Mumbai Gallery Weekend: 8 shows you should check out | Vogue

Indian-origin filmmaker Hetain Patel grapples with the politics of race, ancestry and language in Trinity, a performance art-based short film.

“I have always been interested in what the body communicates physically, beyond words.

The way I grew up in the UK, judgements that got made were on your skin colour—I am trying to take control of that and reframe how it can be seen,” he says.

The art of Desmond Lazaro condenses the disciplines of sacred geometry, architecture, art, astrophysics and map-making into deceptively simple, elegant paintings.

Trained in the tradition of Pichvai and miniature, Lazaro makes his own pigments and considers how they are manifestations of the planets in their pure, elemental form.

“Colour-making was my way into the cosmos. Colours are actual manifestations of these planets, and we get to interact with them each and every day,” the artist says.

A sculptor by training, Siddhartha Kararwal constructs his two-dimensional portraits with a similar approach to physicality: his satirical figures are drawn on distinct sheets of paper that are later combined together to form a single work.


“It’s not planned,” the artist says of his process, “it is my way of responding to the news, the consumerism of today's world and how trends change so quickly.”

Ancestral histories

Saju Kunhan’s explorations of his ancestral home in Kerala led him to uncover the experiences of his forefathers—particularly their stories of migration.

Many of the works are created with found objects like floor tiles and palm fronds.

“There are fictional as well as historical elements in the works.

I am telling my people's story of migration, and it is connected with the recent displacement of refugees,” says the artist.

Sosa Joseph

With her masterful use of colour and ethereal forms, Sosa Joseph succeeds in turning a series of two-dimensional artworks into an immersive experience.

Inspired by her own experiences of life in rural Kerala, Joseph paints a nostalgia-fuelled fantasy with strokes that are both soothing and surprising.

“I am always moved by the drama of everyday life. People around us are spectacles themselves… even boredom isn’t boring,” the artist shares.

Taraxacum

Louise Despont works with colour pencils, graphite, antique ledger book paper, bamboo and botanically dyed cotton to create depictions of organic forms.

Although immensely relaxing to look at, Despont’s works betray a skilful complexity and mastery over form.
“I’m interested in the possibility of a co-creative relationship with nature.

The mind and hand can work in tandem with nature, and through an innate intelligence, find balance and create order,” she says.

Ritesh Uttamchandani

In A Lease of Life, Ritesh Uttamchandani documents the afterlife of political posters that reappear on city streets after they have fulfilled their original function.

Also on display are photographs from his photo book, The Red Cat and Other Stories.

“There is an overlap of genres—I am looking at the architecture of the city, the socio-economic structure, and also the influence of politics on all of these things,” explains the photographer.

white ember on pink

Fashion designer Vaishali S borrowed inspiration from a scuba diving expedition to craft hand-woven couture inspired by the coral reefs.

Woven out of very fine chanderi, the garments are wrinkle-proof and can withstand extreme conditions—effectively proven when Alessandro Giuliani took them underwater to photograph them against the very reefs by which they were inspired.

“It was like bringing them back to where they belong; a circularity of creativity,” says Giuliani.

Aequo, Art Musings, DAG, Gallery Maskara, Kamalnayan Bajaj Art Gallery, Priyarsi Art Gallery, Gallery MMB, Project 88, Saffronart and Tao Art Gallery will also participate in Mumbai Gallery Weekend, which will run from February 10-13, 2022.