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Psalms of an Invisible River SUJITH SN

Vadehra Art Gallery in collaboration with Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art

presents

Psalms of an Invisible River SUJITH SN

A solo exhibition by the recipient of the

FICA Emerging Artist Award 2011

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Psalms of an invisible river is a series of 13 watercolour visual narratives of peoples’ lives and their struggles to make everyday life liveable in an Indian city. Moving from my earlier attempts to tell the history of contemporary Indian urban landscapes and its socio-political and cultural imaginations, my attempt in this series is to try and understand the historical evolution of these imaginations and their impact on daily life. Thus, I move from the question of what constitutes a city to a more historically constructed enquiry of asking how a city is being constituted, constructed and consumed across time and space. The questions I am specifically concerned with are the following - what are the historical conditions that make a space urban in a particular historical situation, how these historical conditions change, and what affect its aftermath leaves in people’s psyche.

Each and every person has his or her own way of owning a city. The city also has its own ways of making its space available to people. So city-making is always a two way process; city makes its people as much as people make their cities. Being a historical journey, this series looks into the trajectory of the relationship and contradictions between an(y) urban space and its inhabitants in the course of everyday life. Thus, these works are not only visualising many of the untold stories of city making, but also adds a visual turn to India’s urban historiography.

As it’s visible from the works presented in this series, the image of a river is a central metaphor in most of these narratives. Rivers have always been central to the formation of any civilisation. Even most Indian cities of today are built on the banks of rivers. So I thought it would be an interesting attempt to tell the history of a society, the various turns and returns it took on its journey to today by addressing the everyday histories of its rivers. The meaning of a river in the city changes as the meaning of city changes itself. Cities constantly transform themselves, their structures and purpose. Tracing these changes will help us to explore the inner dynamics of city making.

The irony here is the fact the river we are talking of is almost invisible in today’s city. It’s the presence of the absence of the river that compels me to recall its historical journey.

Sujith SN

Psalms of an invisible river or presence of an absence of a river

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UntitledWatercolour on paper41.5” x 79.25”

6Detail from Untitled

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DialoguesWatercolour on paper68” x 44.5”2013

8Details from Dialogues

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TestimonyWatercolour on paper41.75” x 65.5”2012

11Details from Testimony

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UntitledWatercolour on paper42.25” x 56”2012

13Details from Untitled

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UntitledWatercolour on paper32” x 59”2012

15Details from Untitled

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Psalms of an (In)visible RiverWatercolour on paper53” x 86.5”2013

18Details from Psalms of an (In)visible River

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Let a Thousand Flowers BloomWatercolour on paper41.25” x 87”

20Details from Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom

Let a Thousand Flowers BloomWatercolour on paper9.75” x 12.75” (each)2013

Let a Thousand Flowers BloomWatercolour on paper9.75” x 12.75” (each)2013

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SUJITH SN

EDUCATIONAL PROFILE2007 MFA from Sarojini Naidu School of Fine Arts, Performing Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad2005 BFA from College of Fine Arts, Trichir, University of Calicut, Diploma in Civil Draughtsmanship

EXHIBITIONS2011 Indian Art Summit, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai2010 The Map is not the Territory, Latitude 28, Delhi | Solo show The Indian Subway, curated by Yashodhara Dalmia, Vadhera Grosvner, London The Earth, Gallery OED, Kochi2008 Relative Visa, curated by Bose Krishnamachari, Bodhi Art Gallery, Mumbai The City and The Tower, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai | Solo show The Double, Gallery OED, Kochi2007 Open-eyed Dreams, Durbar Hall, Kochi Group show at Tangerine Art Space, Bangalore2006 Auto Hanger - a group show, Mumbai2004-05 Kerala Lalith Kala Academy annual show

RESIDENCIES AND CAMPS2012 FICA Emerging Artist Award residency at Hochschule Luzern - Design and Kunst, Switzerland 2007 MUWC India-Sakshi Camp, Pune2006 Gallery OED National Art Meet, Kochi2005 ACK Raja State Camp2004 Lalith Kala Academy District Camp

AWARDS2011 FICA Emerging Artist Award2005 Merit Scholarship, University of Hyderabad ACK Raja award Kerala Lalith Kala Academy State Award2004 Kerala Lalith Kala Academy Special Mention Award

Sujith lives and works in Mumbai

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Monday to Saturday | 11am - 7pmT +91 11 46103550/46103551 | E art@vadehraart.com | W www.vadehraart.com

Text: Sujith SNDesign: Suhani Arora Sen

Photographs of Installations: Babu Eshwar Prasad

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