Why you should check out this new art exhibition in Mumbai this September

Amid Mumbais vibrant art culture and wide variety of art exhibitions curators Ritu Chopra and Vikas Singh of Tela Art Gallery are all set to present lsquoUp Next A New Wave of Contemporary Artrsquo this SeptemberThe exhibition will bring together 15 artists from India and abroad who are going beyond mediumspecific artworks The exhibition has 4550 works spanning abstract paintings meditative ink works mixed media impasto and modern devotional styles alongside largescale installations that will be on displayThe Indian artists represented in the exhibition are based across Gurugram Guwahati Aurangabad Baroda Bengaluru Pune and Mumbai while the international contingent comes from Norway Russia and the USA The participating artists include Meena Yadav Rita Chhawchharia Puja Sharma Rakhee Shah Tithi Arekar Bhavna Madhani Nidhi Charan Amita Goswami Kalpesh Chavan Rachana Karia Shweta Badhani Modi Kailas Kale Cheena Madan Rakhi Baid Olga Vikhonina and Kanchan MahanteldquoThe centre has dissolvedrdquo says Chopra ldquoContemporary Indian art is no longer defined by just a few metros or one aesthetic We are seeing fearless experimentation a return to slow handmade processes like ink and textile alongside bold abstract vocabularies that are globally resonant yet very rootedrdquoUnique artworks at the exhibitionOne of the exhibitionrsquos anchors is a largescale modular artwork comprising 108 individual small canvases Each canvas is complete in itself carrying an organic gestural motif in ochres terracotta deep greens and earthy browns Placed together however the 108 pieces create a much larger composition of three rising templelike forms The work becomes particularly intriguing when viewed through the significance of its number The number is embedded in Indian spiritual and ritual traditions transforms the act of painting into repetition meditation and ritual The individual canvases can be read as fragments seeds or sacred forms together they become something larger a community a landscape almost a shrine ldquoFor me as a curator this work embodies the entire philosophy of our current show 15 individual artistic voices coming together to create a larger movementrdquo shares ChopraThe exhibitionrsquos other major installation moves in an entirely different direction A monumental textile installation brings together fibre weave found fabric and painstaking hand processes such as sewing and knitting turning softness into architecture Rather than sitting quietly on a wall as an object of craft textile occupies space changes the viewerrsquos movement through it and demands to be experienced from different angles The work opens up a larger conversation around labour memory sustainability gender and the long history of textilemaking while simultaneously demonstrating how far contemporary artists are willing to take materials that have traditionally existed outside the fineart vocabularyThe exhibition was inaugurated on September 22 in the presence of actor Mahima Chaudhry composer Dhirendra Mulkalwar of lsquoHanuman Anshrsquo fame noted philanthropist Dr Aneel Kashi Murarka veteran artist Kiran Chopra along with the curators and the artists Adding a soulful touch to the occasion Dhirendra Mulkalwar sang lsquoSiyavar Ramchandra Ki Jairsquo his composition from the box office hit film lsquoHanuman Anshrsquo tooThe unique group art show is scheduled to run from September 22 to 28 at the Nehru Centre AC Art Gallery in Worli from 11 am to 7 pm