Information & Artist Biographies.pdf - Nottingham Asian Arts Council

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<strong>Biographies</strong> VENKAT RAMAN SINGH SHYAM Venkat was born in 1970 to a humble Pardhan Gond family living in the village Sejohra, in eastern Madhya Pradesh. He began painting at the age of ten, and for five years worked as an apprentice under his uncle, the late Gond master artist Jangarh Singh Shyam. The most innovative and experimental of Jangarh’s artistic successors, Venkat has worked in a variety of media and styles, ranging from figurative and naturalistic drawings and acrylic paintings on canvas and silk, to more decorative work in papier maché, ceramic tiles, glass, aluminium and sheet iron. He has done ambitious commissions for India’s Taj Hotel Group, and recently completed a series on the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008—which he personally witnessed while visiting the Taj Hotel on business. Venkat also organized the impromptu team of fellow Gond artists who painted cells for the UK-produced ‘The Best of the Best’ animated film. Venkat’s work has been collected and exhibited internationally (this is his third exhibition-related trip to Europe, and in April 2010 he will have a solo exhibition in Boston). Despite such globalized exposure, he retains a deep commitment to his Pardhan Gond cultural heritage, which he celebrates through his depictions of traditional subject matter. He draws inspiration from his personal memories of growing up in different village communities, listening to tribal elders recount traditional myths and oral histories (which he is now recording), and photographing Gond festivals, ceremonies and daily life. RAJENDRA SHYAM Rajendra Shyam was born in 1974 in the remote village of Patangarh, in the jungle of eastern Madhya Pradesh, central India. As a child he was compelled to give up his education so as to help support his family, by doing daily wage labour on road construction. In 1996, his uncle—the seminal Gond master artist Jangarh Singh Shyam—recognized Rajendra’s artistic talents and encouraged him to work as his apprentice in Bhopal. He has subsequently pursued his own career as an independent artist. Although he has participated in many exhibitions in India (e.g., at New Delhi’s Crafts Museum, and Bhopal’s Swaraj Bhavan, Bharat Bhavan, and Adivasi Lok Kala Parishad), this is the first significant display of his work abroad. Rajendra draws inspiration from his memory of traditional stories, learned during his rural youth and childhood. It was then that his artistic talents were first recognized by his family and community, who admired his renderings of dignas—auspicious designs painted on walls and floors. Since moving to Bhopal he has adopted modern media, especially ink on paper and acrylics on canvas. His wife Sushila often assists him in filling in the details of his work, a practice customary among Pardhan Gond artists.
The Evolution of Contemporary Pardhan Gond Art This exhibition presents a selection of paintings by two contemporary Gond tribal artists from central India: Venkat Raman Singh Shyam and Rajendra Shyam. These paintings and drawings can be seen both as representative of their individual styles, and as fine examples of a larger, recently evolving indigenous art movement. Venkat and Rajendra belong to their tribe’s Pardhan clan, which traditionally provides the larger Gond community with professional Bardic priests. They also are members of the extended family now recognized for transforming sacred Gond myths and stories into iconic and narrative imagery. In 1981, their uncle—Jangarh Singh Shyam—became the first Pardhan Gond to depict their tribal deities using modern media: government talent scouts visited his village, appreciated one of his murals painted with natural pigments, and encouraged him to experiment with poster paints on commercial paper. He was then invited to move to Bhopal (the capital of his native state, Madhya Pradesh), where he explored and mastered various media—ranging from silkscreen prints to acrylics on canvas. Jangarh soon received prominent mural commissions and international renown, including invitations to participate in exhibitions in Paris and Japan. He also identified talented members of his family and clan, who he encouraged to move to Bhopal to serve as studio assistants, and—depending on their abilities—to develop distinctive styles of their own. In time, some of these apprentices, like his nephews Venkat and Rajendra, have become recognized as accomplished artists in their own right. Although Jangarh Singh Shyam tragically committed suicide in Japan in 2001, the art movement he initiated continues to flourish—especially here in the UK, where over the past decade other Pardhan Gond artists have been invited to paint murals (e.g., at Islington’s Masala Zone Restaurant), exhibit their work (at various private galleries and public museums—such as the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery and the Museum of London), and have been celebrated for their children’s books illustrations (available through www.tarabooks.com). Most remarkable of all has been their foray into animated films, which began with a 2006 collaboration between the Scotland based company West Highland Animation and an impromptu team of Gond artists—including Venkat and Rajendra—which produced a delightful short animated film entitled “The Best of the Best” (see http://www.talleststory.com). Inspired by a traditional Gond tale, this film incorporates music and hand painted cells by Gond artists. Its popularity with a broad spectrum of audiences (the film soundtrack is available in English, Gaelic, Hindi as well as in Gondi and other tribal languages) led to the establishment of the London-based Adivasi Art Trust, a non profit organization dedicated to advancing recognition of Gond art in general, and the production of similar animated films perpetuating India’s rich tribal heritage in particular. Thus this exhibition of artworks by Venkat Raman Singh Shyam and Rajendra Shyam serves as one of a growing number of public celebrations of a tribal culture whose creative genius still flourishes by blending indigenous traditions with contemporary media. - John H. Bowles Art Historian and Critic
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