INDIA: PUBLIC PLACES, PRIVATE SPACES
CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO ART
October 26, 2008–January 18, 2009
Minneapolis, May 27, 2008—The Minneapolis Institute of Art presents the first major North American exhibition devoted to contemporary photography and video art in India. Opening October 26, “India: Public Places, Private Spaces” features more than one hundred works from twenty-eight artists exploring the lives of India’s people. The exhibition reveals the highly personal viewpoints found in this country of more than a billion people. This exhibition had its debut at the Newark Museum in New Jersey.
Each artist uses his or her medium to provide rich insights into the dynamics shaping the contemporary Indian psyche. The exhibition demonstrates the artistic vitality that has risen from extreme economic and political shifts, the influence of the media, and cultural traditions competing with globalization. Among the featured artists are internationally renowned photographers Raghu Rai, the late Raghubir Singh, and emerging talents Tejal Shah and Shilpa Gupta, who has been dubbed “the Damien Hirst of India.”
The artists investigate identity as a social construct, engage with issues of gender and sexuality, and explore the effects of population migration, among other themes. Bollywood blockbusters, rampant technology, and caste conflict make appearances in this eye-opening exhibition that will be on view at the MIA through January 18, 2009.
Artists represented also include Shahid Datawala, Anita Dube, Gauri Gill, Sunil Gupta, Subodh Gupta, Vijay and Samar Singh Jodha, Ranbir Kaleka, Jitish Kallat, Sonia Khurana, Shantanu Lodh, Anna Palakunnathu Matthew, Pushpamala N., Ram Rahman, Gigi Scaria, Vivan Sundaram, Surekha, Manish Swarup, Vivek Vilasini, and Rajesh Vora.
“India: Public Places, Private Spaces” is the culmination of several years of research and coordination by co-curators Gayatri Sinha, an independent curator and art critic in India, and Paul Sternberger, an associate professor of art history at Rutgers University, Newark. The curators also contributed to the exhibition catalogue, which includes essays by award-winning author Suketu Mehta and Barbara London, who is an associate curator of film and media at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
This exhibition was organized by the Newark Museum with major support provided by The Provident Bank and The Provident Bank Foundation. Additional funding was provided by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, New Jersey Council for the Humanities, The Hite Foundation, Asian Cultural Council, Poonam Khubani, Marguerite and Kent Srikanth Charugundla/The Charugundla Foundation, Dr. Umesh Gaur and Dr. Sunanda Gaur, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and Continental Airlines.
About the Minneapolis Institute of Art
The Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA), home to one of the finest encyclopedic art collections in the country, houses more than 80,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history. Highlights of the permanent collection include European masterworks by Rembrandt, Poussin, and van Gogh; modern and contemporary painting and sculpture by Picasso, Matisse, Mondrian, Stella, and Close; as well as internationally significant collections of prints and drawings, decorative arts, Modernist design, textiles, photographs, and Asian, African, and Native American art. General admission is always free. Some special exhibitions have a nominal admission fee. Museum hours: Sunday, 11 A.M.–5 P.M.; Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, 10 A.M.–5 P.M.; Thursday, 10 A.M.–9 P.M.; Monday closed. For more information, call (612) 870-3131 or visit www.artsmia.org.
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TAMMY PLESHEK PRESS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS SPECIALIST, MIA
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