While Bapi Das often makes art drawing from his past experiences of driving an auto-rickshaw in Kolkata to make ends meet, the renowned Jayasri Burman dives into her childhood memories revolving around mythology and the deity of the goddess that has now become one of her much-loved signature motifs. However, what unites Das and Burman are their meditative acts of making art and an exhibition in New Delhi that has brought together a diverse group of artists such as these in the form of Riyāz at Iram Art Gallery, which is on till 4 September.
Curated by Ina Puri, the exhibition featuring 24 artists has been brought together under one roof to show their differences in their approach towards art as well as their similarities in terms of the behind-the-scenes discipline they follow, which is akin to the word ‘riyaz,’ loosely translating to mean ‘practice’. “Each artist’s practice comes to the fore, for which I have put together little statements by every artist right next to their work. We tend to speak for others too much,” says Puri. Her experience of having worked on the book Faces of Indian Art: Through the Lens of Nemai Ghosh that gives a rare behind-the-scenes access to illustrious artists as they created magic through their practices is something that has also inspired Puri in this curation.