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September 1994, New York- Bose-Pacia Modern presents an exhibition of contemporary art of India entitled
"Beyond India: Two Generations of Modern Art". The exhibition features the works of two Indian artists,
Arun Bose and
Vinod Dave. The show will run from October 17th through October 30th at 479 Gallery, Suite 401. The gallery is located at 594 Broadway, Soho, New York. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday from 12-6 pm and by appointment. A reception with the artists will be held on Saturday, October 22 from 5-8 pm. The public is invited.
Considered by many art critics as one of the most talented middle-generation artists of post-independence India, Arun Bose is now professor and head of the printmaking department at Lehman College of City University of New York. In 1950, he began his studies at the Government Art College in Calcutta during a seminal period in the development of modern art in India. Indeed, according to art historian Sundaram Tagore of Magdalen College, Oxford University, the Calcutta Group, formed in 1943, was largely responsible for the introduction of international modernism to the art of 20th century India. An early and major recognition of Arun Bose's talent came in 1962, when he was awarded a French government scholarship to study at the Ecole Nationale Superieur des Beaux Arts and to work at the Atelier 17 for Graphic Art in Paris, under the guidance of Stanley William Hayter.
Although he has lived and worked in the United States for 23 years, Bose draws his subject matter exclusively from his memories of India. As discussed by art critic Marilynne S. Mason of The Christian Science Monitor, his paintings emanate elegance and technical skill while depicting the quiet, serene joys in the visible mysteries of daily life. According to art critic Sushil Mukherjee, his architectonic images emerge as a "new idea of creative expression in which radiant colors in their boundless and beautiful energy take over the whole surface." Arun Bose has had numerous exhibitions worldwide including two one-man shows at Weintraub Gallery, New York.
Artist Vinod Dave's expressive and powerful imagery provides insight into a younger generation of modern Indian art. A product of the highly regarded and avant-garde Baroda School, Dave came to the United States to pursue further graduate studies and now divides his time between working here in New York and in India. Having been the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, he was most recently awarded the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Foundation Fellowship for 1994-95.
Dave's work is clearly influenced by the western legacies of pop art and collage. However, the density of elements and layered images derive equally from Indian streets, billboards, and objects of daily life, splashed with color and iconography. His unique mixed media work which is part painting, part photograph, and largely dark toned, at first looks like an interestingly abstract pastiche; its figures, at times taken from the news media, provide an allegorical puzzle. As stated by art critic Kamala Kapoor, "The effect is a chilling glimpse of our agitated age, the inexorable passage of time and of the crumbling of cultural, moral, social, and aesthetic structures that were once taken for granted...." Vinod Dave has exhibited worldwide and is held in several important private and public permanent collections.