The Present Image & the Absentee Maker

The pandemic has altered our perceptions and outlook, making us introspect and reflect on several matters of significance. It has completely redefined how we communicate and express ourselves, making us realize that ultimately it is culture and social connections that make humanity humane and well, happy. Large openings and VIP previews that provided stimulating cultural dialogue between the viewer and the artist to discuss art and its nuances have been replaced by virtual communication. Even though we are not able to physically view an artwork today, exhibitions in virtual form have opened new domains for artistic discourse. As much as we long to see art, we also wish to meet the makers and engage in cultural dialogue.This exhibition thus focuses equally on the image or the work which is present in the gallery as on the maker who is absent and attempts to bring one physically and the other virtually to you. The Present Image & the Absentee Maker takes you to our artists' studio spaces so you can view, rather intimately, some very sensitive works of art and their process of art making. It focuses on artists who are based in India or abroad- in Delhi, in Vadodara, Kochi in India and even Providence, USA - places where travel to and fro is restricted in these dystopian times. It engages with the art community of makers, establishing connections that are so crucial in our times.