Meenakshi Sengupta (b. 1987, Indian).
Address: 3/26 Lake View Park, Bonhoogly, Kolkata 700108.
Telephone: 09163536684
E-mail: [email protected]
Education: M.V.A. final year (Painting), Faculty of Fine Arts, M. S. University, Baroda.
B.V.A. (Painting), Government College of Art & Craft, University of Calcutta, 2011.
Group Exhibitions: 2012: Mumbai Weekend Show”, Gallery Maskara, Mumbai.
2011: Annual Exhibition, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata.
2011: En-Gender”, Studio 21, Kolkata.
2011: Gallery ‘La Mere’, Kolkata.
2011: Annual exhibition, Kolkata Information Centre.
2010 & 2009: Annual All-India Fine Arts Exhibition of Academy of Fine Arts.
2011: ‘Gen-Next’-V, Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata.
2010: Annual Exhibition, Camlin Art Foundation, ICCR, Kolkata.
2010, 2009, 2008, 2007: Annual exhibition, Government College of Art & Craft, University of Calcutta.
Solo Exhibition: 2010: Society of Contemporary Artists Gallery, Kolkata.
Workshops: 2012: Samhita, a national level seminar-cum-workshop, Delhi College of Art.
2011: Interactive Workshop of Cartoons for Climate, conducted by Martin Rowson, Government College of
Art and Craft, Kolkata.
Awards: 2009: Academy Award for the Best Indian Style Painting, Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata.
2009: Nandalal Bose Award, Government College of Art & Craft, University of Calcutta.
Statement: Appropriating a variety of familiar motif and themes from both Indian and Western pictorial tradition, I re-contextualize them in the light of contemporary issues. I deliberately combine icons of “High” art and those of mass culture with wit and irony to redefine their role as cultural signifiers. I use painted images and photographs alike, just as I take advantage of a range of media—from gouache to serigraphy, digital prints to articulate my ideas. The fundamentally hybrid character of my work subverts the obsolete “tradition/modernity”, or “Indian/western” dichotomy. It undermines the perception of art as a mirror of a state of cultural purity, and underscores its discursive character as shaped by history and culture. My exposure to the various pictorial traditions of India gave me opportunity to explore traditional Indian miniature painting. While traditional Indian painting is grounded in mythology, I push the formal iconographical and aesthetic boundaries to produce new meaning. My work is informed by a wide range of pictorial traditions, such as Chinese painting, Japanese miniature, pata painting of Kalighat, bot-tala woodcut, and finally, modern and contemporary art.
