2020
Textures & Layers
Art by nature is engaging. It pulls in the viewer with its vivid display, creating moods, weaving narratives and impacting perspectives. The physical textures on an artwork are an extension of the metaphorical expression of the artist! As we expand further and further the boundaries of experimentation in art, we find more ways to convey and connect. The visual sense experience is being combined now with our other senses: touching, hearing, tasting, smelling; there is no limitation to engagement.
In the times we are in today, the importance of taking art online is undeniable. But I believe that true to its historically experimentative nature, art cannot be confined to a primarily virtual platform. To understand the art, one must understand its essence, by interacting with every aspect of it minutely. One must de-layer it, move around it to get a sense of scope and scale, and, most importantly, experience it. Every artwork is imprinted upon twice, once by the hands of its maker, and the second time by the senses of its observer.
Therefore, I welcome you to Tao’s first post-Covid exhibition, Textures & Layers, a tribute to the culture of consuming art in the best way – live in person! We feature six prominent artists who push the envelope with their innovative styles and mediums and truly bring to you the experience of engaging with art.
Sanjana Shah & Sapna Kar
(Tuesday, December 15 Sunday, January 10)
Home: A Dwelling
The notion of ‘home’ and its meaning in people’s lives is subjective and multi-layered. Though the word is dictionary defined as being “a place where one lives permanently”, this definition is both limiting and assumptive. Home can definitely be that, but it can also be much more or even perhaps much less in people lives. The home plays a crucial role in providing its inhabitant with a deeper experience of connection and emotion, subsequently creating memory. In many ways it builds an essential concept of the self. These experiences are human and trigger a different reaction in each individual: reactions stemming from love, nostalgia, pain, loss, anger, longing, happiness, melancholia and a mix of other feelings. The memories associated and the feelings evoked, create an identity of oneself that is closely knitted to the place we come from, the place that is truly home to us.
This then begs the question:
How much of your home is you and how much of you is your home?
Made even more relevant during Covid times, when people are confined to their houses, this show explores the expressions of a group of varied artists who are inspired by personal impressions of what has been ‘home’ to them. Without any limitation of medium, style, age or ethnicity, the show will allow for the free interpretation of oneself through this exploration. I hope that this exhibition can highlight important questions related to anthropology and social psychology, like that of the consequences of immigration, the idea of ones ‘roots’, the impressions of landscapes and cultures, aspirational symbols of security and stability, and the inherent need for love and belonging, wherever one may find that.
Sanjana Shah
(Saturday, October 10 - Sunday, November 15)
Restart Art
Restart Art, an initiative by the Mumbai Midtown Arts Collective, launches its first digital exhibition on August 15 featuring 15 young artists. This initiative aims to provide a digital platform for the artists to showcase their work, and connect them to new collectors and art lovers. It’s also an opportunity for art aficionados to find, engage with, and buy new artworks, while social distancing. The initiative aims to encourage young art lovers to support local artists and begin their journey as an art collector.
As all of our lives have been halted by this pandemic, we've really learnt to stop, to pace ourselves and to look around. To truly look at everything that surrounds us, especially those minute details that have often always been overlooked in the rush of normal life. The works chosen for this show really focus on the details and in the solitude that exists even when there is movement - all we have to do is be aware of it.
Life will go back to how it used to be, and this time will be forgotten as a distant memory, but these works of art, wherever they go, will always remind its viewers to take a moment to just stop, feel and connect. Sometimes, it is in the basics that we find the most beauty!
Sanjana Shah
(Saturday, August 15 - Tuesday, September 15)
Nostalgia of Light
An urge…
An urge towards inner reflection,
Trying to sing an ode of pure inspiration,
Sowing seeds of Solace,
Holding it Together with a strong endurance.
It’s time…
It’s time to take the freedom of flight!
Bearing in mind the Nostalgia of a Positive Light.
Swirling and Dancing for the Lord,
While striking a melodious cord.
Let us all share our gratitude diaries,
Expressed behind those wooden Door Series.
Making the ordinary come alive,
With a strong desire to thrive!
Keeping up the Spirits high,
Always remembering the limit is the sky!
Not to forget…
To ensure norms of Seclusion,
Being the definition of new Inclusion.
Join us on this beautiful Journey!
With the onset of a season; dewy and rainy.
Urvi Kothari and Sunaina Kewalramani
( Friday, June 26 - Sunday, July 26)
Through the Lens
*A Travel photography exhibition in days the world stood still
Locked down physically, Unbound Visually!
