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拍品专文
Ranjani Shettar’s unique non-figurative idiom has distinguished her work within the realm of contemporary Indian sculpture. Her practice, based in Karnataka, celebrates the beauty of rural India while drawing attention to the degradation of its natural environment. She addresses the social and ecological implications of India’s rapid urbanization from the vantage point of the rural, incorporating local materials and techniques in her sculptures. Rooted in the indigenous artistic traditions of India, her work breaks conventions and has carved a new trajectory for contemporary Indian art.
The artist combines industrial, man-made and organic materials to blur distinctions between traditional craft and the Duchampian concept of the found object. While Shettar’s sculptures resonate with Western Minimalism, her emphasis on Indian techniques and materials makes them distinctive. Remanence from Last Night’s Dream illustrates a technique frequently adopted by Shettar, which originally stems from a traditional craft used by local artisans in the Channapatna town of Karnataka, reflecting the many cultural references embedded in her practice. Her retention of the natural grain of the wood acknowledges the organic form of the material, while the details of the carved fissures illuminate her artisanal style.
“As a viewer you are struck by Shettar’s play with light as with her understanding of the extents of gravity. Her preferred materials – beeswax, wood, stone, tamarind seed paste, saw dust – are all sourced from her immediate surroundings and range from the mundane to the unexpected. It is evident that she enjoys working with organic elements. Even her works, which don’t directly emulate nature, somehow induce connections with the natural world” (P.Ray, ‘Inside Outside’, Arts Illustrated, April-May 2015, p. 43).
September 2023 marks the opening of Shettar’s first major institutional show in Europe, Cloud songs on the horizon, at the Barbican Centre in London. Her work has already been the subject of several museum exhibitions, including solo shows at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Boston (2008); the Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth (2008-9); the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2009); the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2011); the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2018); and the Phillips Collection, Washington DC (2019). Her works have also been featured in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2010); the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi (2011, 2012, 2013); the Wexner Center, Ohio (2005) and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2003). In 2012, in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the artist created Varsha, a limited edition artist book featuring original text by Anita Desai, and in 2021, Shettar was one of 12 artists invited to create an original print to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The artist combines industrial, man-made and organic materials to blur distinctions between traditional craft and the Duchampian concept of the found object. While Shettar’s sculptures resonate with Western Minimalism, her emphasis on Indian techniques and materials makes them distinctive. Remanence from Last Night’s Dream illustrates a technique frequently adopted by Shettar, which originally stems from a traditional craft used by local artisans in the Channapatna town of Karnataka, reflecting the many cultural references embedded in her practice. Her retention of the natural grain of the wood acknowledges the organic form of the material, while the details of the carved fissures illuminate her artisanal style.
“As a viewer you are struck by Shettar’s play with light as with her understanding of the extents of gravity. Her preferred materials – beeswax, wood, stone, tamarind seed paste, saw dust – are all sourced from her immediate surroundings and range from the mundane to the unexpected. It is evident that she enjoys working with organic elements. Even her works, which don’t directly emulate nature, somehow induce connections with the natural world” (P.Ray, ‘Inside Outside’, Arts Illustrated, April-May 2015, p. 43).
September 2023 marks the opening of Shettar’s first major institutional show in Europe, Cloud songs on the horizon, at the Barbican Centre in London. Her work has already been the subject of several museum exhibitions, including solo shows at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Boston (2008); the Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth (2008-9); the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2009); the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2011); the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2018); and the Phillips Collection, Washington DC (2019). Her works have also been featured in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2010); the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi (2011, 2012, 2013); the Wexner Center, Ohio (2005) and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2003). In 2012, in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the artist created Varsha, a limited edition artist book featuring original text by Anita Desai, and in 2021, Shettar was one of 12 artists invited to create an original print to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.