SimplyCity Nikhileswar Baruah’s latest works summarise the predicament of contemporary living. While each work deals with complex issues that an individual faces in society, the highly structured, geometrically coherent towers suggest an unnatural simplicity. Today a lot of art featuring buildings and cityscapes makes statements on development, erratic urban growth, mall culture and such like. Nikhileswar’s paintings lay importance on the individual’s world and how he or she copes with it. The representation of the human being in acrobatic postures is miniscule in proportion when compared to the blocks of buildings. Yet this is a central motif in his paintings suggesting powerfully the turmoil and dilemmas of the contemporary man. The expressionist colour palette plays an important role in developing the narrative and mood of the works. About the use of monochromatic colours, light and the emphasis on architectural perspective in his paintings Nikhileswar says: “I have been always interested in my immediate environment but that environment is coloured by my state of mind. So what I portray is a mix of what is happening outside and what is happening inside (my mind). The light in my painting is more theatrical than natural. That theatricality, the monochromatic palette and mostly symmetrical composition take the painting beyond the real world, even though the figuration, rendering, perspective are realistic. In recent years, along with the monochromatic palette and symmetrical compositions, another area I have addressed through my paintings is the darker side of mankind. I repeat what I had said many years ago that my work is about ‘should not have beens’. The language I use makes the work appear tranquil, almost soothing. This contradiction allows one to experience the work in a subjective way rather than reading it literally.” Nikhileswar is an award-winning artist who has exhibited widely since the year 2000. This is his seventh solo show. He was born in 1967 in Guwahati, Assam and is based in Baroda.
Select biography:
Nikhileswar Baruah (b. 1967; Assam)
Education 1990: BFA, Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University, Baroda 1992: MFA in Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University, Baroda
Awards 1997: Unesco-Aschberg Bursaries to work at the European Ceramics Work Centre, The Netherlands 2000: Emerging Artist of the Year, Harmony 2000
Solo shows: 1990: State Art Gallery, Guwahati 1997: Prithvi Art Gallery, Mumbai 1999: The Guild, Mumbai 2000: Lakeeren, Mumbai 2006: Departure, Hacienda Gallery, Mumbai 2007: City-zens, RL Fine Arts, New York
Select participation: 2009 1x1india, group show, The Loft, Mumbai
2008 Three-man group show with T M Azis and Rajesh Salgaonkar at Hacienda Gallery Our Namastey, Their Namastey, Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University, presented by Rennisa, Baroda Group exhibition by 'Gauhati Artists' Guild' Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University, Baroda
2007 Pulsating Rythms on Paper, Tangerine Art Space, Bangalore Young Guns, ICIA, Mumbai Melodious Hues, Red Earth Gallery, Baroda Whispering Palette, Red Earth Gallery, Baroda Embodied, Gallery Art & Soul, Mumbai Mirrors of Time, presented by setu – an artists’ initiative, Hacienda Gallery, Mumbai Medley of Hues, ABS Gallery, Baroda Points of Reference, Art & Soul Gallery, Mumbai, Instilling Life, Hacienda Gallery, Mumbai, Beyond Credos: Painting in Baroda Today, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata Evam - online show
2006 Evam, Painting New Theatre, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai Feb Show, Lanxess ABS Gallery, Baroda Concern India Foundation’s auction conducted by Christies’, Bangalore Undo Objects – Chitra Kala Parisath, Bangalore
2005 Are We Like This Only? Vadhera Art Gallery, New Delhi Open Circle Project for Yokohama International Triennale of Contemporary Art, Japan Detour, Gallery 88, Mumbai Auction in aid of Mumbai Police Welfare Fund, curated by Arts Trust, Mumbai 10th Harmony show, World Trade Centre, Mumbai Tribute to Bhupen Khakhar” Gallery Artists’ Guild, Guwahati. Group Show at Chitrakoot Gallery, Kolkata
2004 Garden of Roses, Sarjan Art Gallery, Baroda Tribute to Bhupen Khakhar, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai Harmony 2004, Nehru Centre, Mumbai Transgress, Priyasri Gallery, Mumbai Alekhya, Sarjan Art Gallery, Baroda
2003 Arts for God’s Sake, by Arts Trust, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai Across the Threshold, Artcore Gallery, San Francisco Harmony 2003, Nehru Centre, Mumbai
2002 Modern Indian Paintings, Saffronart online auction Crosscurrents, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai Joint exhibition at Artists’ Centre, Mumbai Voices Against Violence, Fine Arts Gallery, Baroda The Banyan City, Nazar Art Gallery, Baroda Cupid Connection, Artcore, Baroda
2001 Harmony 2001, Nehru Centre, Mumbai Seamless, Nazar Art Gallery, Baroda
2000 Indian Contemporary Art, online auction, Saffronart.com Harmony 2000, Nehru Centre, Mumbai Juxtapose, Son-et-Lumiere, Mumbai The Secret Life of Objects, Lakeeren Art Gallery at Kala Ghoda Festival, Mumbai |