ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
PRASANTA SAHU
Born 1968, Orissa
M.F.A. (Painting) from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda (1998-2000)
B.A Fine Arts (Painting) from Kala-Bhavana, Visva- Bharati University, Santiniketan (1993-98)
Training in Electrical Engineering under O.S.E.B., Orissa, India (1986-87)
Diploma in Electrical Engineering from Barapada School of Engineering & Technology, Orissa (1983-86)
The artist is intensely aware of the pictorial surface of the canvas. Monochromatic pictures are contrasted with vividly painted areas and abrasions on the canvas form interesting textural motifs. However, in his work Sahu moves away from the high-modernist obsession with the formal properties of the painted surface. The paintings operate as performative gestures connecting the realms of art and society.
For example, if Sahu draws attention to the materiality of the canvas through deliberately disfiguring its surfaces, the technique also highlights the symbolic importance of the image thus blemished. Violence is enacted on the pictorial surface, so that art is no longer the terrain of isolated intellectual pleasure, it becomes part and parcel of our social and political environment: both implicated in its aggression and a place for critique.
Since 2001 The artist has taught in the Department of Painting, Kala Bhavana (Faculty of Fine art), Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, Indi
Select Group Exhibitions
2008 "Art for freedom" a group show cum auction in London, Jointly organized by Tehelka art and
Aicon gallery, London.
Group show in Dubai, at 1x1 art gallery, Catalogue essay by Anshuman Dasgupta
"Imageof one's own self" Gallery Kolkata ;Curated by Pranab Ranjan Ray
"13th Harmony Show" Mumbai.
"Indian Contemporary Art" – an auction show by Asta Guru , Mumbai.
"Miniature Format Show-2008" – Sans Tache Art Gallery, Mumbai.
"A MAZ ING" - a group show at Jehangir art gallery, Mumbai, organized by RPG Enterprises
"Synchrome-IV"- a group show at Tao art Gallery, Mumbai. Jointly organized by Tao art
Gallery and Gallery Akar Prakar, Kolkata
2007 Internatinal Art Fair, Rome
"Flow, Freeze, Focus" a five person show at Gallery Kolkata, Catalogue essay by Sushma
K.Bahl
"Young guns"-a group show at The Arts Trust Gallery, Mumbai
"Embodied" – a group show of paintings and sculptures at Gallery Art and Soul,
Mumbai, Curated by Jasmine Shah Verma
"Emerging India"–a group show of young contemporary artists at The Henry Moore Gallery,
Royal College of Art, London. Presented by, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi and S.A. Fine Arts,
London.
"Generation Next- New Trends in Contemporary Indian art" a group show at India Habitat
Center, New Delhi, Curated by Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
"V I S (V) A" a chronicle of difference, three person show at AICON art Gallery, New York,
Catalogue essays by: R. Siva Kumar & Anshuman Dasgupta.
"modern to contemporary" a group show at Kolkata art Gallery, Kolkata.
"12th Harmony Show", Mumbai.
"Pastiche" –a group show at Gallery Red Earth, Vadodara,
"The Rock Show", a group show curated by Himanshu Desai, at Gallery Art Resource Trust,
Mumbai
2006 "Artist of the month" (Nov-2006), an on line show at Gallery Art Alive, New Delhi
"Synchrome-III"- a group show at Gallery Akar Prakar, Kolkata,
"Critical Imperatives-The Ethics of Identity" –a group show at Nakshatra art Gallery, Kolkata
"New Voices" a Group show at The Guild, New York; Catalogue essay by Jasmine Shah
Varma.
"Art of Young Bengal" a group show curated by Pranab Ranjan Ray at Aakriti Gallery, Kolkata
"Real-2006" a group show at India Habitat Center, organized by mattersofart.com
"Drawing show" a group show at Priyashree art Gallery, Mumbai
"The Essence" a group show at Tao art gallery, Mumbai
"Evam" – a charity group show at Tao art gallery, Mumbai.
"Merging Culture", a group show at Sarjan art gallery, Baroda.
2005 "Palette-II", a group show at Palette art gallery, New Delhi.
Group Show at Vi Art Gallery, New Delhi.
"Bird on a Wire"- an on line group show organized by The Arts Trust, Mumbai.
"Synchrome"- a group show at Gallery Akar Prakar, Kolkata,
"Change of Address" Inaugural group show at Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai.
"Ways of Seeing" – a group show at India Habitat Center, Curated by Sushma K. Bahl,
Organised by Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi.
"Art for God Sake"- a group show at India Habitat Center, Organized by Arts Trust, Mumbai
"Summer Exhibition"-at CIMA Art Gallery, Kolkata
"Versions"-a group show at Birla Academy of Art & Culture.
"New Wave in Bengal Art-A Critics Choice"- a group show at Gallery Akar Prakar, Kolkata,
Catalogue essay by Pranab Ranjan Ray.
"10th Harmony Show" at World Trade Center, Mumbai.
"Allegories"- a three person show at Gallery Threshold, New Delhi.
"The Sense of Touch" – a two person show at Guild art Gallery, Mumbai, catalogue essay by
Nancy Adajania
"The Chair Project"- Sarjan Art Gallery, Baroda, Catalogue essay by Sandhya Bordewekar.
2004 "A Journey" a charity art show- Art & Soul, Mumbai.
"Concepts and Ideas"-curated by Rakhee Sarkar, a group show at CIMA Art Gallery, Kolkata.
"The world of Serigraph"- Sarjan Art Gallery, Baroda.
