Sakshi Gallery is pleased to present Sans Divine Machines, an exhibition of works by Reji Arackal from 12-30 April, 2010. The show is Reji Arackal’s first-ever solo to be held in Mumbai.
The exhibition offers a series of thought-provoking works that try to trace the inner territories of violence. Arackal employs pristine iconography to show the ‘hybrid body’ of tradition and modernity. The works attempt to explore the reasons behind the violence which is, in fact, a conflict within oneself - at the juncture where the self is divided. It also points to the fact that the inactiveness, in which one exists, is the inability to respond to the ‘differences’ or ‘hybridity’ of the modern era. In these works, Arackal maintains roundness for the contours of human forms and figures except for the corner of the eyes which imparts an ‘amoebic-flexibility’ to them. This, in turn, creates a state of constant tension as it appears to be transient, tending to re-shape at any time.
The historical existence of the crossbreeding of values, of psychological and biological differences, of ideologies, etc. is a continuum from which the artist derives inspiration. Also, the inactiveness indicates a potential for diverse possibilities in a suspended world of hybridity. However, this potential can become an act of violence in a rapidly changing world.
About Reji Arackal:
Born in 1979, in Wayanad, Kerala, Reji Arackal graduated in painting from the Government College of Fine Arts, Thrissur, Kerala. He completed his MFA in painting from Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, West Bengal and went on to pursue a 9-month internship with l’Ecole Nationale Superieure Beaux-arts, Paris, France.
Reji’s works have shown in a number of solo and group exhibitions in India and overseas. His solos shows are: “Devotional Signs” at the Kerala Lalit Kala Akademi Art Gallery, Thrissur 2004, “Clouds”, Kerala Lalit Kala Akademi Art Gallery, Calicut, 2005 and group exhibitions are: Kerala Lalit Kala Akademi Annual Exhibition 2004, International Print Exhibition of Art & Photography, Durbar Hall, Kochi 2005, Central Lalit Kala Akademi, National Exhibition, Modern Art Gallery Mumbai 2006, “Pratiti”, Birla Art Gallery, Kolkata 2006, Open Eyed Dreams Exhibition, Mumbai 2006, “Hybrid Trends”, Seoul Art Centre, Korea 2006, ‘Salad’ , l’Ecole Nationale Superieure Beaux-arts, Paris, ‘POT/e/AG/e’, Curated by ICART, Paris, ‘10 ML of Contemporary Needed’ Curated by FICA, New Delhi, ‘Indi Genius’, Sakshi Gallery and Soka Contemporary Space, Taipei and ‘Cige’ China in 2008, ‘ Take 2’, Sakshi Gallery, Taipei in 2009, ‘Roots’, Sakshi Gallery, Chennai, 2010.
For further information, contact:
Preeti Gaonkar
E: preeti@sakshigallery.com
T: +91 22 6610 3424
