Akbar Padamsee

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Artist’s Statement

Though very meticulous in his method, master colorist Akbar Padamsee’s drawings and paintings pulsate with throbbing energy. This is an artist whose work ranges from the figure to non-figuration; for Padamsee it not the categorization of his work which is of consequence, but rather its relationships with form, volume, space, time, and color. He is acutely aware of every brush stroke; the process of creation is one of contemplation and articulation of thoughts and ideas.

Padamsee’s pioneering spirit has allowed him to experiment with a wide range of mediums: the gamut of the traditional ones to his recent experiments with photography and digital printmaking. Whatever his chosen medium, the artist conveys a command over space, form and color. Although he is best known as a painter, Padamsee has experimented with film-making, sculpture, and writing as an art critic as well. His formal education was in the fine arts – Padamsee graduated from the Sir J.J. School of Art in 1940, with a diploma in painting and series of sculpture classes behind him. In an interview with Dnyaneswar Nadkarni, he comments: “In those days, learning painting in that tree-studded campus was a heady experience.” An ex-professor from the school describes him as an “aristocratic intellectual, aloof from the usual hurly-burly of the school,” showing a rare seriousness and sense of direction as an artist.

The most familiar works from his extensive oeuvre are the metascapes and mirror images, and the figures and heads, which he keeps oscillating between. The metascapes are a development from landscapes, while the mirror images show his concern with the duality of existence, of form and space. The figure is treated not as an individual, not even in the heads where the association with portraiture is even stronger. The only occasion when he has handled portraits of known people, was in 1997, with his Gandhi series of works on paper in watercolor and charcoal.

Education

1951 – Diploma, Sir J J School of Art, Mumbai

Solo Exhibitions

2011-12 – ‘The Body Unbound’, Rubin Museum of Art, New York

2010 – ‘Body Parts’, The Loft, Mumbai

2010, 93, 86, 75 – Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

2008 – ‘Sensitive Surfaces’, Galerie Helene Lamarque, Paris

2007 – ‘Metascape to Humanscape’, Aicon Gallery, Palo Alto

2006 – Metascape to Humanscape’, Aicon Gallery, New York

2006 – Photographs (2004–06), Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

2005 – Gallery Threshold and the French Embassy in India, New Delhi

2004 – Retrospective of Watercolors, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

2003 – ‘Critical Boundaries’, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

2002 – ‘Drawing Show’, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai

2002 – ‘Tertiaries’, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1999 – ‘Compugraphics’, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai and Art Heritage, New Delhi

1997 – ‘Imaging Gandhi’, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1996 – ‘Female Nudes’, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1994 – ‘Mirror Images’, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1993 – ‘Heads’, Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore

1992, 88 – Art Heritage, New Delhi

1992 – Sanskriti Art Gallery, Kolkata

1988 – Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

1980 – Retrospective of works organized by Art Heritage, New Delhi and Mumbai

1981 – Urja Gallery, Baroda

1974, 72 – ‘Metascapes’, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1967 – Museum of Contemporary Art, Montreal

1963 – Gallery ’63, New York

1962 – Kunika Chemould Art Centre, New Delhi

1960 – Painting in Grey, Gallery ’59, Mumbai

1957 – Galerie de Ventadour, France

1954 – Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1953 – Gallery Raymond Creure, Paris

1952 – Galerie Saint Placide, Paris

Group Exhibitions

2012 – ‘Rewind , Review … ‘, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi

2012 – ‘Contemporary: A Selection of Modern and Contemporary Art’, presented by Sakshi Gallery at The Park, Chennai

2011 – ‘Form and Formlessness’, Art Alive Gallery, Gurgaon

2011 – ‘States of Departure: Progressives to Present Day’, Aicon Gallery, London

2011 – ‘POP: Progressives on Paper’, Aicon Gallery, New York

2011 – ‘Masterclass’, Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi

2010-11 – ‘Figure/Landscape: Part Two’, Aicon Gallery, London

2010 – ‘Figure/Landscape: Part One’, Aicon Gallery, New York

2010 – ‘The Progressives & Associates’, Grosvenor Gallery, London

2010 – ‘Black and White’, Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai

2010 – ‘From Miniature to Modern: Traditions in Transition’, Rob Dean Art, London in association with Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

2010 – ‘Black is Beautiful’, India Fine Art, Mumbai

2010 – ‘Masters of Maharashtra’, collection from Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi at Piramal Gallery, National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai

2009 – ‘Bharat Ratna! Jewels of Modern Indian Art’, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

