About the series ‘body city’
My recent works focus on abstract rendition of what may look like the aerial view of a city, with a grid like structure, criss-crossing lines, patches and undulations. On a closer inspection, it also evokes a sense of microscopic vision of veins and muscles, tissues and cells. The body as a city, and the city as a living being, metaphorically, is a concept that intrigues me. I made architectural blocks in clay with a diptych element. The second component in the series for each block is a skeletal frame using welded iron-rods, accentuating the play of light and shadow. The gold gilded portions reference preciousness in an ironical way. The work juxtaposes geometric with organic, the man-made with industrial. It celebrates the 'ghostliness' of human development.
Rahul Kumar
Rahul has been in clay for 25 years. He completed his masters from the USA on a Fulbright Scholarship in 2008 and received the Charles Wallace award to study in the UK in 2013. He has had 9 solo shows in the US and India (including with Exhibit320, Threshold Art Gallery, Cymroza Art Gallery, Art Heritage, and Apparao Galleries). His works have been auctioned at Sotheby's London in 2012 and is a three-time recipient of the AIFACS National Award. In 2014 he received the Junior Fellowship for Excellence in the Field of Visual Arts by the Government of India. Published critiques include essays authored by Kristine Michael, Kishore Singh, Roobina Karode, Aman Nath, and Keshav Malik. He collaborated with RAQS Media Collective for a work that was part of their solo show at the NGMA-Delhi. A large-scale ceramic installation, funded by India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) was showcased as a special curated project at the India Art Fair 2015 edition. His works are part of prestigious collections in India and abroad, including India Habitat Centre and Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. Rahul was selected for the First Indian Ceramics Triennial held at Jaipur in 2018. He was recently named as one of the five-Indian-ceramic-artists-you-need-to-know by the Architecture Digest, the leading international design journal and has been honoured by the Bharat Nirman Foundation for his contributions in the field of art. He is an art journalist with by-lines in various publications. He is an Editor with STIR.