"Generation-I", curated by Zehra Jumabhoy, jointly organized by Saffron art and Guild art
Gallery at Saffron Art Gallery, Mumbai.
"Looking Back-Looking Forward" – curated by Sandhya Boderwekar, Sarjan Art Gallery, Baroda.
"A New Mediatic Realism?"- at ABS Bayer's Gallery, Baroda, Catalogue essay by Nancy
Adajania
2003" Recent Works" – works on paper, a group show at Gallery Threshold, New Delhi.
"Migration, City-Home" – a group show at Birla Academy, Kolkata, organized by Lalit Kala,
Kolkata.
"Transition" – a group show at Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata.
2002-03 Kala Bhavana Teachers' workshop and exhibition at Nandan gallery, Santiniketan.
2002 "The RPG Exhibition of Self-Portraits" – at Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata.
"From Brahma to Bapu – New icons and symbols in Indian art" – a group show, curated by
Sovan Som, organized by CIMA Art Gallery at India Habitat Center, New Delhi and later at CIMA
Art Gallery, Kolkata.
"New paradigms" – a group show, curated by Ranjit Hoskote, organized by Gallery Threshold,
at India Habitat Center, New Delhi.
"7th Harmony Show" – Nehru Center, Mumbai.
"Tribute to Picasso" – a group show at Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai.
2002 Selected young artists from Santiniketan" – organized by Gallery Espace,New Delhi; at Lalit
Kala Academy, New Delhi.
2001 Indian Contemporary Art" – an auction show by Saffron Art.Com, Mumbai.
"Nudes" – a group show at Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai.
"Self Portraits by Artists" – NGMA, Mumbai, from the collection of Mr. Harsh Goenka.
"6th Harmony Show" – Nehru Center, Mumbai.
2000 " National Exhibition" – at Bangalore, organized by Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
Miniature Format Show-2000" – Sans Tache Art Gallery, Mumbai.
"Stepping Out" – a three man show at Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai.
1999 "Painting Workshop" – at Mohili Parikh Center for Visual Arts, Mumbai.
1998 "Rank Holders Exhibition" – at Rashtriya Lalit Kala Kendra, Kolkata.
1996 "1st Eastern Zonal Print Biennale" – organized by Eastern Zonal Cultural Center,
Kolkata, at Bhubaneswar, Orissa.
Camps and Workshops
2008 Art Camp in Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg)
2007 Confluence'2007, international art camp at Aicon art gallery, New York.
2007 Indo- Bangladesh art camp, Kolkata
2007-06-00 "Marve Camp" – at Mudh Island, Mumbai, organized by Mr. Harsh Goenka.
2007 Art Camp in Bangkok
2007 Art camp in Switzerland.
2007 Art camp at Vedic Village, Organised by gallery Kolkata, Kolkata
2006 Art Camp at Hyderabad, organized by Krishna Kriti art gallery,
Hyderabad.
2005 "Contemporary Art Camp" at ITC. Sonar Bangla, Kolkata, organized by Popular
Prakasan, Mumbai.
2004 "Uttarayan Art Camp – 2004" – at Baroda, Curated by Nancy Adajania ,organized by ABS
Bayer Ltd.
Awards and Scholarships
2001 Awarded Gold Medal for securing first position in Dept. of Painting, M.S. University,Baroda
2000 Nasreen Mehmodi Trust Award, M.S. University, Baroda.
Camlin Award
1996-98 Received National Scholarship of the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Govt. of
India
1995 Awarded in first Eastern Print Biennale, by Eastern Zonal Cultural Center, Kolkata
1993-96 Visva Bharati Merit Scholarship
PAMPA PANWAR
Born 1965, Kolkata
B.F.A.(Painting) -Kala-Bhavana, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan (1982-87)
M.F.A.(Printmaking) - Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda (1987-89)
M.A. in Fine Art, Slade School of Art, University College London (1991-93)
The Artist lives and works in Santiniketan.
Select Solo Exhibitions
2007 A seasonal dialogue, Gandhara Art Gallery, Kolkata
2004 Visual Art Gallery, India habitat Centre, New Delhi.
2003-04 Touring exhibition in 10 cities of India organized by Alliance Francaise & French Embassy, New
Delhi
2001 Art Heritage, New Delhi, India
CAMAC Gallery, Centre d'Art, Marnay-sur-Seine, France
1994 British Council Gallery, New Delhi
Select Group Exhibitions
2007 Vis(v)a, Aicon Gallery, New York
Summer Show 2007, Centre International Modern Art, Kolkata
Flow Freeze Focus, Gallery Kolkata, Kolkata
Pastiche, Red Earth art galleries, Vadodara
2006 Saniketan Show, Sarjan Gallery, Vadodara
2005 Ways of seeing, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
Cima Annual Show, Cima gallery, Kolkata
2003 Roots en Route; an exhibition of works by eight Indian artists trained in the U.K ., British
Council, N.Delhi/ Chennai/Bangalore/Mumbai.
2000 Embarkations, The millennium show, Sakshi Galery, Mumbai, India
1999 Prabaha, Millennium Exhibition, Art of Bengal, Kolkata.
1998 Multimedia Art of the 90's", CIMA Gallery, Kolkata
Aesthetics Redefined, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Mumbai
Awards and Scholarships
2001 Lalit Kala Scholarship, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi
French Govt. Scholarship for Residency at CAMAC, Centre d'Art, Marnay-sur-Seine, France
1996-98 Junior Research Fellowship in Visual Art, Department of Culture, Govt. of India
1991-93 Commonwealth Scholarship for Study at the Slade School of Fine Art, London