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March 2006 New York - Bose Pacia presents new paintings by
Anju Dodiya, from March 11th through April 22nd. The gallery is located at 508 West 26th Street on the 11th Floor, in the Chelsea district of New York City. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 12 to 6 pm and by appointment. There will be an opening reception with the artist on Saturday, March 11th from 6 to 8pm. The public is invited.
In her debut exhibition with Bose Pacia, Dodiya presents sumptuous paintings on fabric and delicate works on paper. Her works are intensely private and thoughtful; sources of inspiration range from Gujarati folktales to Japanese prints to Greek myths. In spite of the brilliant colors and numerous symbolic layers woven into each painting, one finds a personal simplicity in Dodiya's adherence to the essential and the feminine.
Although she is interested in the neutral notion of private self and the realm of introspection, there is a distinctly feminine aura about her work. Whether in her use of embroidered textiles as canvas, her depiction of floral forms or her literary allusions, one senses that her protagonists' desires and anxieties are often those unique to woman. Her reference to Penelope in Pink Clouds (for Penelope) reprises the classic archetype of the young lover waiting patiently for her male companion to return home. In Garden of Capillaries, we find a more dynamic figure, earnestly brandishing a whip in hopes of overcoming the proverbial chase and defying the male gaze. In Embrace Vigil and Nocturne too, one cannot help but focus on the female figures that appear distracted in the midst of making love.
Mattress works such as Nocturne are particularly poignant in their probing of physical intimacy, dreams and slumber. Yet for Dodiya, even slumber is fraught with anxiety. AD's Pillow contains a labyrinth in its midst, an ironic testament to the pervasiveness of restlessness. Her beautiful charcoal and watercolor series Secret Garden presents heads sprouting leaves and tendrils which threaten to entangle their very source, an expression of "the inner world erupting outwards." But her acknowledgement of internal anxiety in the face of "urban excess" and external pressures is hardly one of resignation. For Dodiya, the labyrinth is also a symbol of escape and thus, her practice ultimately looks towards freedom and self-realization.
Dodiya was born in Mumbai in 1964. She graduated from the Sir J.J. School of Art with a BFA in 1986 and has been exhibiting since then. In addition to several solo shows in India, Dodiya has participated in notable group exhibitions in Helsinki, Berlin and New York. The artist lives and works in Mumbai.