The Tribune
January 30, 2017
Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi is celebrating the birth anniversary of iconic artist of Punjabi origin, Amrita Sher-Gil on January 30 by organising an audio visual presentation and screening of a short film by one of India’s most significant artists Sudarshan Shetty.Sudarshan would share some of his earlier series of works in the slide show along with the screening of a short film A Song A Story. He would engage in a question-answer session with the audience/viewers after the presentation.Sudarshan Shetty is the curator of the ongoing Kochi Muziris Biennale and is best known for his enigmatic sculptural installations. He has long been recognised as one of his generation’s most innovative artists in India.Moving from painting exclusively to installation early on in his career, Shetty explores the fundamental ontological challenges presented by our immersion in a world of objects. His installations are developed around a rigorous grammar of materials, mechanical exposure and unlikely juxtapositions of things that may belong to culturally distinct spheres. Moreover, Shetty’s object language eschews narrative as well as established symbolism. He has exhibited widely in India and around the world.He is one of the first exponents of New Media artists in the country and has inspired many other well known New Media artists.His installation was created for the Rolls Royce Art Programme, making Shetty the first Indian artist selected by the global initiative to promote art. Art editors and critics have already declared 2016 the year of Sudarshan Shetty. —TNS