About

“The Sentence is hierarchical: it implies subjections, subordinations, internal reactions. Whence its completion: how can a hierarchy remain open?” — Roland Barthes, The Pleasure of the Text

In his seminal work, The Pleasure of the Text, Roland Barthes captures a complementary relationship between the ideas of Chomsky on theory v/s practice and Julia Kristeva on ideology. He identifies that for Chomsky, in theory the sentence is potentially infinite, but practice must necessarily conclude it. And for Kristeva, a compositionally complete utterance is the practice of ideology for the purposes of propaganda. But what does the unique predicament of the sentence — which must necessarily be cut short to propaganda — originally described by Barthes signify in an age that no longer dreams of the utopic national context that framed post-independent aspirations in the South Asian region and that is weary of continuing communal conflicts, sectionalisms and the threat of economic and political instability? The contemporary culture of dissent — especially with the rise of authoritarian nationalisms — is resigned to the idea that its cause would never end and will perhaps be repeated throughout history. If one is to move from propaganda to suspicion, ‘practice’ cannot align with ideological certainty, especially if we are to include stories that have not been ordained a political stage. The workshop tried to explore how resistance may still be inscribed, over and over again through drawing. As a process that is constantly in the state of becoming, drawing eludes the predicament of the sentence. It could spiral forward infinitely like a helix, with the potential to encompass within it all spaces and times, ‘re-writing’ not just history, but also everyday spaces.

With this speculation as their premise, the artists who are part of this project began to discuss the potential of the continuous line in their practice. They deliberated upon everyday spaces in the city, instrumenting line as metaphor to inscribe history, memory, and the city without the closure of hierarchy.

About the Artists

D Priyanka

D.Priyanka is an Indian artist who has received recognition for her installations and oil paintings. She was born in a small town in Bhiwani, India, in 1978. At the age of 11 her family shifted to the metropolitan capital city of India, New Delhi. 

After receiving a formal education, she studied visual arts at the College of Arts in New Delhi from 1996 to 2002 where she specialized in painting. Shortly after she began to study under the legendary Indian artist A.Ramachendren, who taught her how to perceive objects creatively. Under his guidance she discovered her own path and soon gained recognition among art lovers and galleries. In her own words 'I was never taught what to paint or how to paint but I was taught how to perceive and and how to feel.....'. His teaching remains D.Priyanka's source of inspiration till today.

Early influence came from childhood experiences which were filled with lush green nature and cosmic filled nights. Though nature still remains the greatest inspiration, the perception of visualisation has changed with time and experience. It has now narrowed down to small organic objects which consist of incredible forms and shapes hidden inside layers upon layers. As the artist herself explains 'one can feel the whole universe inside the smallest organic object lying quietly on the roadside, if observed carefully you will feel the power of the Creator and no artist with human capability can match the beauty of God's creation'.

Priyanka has travelled extensively in the Himalayan forests , an experience which has served as artistic and spiritual inspiration. She feels a spiritual freedom when surrounded by untouched nature. She believes that viewers can connect with her work because subconsciously it is connecting them to the power of nature.

Priyanka has been regularly invited to participate in important exhibitions, residencies and art fairs. In 2002, she was awarded the Rajiv Jain Award for the Best Artist, in 2005 she was selected to render the illustration for the book for B.A.S.I.C.S in the USA. She received critical acclamation for her performances like 'I can't leave the threads of my golden past'(2008) and 'No more Priyanka' (2012). In these performances she explored her relationship with nature and her past.

Today she lives and works in New Delhi with her husband and her son, who constantly remain the pillars of her strength and the partners in her journey of discovery of known and unknown.

Divya Singh

Divya Singh is a visual artist. Her practice is primarily rooted in painting and explores themes such as isolation, experience, and memory – emanating largely from a poetic engagement with Time. Mediums such as photography, writing, cinema and painting are at the centre of her language as a practitioner and have featured as important categories of both work and interest. These varied elements come together within the work and can be seen most distinctly in the artist books made by her, as well as found imagery which accompany the paintings and other media during exhibitions. She is currently working with instant film/polaroid, paintings and text.

Divya has done her BFA from College of Art, New Delhi and her MFA from Shiv Nadar University.

Neeraj Patel

Neeraj Patel(b. 1987) is a multidisciplinary art artist from Jodhpur, Rajasthan  He has completed his MFA from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, Dadri, Uttar Pradesh (2016 - 2018). As an Artist, Neeraj Patel, works with paintings, drawings, installations, photography and site-specific installations. Neeraj has done two solo exhibitions, which includes recent exhibition at Extremes of Ruins and Utopic Excisions, at Nature Morte, New Delhi (2023) and A Recent Past and its Present Future, at Kala Chaupal Trust, Gurgaon (2020). Neeraj has shown widely in different curatorial projects and group exhibitions with numerous national and international galleries and institutions. This includes the exhibitions at Gallery Dotwalk, Gurgaon; Art Centrix Space, New Delhi; Wetlands Space- Shiv Nadar University, Delhi NCR; Kiran Nadar Museum of Arts, Noida; Akara Art Gallery, Mumbai and Shrine Empire, New Delhi, among others. In addition to this, Neeraj’s artworks have exhibited in multiple art fairs, this includes his representation at India Art Fair 2022, by Art Centrix Space and Asyaaf Art Fair South Korea by L.V.S Gallery South Korea. Including this, Neeraj has also attended various residency programs, which includes Space Studio Residency Program, Vadodara (2020) and Utsha Foundations for Contemporary Art (2021) among others.

Currently, Neeraj lives and works between Vadodara and New-Delhi.


Rakesh Mahala

 

Vikrant Kano

Vikrant Kano is an artist from New Delhi. He completed his BFA (2016) and MFA (2018) from College of Art, New Delhi

Recently in 2020, his practice-based research project titled ‘Family memories’ was the focus of an interview by Manuela de Leonardis, published in the Italian newspaper, Alias II Manifesto, Italy. Vikrant was part of the Next Step Residency Program 2019 at One Shanthi Road and in the same year he participated in the Art camp, organized by Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi.

Selected exhibitions include: The Gillehri Arts Initiative (GAI), an online exhibition platform conceptualized by Oorja Garg/2019; Call to Disorder: Experiments in Practice and Research, curated by Vidya Shivadas at the Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa/2019; “Castelnuovo Fotografia”, seventh edition held in castle of Rocca Colonna in Porto, Rome/2019; BRIEF PARABLES OF DYSTOPIA Momus: Museum of Contemporary Art, Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art and State Museum of Contemporary Art Collections held in Thessaloniki, Greece/2019; Shortlisted for “proyector”(video art platform ) by Indus Art Collective show at Madrid, Spain/2019; National exhibition 2018-2019 organized by Lalit Kala Akademi (national academy of art) New Delhi/2018; Group exhibition “pidgin”, NIV Art Center, Delhi/2018; Group exhibition in “CAFE” (Center for Art & Free Expression) gaffar manzil, Delhi/ 2018; Group Exhibition at Lokayata Art Gallery/2016; “Entropy”, Latitude 28 Art Gallery initiated by Student’s Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale/2016; Participation in Student’s Biennale, a collateral event at Kochi-Muziris Biennale/2016-17.