All-women Showcase Lights up the ‘Desi Canvas’ at Pioneering Art Expo

NEW DELHI:
Powerful voices of women resonating in colourful abstracts, oil paintings, illustrations and sculptures lend their energy this week to the “Desi Canvas”, an exclusive space for contemporary Indian works at The Drifting Canvas — a pioneering travelling multi-media art expo that has come to India for the first time.
Titled “Oorjaa”, the exhibition features an all-woman cast of artists Arpana Caur, Rashmi Khurana, Durga Kainthola, Shanti Kushwaha, Kavita Nambissan and Hemavathy Guha.
They are sharing space with timeless legends of the art world including Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin and Henri Rousseau at a first-of-its-kind digital light and sound multimedia exposition now underway in the capital city.
Hosted by the Select Citywalk Mall in Delhi from April 27 – June 15, 2017, The Drifting Canvas is a joint initiative of Bengaluru-based art platform Esperienza and Russian art cluster ArtPlay.
Curated by Russian Yasha Yavorskaya, it brings alive the classic works of 11 legendary 18th and 19th century European artists on large panoramic screens, using state of the art laser projectors and larger-than-life HD screens to the accompaniment of neo-classical music that transport spectators into an interactive and emotional space.
The Desi Canvas, curated by Aakshat Sinha and running concurrent to the expo, is attempting to give a similar hi-tech treatment to the best in Indian contemporary art. It features works of 41 artists in eight week-long shows, each with unique themes and stunning technology-backed display, opening every Friday for a seven-day run.
“Oorja” is the fourth show in the series and will be on until Thursday (May 18).
“With a promise to deliver outstanding entertainment capsules to our shoppers, we bring The Drifting Canvas, an exclusively curated exposition on multimedia art. The aim is to bring art and technology together for an unforgettable experience.” Says, Arjun Sharma, Director, Select CITYWALK.”We are happy to be providing a space within this canvas for rising stars of Indian art. Together they create a scintillating mixture of classic and contemporary, that visitors will enjoy.
“Oorjaa at Desi Canvas is a curated show of six women artists that bring forth art works that embody their personal oorjaa/inspirations,” says Aakshat Sinha. “Arpana Caur’s engaging works on paper juxtaposed with Durga Kainthola’s Warhol and History of Art series, Rashmi Khurana’s abstracts compositions, Hemavathy Guha’s Space series of stitched buttons on canvas, Shanti Kushwaha’s classical live model oil paintings, and Kavita Nambissan’s resin and stone sculptures create an energised environment.”
“The diversity of emotions and expressions captured by the artists enticed me to put together this eclectic display. Oorjaa not just by inspiration but by content and expression as well.
The first two shows of the Desi Canvas titled “Maya, myth, reality” and “Impressions/Expressions” ran during the first week of the exhibition and featured the works of Anupam Sud, Paramjeet Singh, Ram V. Sutar, Krishan Ahuja, Jagadish Dey, Biman B. Das and Umesh Varma.
“Juxtaposed”, a collection of works by Kalicharan Gupta, S. K. Sahni, Kanchan Chander and
Prasanta Kalita ended last week.
“Oorja” will be followed by “I.M.Print” showcasing the works of Anandamoy Bannerjee, Dattatrya Apte, Moti Zharotia, Kavita Nayar, Sushanta Guha and K. R. Subbanna.
The sixth show in the series, titled “Textures” will open on May 26, followed by “Chasing Dots” on June 2 and closing with “Identity”, which will run from June 9-15.