2009 – ‘Indian Art After Independence: Selected Works from the Collections of Virginia & Ravi Akhoury and Shelley & Donald Rubin’, Emile Lowe Gallery, Hempstead

2009 – ‘Sacred and Secular’, India Fine Art, Mumbai

2009 – ‘Think Small’, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi

2009 – ‘Progressive to Altermodern: 62 Years of Indian Modern Art’, Grosvenor Gallery, London

2008 – ‘Faces’, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2008 – ‘Freedom 2008 – Sixty Years of Indian Independence’, Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

2007-08 – ‘India Art Now: Between Continuity and Transformation’, Province of Milan, Milan, Italy

2007 – ‘Winter Show’, Aicon Gallery, Palo Alto

2006 – Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA) Gallery, Kolkata

2006 – ‘Shadow Lines’, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2006 – ‘Drawing Show an Act of Art II’, Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai

2005 – Contemporary Indian Art, Nehru Center, London

2005 – ‘Visions of Landscape’, Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

2005 – AshtaNayak: Eight Pioneers of Indian Art’, Aicon Gallery, New York

2005 – Gallery Threshold, New Delhi

2004 – ‘Anticipations’, Fine Arts Resource, Mumbai

2004 – ‘Concept and Form’, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2004 – Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

2002, 01 – Saffronart and Pundole Gallery, New York

2002 – ‘Words and Images’, Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

2001 – ‘Engendering Images of a Woman’, Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

2000 – ‘Rare Collection’ Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

1999 – ‘Creative Process’, Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

1998 – ‘Drawings’, Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

1997 – Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

1997 – ‘50 Years of Indian Art’, Mohile Parikh Centre for Visual Arts (MPCVA), Mumbai

1996 – ‘Modern & Contemporary Paintings: One Hundred Years’, London

1995 – Indian Contemporary Paintings, London

1994 – ‘Mirror-Image Series’, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1993 – Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai

1993 – Reflections & Images, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1992 – Sanskrit Art Gallery, Kolkata

1992 – Group Show with Laxman Shreshtha & Jogen Chowdhury, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1991 – ‘National Exhibition of Contemporary Art’, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi

1991 – ‘State of the Art’ First Computer Art Show in Mumbai, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1990, 88 – Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

1989 – ‘Timeless Art’, Mumbai

1987 – Festival of India in U.S.S.R, Moscow

1985 – Indian Artists in France

1984 – Contemporary Indian Painters, Raj Bhavan, Mumbai. Organized by Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1982 – ‘Contemporary Indian Art’, Festival of India, Royal Academy of Art, London

1981 – ‘India: Myth & Reality – Aspects of Modern Indian Art’ Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Oxford

1981 – Indian Painting Today, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1979 – ‘Focus’, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai

1958 – ‘Seven Indian Painters’, Gallery One, London

PARTICIPATIONS:

2012 – ‘Art for Humanity’, Coomaraswamy Hall, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai

2012 – ‘Synergy 2012′, 12th Anniversary Show, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2012 – ‘Crossings: Time Unfolded, Part 2′, KiranNadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi

2011 – ‘Time Unfolded’, KiranNadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi

2010 – ‘Art Celebrates 2010′, represented by Gallery Threshold at Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi to coincide with the hosting of the Commonwealth Games

2010 – ‘Master’s Corner’, organized by Indian Contemporary Art Journal at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; India International Art Fair, New Delhi

2010 – ‘Contemporary Printmaking In India’, presented by Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai

2010 – ‘Manifestations IV’, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2009 – ‘Miniature Format Show 2009 – IInd Part’, Sans Tache Gallery, Mumbai

2008 – ‘Harvest 2008′, organized by Arushi Arts at The Stainless Gallery, New Delhi

2008 – ‘The Miniature Format Show – Part I’, Sans Tache, Mumbai

1968 – Indian Triennale, New Delhi

1963, 55, 53 – Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy

1963 – 3rd Paris Biennale, Paris

1961 – 2nd Paris Biennale, Paris

1959 – Tokyo Biennale, Japan

1959 – Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil

Award & Recognition

2010 – Padama Bhushan from Government of India

2010 – Kailash Lalit Kala Award, New Delhi

2008 – Roopdhar, Bombay Art Society, Mumbai

2007 – Dayawati Modi Award

2004 – Lalit Kala Ratna, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi

1997-98 – Kalidas Samman by the Madhya Pradesh Government

1969 – Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship

1967 – Artist in Residence, Stout State University, Wisconsin

1965 – J.D. Rockefeller IIIrd Fund, Fellowship

 
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