We understand this is a difficult time for everyone. Of course, safety is our first priority. The world is enduring one of its biggest health challenges and we as community need to work together to help each other. While galleries, have temporarily closed worldwide due to COVID-19, we can still find inspiration through exhibitions online. This “virtual” exhibition in particular is about celebrating the beauty of the magnificent places around the globe. Art is the imagination of life, so intensely felt that it has entered into and become an integral part of us. In a world that is always racing to figure what next, art centers us and brings a stillness that makes one think, feel and observe. The camera captures the irreplaceable value of our habitat, the way we travel and the experiences we have as we drift towards an inward journey. Particularly, looking through a photographer’s lens, we see their discerning perspective and we see the evidence pointing towards a picture's incalculable importance in shaping our views. Since its invention photography has affected how the world views and consumes history, as well as everyday life. Typically, photographic practice has been defined by its ability to provide proof, or documentation, of a specific subject: Shri Narendra Modi being sworn-in as India's Prime Minister on 30th May 2019, for example, conveyed an almost forensic objectivity and clear eyed purpose. Photographers were known mainly for their visual description of a particular event, subject, or function. However, one can see the changing role of photography as art form. Traditionally, the way we view photography has been in a studio or gallery space. However, the behavioral changes happening in our world today may alter the way we gather and look all together. What is the role of the creative industry in this pandemic - you may ask? It's a seemingly niche question at a time when people surely have more pressing concerns about their health and finances. But galleries that aim to drive the cultural conversation have a role to play in this crisis, too. At Tao Art gallery we are continuously exploring newer initiatives and ways to collaborate with the creative industry. The world post COVID-19, would be an altered one, and we endeavor to work with photographers to adapt to this new reality and see the world through their eyes. The photographers prints will be sold online and a part of the proceeds will be given to NGO’s fighting this pandemic
"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventure we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open” - Jawaharal Nehru
Sanjana Shah
(Monday , May 15 - Monday, June 15)
A Tapestry of Time
Celebrating 20 years of Tao
An anniversary celebrates Time and Growth. This union is an eternally symbiotic one that creates richness and complexity, be it in individuals or institutions. The twenty- year journey of Tao Art Gallery along the way of art has seen both growth and turmoil. Most great journeys have greater difficulties, but today we’ve stood the test of time to emerge as one of Mumbai’s leading landmarks for Art, Creativity & Culture. Many have woven the intricate tapestry of the experiences of this space: some old, some young, some temporary, and some permanent. But everyone, every creative energy, artist or art connoisseur, has had a role to play. Tao has seen the landscape of art in Mumbai evolve and embrace the waves of change. It is the city and its people that kept these foundations standing. Twenty years ago, in the year 2000, the passion of one woman started this journey. Her only goal in mind was to work for the cause of creative expression. Creative works are like individual personalities; they can be loud or soft, sad or happy, lonely or busy. Art isn’t an intellectual pursuit as much as an intuitive one. Feeling is the key to understanding the very human emotions the artist intends to trigger. Therefore, everyone in some way or another is a creative expressionist. We are all born to connect, create and convey. It is, perhaps, our very foremost primal instinct. The aim, and only aim of Tao in all these years, has been to explore, encourage and expand upon this instinct.
Looking back, there is nostalgia.
Looking forward, there is anticipation.
But today, there is only gratitude.
Sanjana Shah
(Friday, February 28 - Tuesday, April 28)
A Tribute to the Modern Masters
When Tao opened its doors in the year 2000, it was the beginning of the ending of an era. Our Founder, Kalpana Shah, was one of the last few people in that time to have the privilege of not only meeting but also getting to know the Masters of Modern Indian Art personally. Her equation with them truly embodied what one would imagine the meeting of powerful creative minds to be like. She often spoke of their pure candor, passionate artistic endeavor and uninhibited exploratory nature. These crucial values beholden by such Masters reflected the changed landscape of Indian Art by the turn of the century and evolved further the idea of the ‘artist’.
This show is an acknowledgement and appreciation of the contribution these artists have made on a micro-scale to Tao as a gallery in these twenty years, and also to my mother whose passion as collector and connoisseur truly peaked during the time spent with them. Good art in its Modern and Contemporary form today contrasts from the period of the Renaissance in that it now encapsulates the artist’s energy and persona as well. The art is incomplete without its synergy with the artist and the tangible impressions that they leave behind on the work. Therefore today, these Hussains, Razas, Akbar Padamsees, Krishen Khannas, Bal Chabdas and Ram Kumars are more than just art, they are enigmas, capturing almost a whole century of Indian artistic exploration by some of the greatest minds.
Curated by Kalpana Shah, the show is an exclusive showcase of the art of these six well-known greats from Indian Modern Art. The works have been collected over the span of twenty years, with some from her private collection and some from the collection of the gallery.
Sanjana Shah
(Friday, January 10 - Monday, February 10)
