Artist Anjolie Ela Menon’s epic exhibition Revisitations, consisting of old and new works closed on Saturday 18th April with a curatorial walk by curator and critic Uma Nair who has followed her work for 36 years.The exhibition at Shridharani Gallery in Delhi saw a large number of visitors over 8 days who came from different parts of the world. Presented by the 39 year old Vadehra Art Gallery,Delhi the idea of the exhibition was to present a senior veteran artist in the vein of a journey that stands testimony to devotion and intrinsic richness in subject matter and creating an organic experience—that pushes slightly beyond ordinary boundaries.
“The beauty of experience with Anjolie is defined by her own voracious reading habits, as well as her deep seated connection to everyday realities, close family connections, spirituality and her love for art history that she picked up on her French scholarship years ago as a teenager in Paris as well as on her travels with her husband Admiral Raja Menon all over the world, ” said Nair in her introduction.The audience listened in rapt attention to associations as well as multiple references and also looked deeper into Anjolie’s latent love for landscape elements that were distinct in her old as well as new works. Her older oil on masonite works are a mesmerizing collection of classics specially works like Frenchman’s House, Pyotr and November.
At the end of the 20 minute talk, Anjolie thanked all those who had come and gifted a copy of the Revisitations catalogue to two institutions in Delhi.The first was to Vivek Kumar Sahani an MFA ( Painting ) student from Delhi College of Art as well as Dr Bindu Sharma, Dean of Fine Arts Faculty Jamia Millia Islamia University.
“This exhibition is a lesson in art history as well as an artist’s evolution.We all love the work of Anjolie Ma’am and consider her one of India’s greatest living artists. Meeting her in person today and seeing her old works that go back more than 50 years has been a wonderful experience , ” said Dr Bindu Sharma who came just after the inauguration of the prestigious Kalam Festival at Jamia Millia Islamia University. Also amongst the crowd was ceramic master and award winning artist, Keshari Nandan Prasad from Jaipur who said: “ Anjolie Ma’am’s works are an inspiration to all of us.To see her new and old works together has given us a deeper understanding of the journey of her command over colour and composition.This show also taught me that an exhibition need not be big, a small exhibition can create deeper impressions and is beautiful for audience impact and impression.”
For Vadehra Art Gallery that has been dealing with Anjolie Ela Menon’s works and doing her shows for more than 30 years this exhibition has been a milestone in offering an immersive experience to citizens of Delhi.The exhibition also coincided with Triveni Kala Sangam’s 75th year celebration.The Shridharani Gallery at Triveni Kala Sangam stands as an iconic gallery of eminent shows and retrospectives, the finest being the exhibitions of Ebrahim Alkazi, A.Ramachandran, Rameshwar Broota, Prodosh Das Gupta, and ceramic master G.Reghu.
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