GALLERYSKE presents

Unfaithfully Yours'

Preview: Saturday 24th October 2009, 7:00 p.m.
On display from 25th October to 21st November 2009

A group show curated by Alex Mathew featuring work by Anindita Chakraborty, Sharmistha Kar, Siji R Krishnan and Varunika Saraf.

In Unfaithfully Yours four young artists tackle the subject of their engagement as a women with society and as artists with the androcentric nature of history of art. While the work of each artist remains distinctive in terms of style, language and imagery, they collectively adopt a lighthearted tone in dealing with their subjects preferring to use humour, satire and irony as their weapons of choice.

Anindita Chakraborty’s work transforms the device of the self-portrait into masquerade. Drawing from the children’s game of dress-up Anindita portrays herself in different costumes using them as vehicles that allow her entry into the realm of fantasy. The Artist uses photography as her mirror and over a basic self-portrait, adds layer upon layer of make believe in oil on canvas - inventing a new mimetic ‘truth’.

Sharmistha Kar creates a dichotomy of thought and perception through shadow play. Kitchen utensils, the cornerstones of domesticity placed on a non-descript utensil shelf are betrayed by their shadows representing the struggle between societal expectations and personal ambition.

Siji Krishnan sees the act of painting as cathartic. Her work is primarily autobiographical and she uses her work to scrutinize her relationships with the world and the people that surround her. The Artist’s work could be considered as an artist’s diary, where the artist’s past is treated with both nostalgia as well as a sense of unease.

Varunika Saraf references Frida Khalo with her work lets shout "Frida" from every rooftop. The work that encompasses one of art’s most recognized self-portraits Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair (1940) signaling a shift in estimation where Frida is seen as a more worthy paradigm than Rapunzel and her miles of luscious hair.

Alex Mathew is a Reader in Fine Arts at Sarojini Naidu School of Performing Arts, Fine Arts and Communication, Central University of Hyderabad. Alex occupies a unique role as curator and art teacher. In the position of art teacher, he has watched the artists evolve and gain new strides in their work both in terms of subject and technique. As curator, he considers himself to be the ‘unnamed fifth’ in the show- an outsider in terms of his gender and an insider as supportive of their ideals. Alex is a practicing artist who works with the media of sculpture and drawing.

GALLERYSKE invites you to the opening of Unfaithfully Yours on Saturday 24th October 2009 at 7pm. Please find the invite attached. For further information and images please contact Aarthi Sridhar at aarthi@galleryske.com or +919740194008. If you would like to meet the artists and curator, we are happy to facilitate the same.