An interactive digital edition of Abu Dhabi Art brings together galleries and artists from across the world in many curated gallery exhibitions and sectors. In this edition of Abu Dhabi Art, 1X1 presents a group show of works by Salima Hashmi, Chittrovanu Mazumdar, Ghulam Mohammed, Madhusudhanan, Rina Banerjee, and Wardha Shabbir.

Rina Banerjee challenges current nativist political leanings by proposing a multi-faceted nature of identity; not based exclusively on a person’s culture of origin or gender, but instead on self-identity. These inclusive and freeing conceptions of the “self” manifest themselves throughout Banerjee’s ever-evolving work, in fragmented figures, riotous use of colour, and symbolic materials. Paired with her thought-provoking and poetic titles, Banerjee in her work relentlessly query contemporary modes of artistic production and societal engagement.

Salima Hashmi says about her practice, “As we seek to document our turbulent times, the fragile and the vulnerable weigh upon the inner eye. Remembered images of night and day spread out; carpets and tapestries, mapping our journeys.”

image Salima Hashmi, The final edge - where ends the endless night, 2020. Mixed media on archival paper, 48 x 33 cm each / Courtesy of 1X1

An artist with an international sensibility, Chittrovanu Mazumdar draws from an ever-shifting sea of various sources. Dramatic plays of light and colour values are visual hallmarks of his sophisticated oeuvre. Mazumdar’s imagery emerges out of daily discoveries: a word, a glance, the heartrending/blood-chilling phrase, a fleeting mise en scène - the rise and crest of body parts imprisoned in tight freeze-frame: both source and association are intensely private and sensual. In his paintings, we see contours of anatomy slipping into/emerging from non-representative fields of colour.

image Chittrovanu Mazumdar, Untitled, 2020. Acrylic on canvas, 122 x 183 cm / Courtesy of 1X1

Wardha Shabbir is rendering countless dots that come together as units to form an idea(s) on the surface. The “Nuqta/Dot” is symbolizing infinity and life. Akin to miniature paintings for manuscript illustration, she has delicately picked organic symbols of earth, water and sky to paint contemporary utopian pathways or Siraat, signifying a course of clarity between a clutter of contradictory values and states of being.

image Wardha Shabbir, Melody of the Night, 2020. Gouache on acid-free paper, 28 x 21.5 cm each Courtesy of 1X1

Madhusudhanan shows in his works his enduring fascination with early Indian cinema as a historical medium, replicating film stills and figures from the silent era. Madhusudhanan insists on making a series of images rather than the singular in imitation of the cinematic language. This painting, which comes from memories of the myth of the historical flood closely parallels the story of creation: a cycle of creation, un-creation, and re-creation, in which the Ark plays a pivotal role. The triptych fuses the narrative of the biblical flood in connection to migrants in search of a home.

Ghulam Mohammed’s practice places itself at the intersection of the range and limitations of language, both as a visual, formal construct as well as a conveyor of meaning. The tension between the capacities of language, to both impart form, as well as interpretation. It is this interplay between appearance and potential, orientation and performance, the primary motive force behind the process of the practice as well as the work it produces.


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