin colour chaddi but they refused so they wore check lungies so the artist too preferred to wear a white lungi. not sure the stones were sterilized or not?


Pakistani Show rating: *********
artist curating a show always has a double edge.

Atul show:
clever works, enjoyed the local humor layering as usual, but still the risk factor was not there. As usual too many reference which i personally enjoyed and like the aspect him being local not so much global. But i dont know was it necessary to have shutters in canvas? I would like him to just cross the border and he being a very intelligent artist i am sure he can.

weather report: very nice total spring getting hot.

Mar 2, 2010

kiara

20th Dec 2009
Kiara dies




























































































last day

march to dec 2009

March to Dec 2009

quite a mess, with lots of shows, lots of entertainment with events, people falling on my work to having fantastic traveling few images to remember 2009:

85 yrs old man falls into this pit and trips 4 times from one corner to the other end diagonally, left top to right bottom. Trips on the plasma, but he was trying to save the plasma. (the gallery owner inaugurated the plasma one hour back to this incidence.)

Hits his head on the right side, bleeds a little, and is perfectly fine goes to the club to have his regular quota of drinks and the next morn as usual goes for a morning walk with his new girl friend.

ladakh zanzkar valley

Archana Devi in Pari Mahal

pari mahal



Nov 20, 2009

2009 travel dairy, Jan to Feb09


Jan09:
Calcutta / Baruipur
remember this is the place where I met Archana Devi for the first time her ancestral house. went back this year but refused to visit the Choudhury Bari as i dint wanted to visit Archana Devi. As she has lost her glory and her aura. she now colours her hair to look young or does she wear a wig god knows? but i heard lately she has been loosing lot of valuable things. so i am sure i can always make a replica of those objects and sell them in chor bazar.

Feb09:

As i mentioned Archana Devi is been loosing lot of her valuable things. it seems(as per the newspaper report) 2nd or 3rd Feb she visited Bombay. on the way to her flat she was robbed. the story sounds exactly like Dhoom film.
2 men in one bike, she in a auto (her driver was sacked that day so she had to take an auto as had no money for the pre-paid taxi) so she is in a auto, biker follows the auto, left side is the auto and right is the bike and suddenly the guy who is sitting behind the bike snatches her bag which is in her lap. she tries to scream but no sound (total mute), as this happens on a dark crowded flyover she cant ask the auto guy to chase. she screams at another biker please chase them, they ignore her...
she has lost her jewelery laptop and important documents which she had stored it in her hard disk.

I am sure I can find the originals in the chor bazar, when i go to sell the replica i should check for the originals.

she runs to the police station and she is made to sit for hours. it is mid night and still they are asking her questions: which flight did you take? when did you last visit Bombay? tell me the story from your last visit to now? i have to prove my Sr how you landed on the highway flyover.
are you married? you live alone? are you a Maharashtrian? why where you carrying these stuff with you? dont you know they are so expensive you should have kept it in you house. was your laptop Mac or apple make up your mind?
goes onnnnn till she reached home by 2 am.

all of feb- she ran between home to police station to identification centers. for archana devi identification center was interesting looking at all the albums: frontal pose, and 2 sides with small description of the bike snatchers. looking at the album she forgets her pain and starts visualizing the story behind these bikers till the constable screamed: madam you have come to identify the thief who has stolen your laptop, you dint come here to make a film.

one day she gets a call from the police station they found a laptop and has caught 2 men on a bike. she runs and she is informed it is a HP laptop. the refuse to show her, but brings 2 men who are caught red handed in front of her:
1 guy is a muslim young chap looks innocent, who is married and his wife runs a beauty parlor in Goregoan.
2 guy is a UP guy who looks khatarnak. he lives in a auto and takes a bath in a shochalay.
as she watches them been harassed she thinks are they victims of the fundamentalist political party or is it just a coincidence? her search ends.