Dec 02, 2012 - Feb 17, 2013
Industrial Arts Gallery | 19th Century Gallery | Origins of Mumbai Gallery | Kamalnayan Bajaj Gallery
Shettar's large installations draw inspiration from natural forms recalling the surreal beauty of magical creatures and sensuous landscapes. She gives imaginative form to natural phenomena as diverse and unique as the interaction of light and water, the luminescence of fireflies and the kinetic response of plants to sunlight. Evocative titles such as Heliotropes and Scent of a Sound allow us to engage with the essence of the work, which emphasize handmade and pre industrial processes, but employ the most sophisticated technical and scientific processes in their assemblage. Celebrating both the natural and the man-made, the works recall the interface of art and science which was one of the founding ideas of the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum.
Shettar's work acquires an entirely new meaning when contextualised within the Museum. Founded in the 19th century, the collection was significantly influenced by the contemporary fascination with natural history, botany and horticulture of colonised lands. In particular, Shettar's title work, High tide for a blue moon is especially evocative when contextualised within the Industrial Arts gallery. Here, it is positioned in front of the statue of Prince Albert, flanked by the Muse of Science and the Muse of Art, an allegorical representation of the museum's historical emphasis on the relationship between the two. The work recalls the botanical beginnings of the museum which has a large collection of fossils and corals. Made of coffeewood, it is sprayed with automobile paint bringing the organic and the man made into an unexpected symbiosis.
The artist's sensitivity to her natural surroundings is reflected in her use of materials, her works draw upon locally cultivated coffee wood, tamarind kernels, rosewood, teak and cotton. Far from the empirical approach of the past, driven by collecting and classifying, Shettar's artistic oeuvre draws upon sensory experiences, however it is significant to note that her natural, fairy tale world of lights, shadows and floating sculptures is constructed through a scientific, technical process. Shettar negotiates a delicate balance between light and shadow, the daintiness of her installations emphasised by the intricate configurations that continue on the gallery walls, transferring her sculptures into the two dimensional space.
In 2012, the Library Council commissioned Varsha, a specially printed limited edition, by artist Ranjani Shettar. Varsha is an accordion-folding book, bound in hand-worked metal, which evokes aspects of 16 phases of the monsoon and the classical Indian astronomy used to predict it. Following the presentation, the artist will engage in a conversation about her practice with cultural critic and editor of the magazine IQ, Madhu Jain.
The Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai City Museum seeks to serve the community as an Institution dedicated to excellence in cultural education through exhibitions and unique visual and intellectual media
An Institution of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. Supported by the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation. Restored by INTACH, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage
Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum
Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Udyan and Zoo (Rani Baug),
91/A, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road,
Byculla East Mumbai 400027 India
T: +91 22 23741234
10:00 am - 5:30 pm
Closed on all Wednesdays and select public holidays.
