GURGAON.- The Devi Art Foundation is one of the first not-for-profit spaces dedicated to showcasing contemporary art from the Indian Subcontinent. It has been established to facilitate the viewership of creative expression and artistic practice that exist in the region. It is envisioned as a space that will enable wider audiences to interact with cutting edge and experimental art works.
Devi Art Foundation's inaugural exhibition is entitled 'Still Moving Image'. 'Still Moving Image' is the first in a series of upcoming exhibitions, curated out of the Lekha Poddar and Anupam Poddar collection. It shows a selection of video and photography compositions by 25 Indian artists namely Aastha Chauhan, Atul Bhalla, Avinash Veeraghavan, Baptist Coelho, Bharti Kher, Kiran Subbaiah, Mithu Sen, Nalini Malani, Navin Thomas, Pushpamala N., Ram Rahman, Rameshwar Broota, Ranbir Kaleka, Ravi Agarwal, Sheba Chhachhi, Shilpa Gupta, Sonia Khurana, Sudarshan Shetty, Surekha, Susanta Mandal, Tejal Shah, Tushar Joag, Valay Shende, Varsha Nair and Vivan Sundaram.
The Devi Art Foundation is committed to providing a space for young artists experimenting with new ideas, without the imposition of commercial limitations. For a comprehensive engagement and understanding, a series of lectures, talks and artists' interaction will be designed around each exhibition. This initiative aims to develop and foster dialogue and relationships between the artists, art critics, curators, collectors, gallerists, and a larger audience segment.
The Devi Art Foundation plans to articulate its objectives through the curated exhibitions that will be mounted at the Foundation space. The Foundation is located on the premises of a corporate office with an area of 7500 square feet. The programme will focus on a limited number of exhibitions each year, which will be on view for a substantial period to allow the general public time to engage with the exhibits.
The Lekha and Anupam Poddar collection will serve as the basis for initiatives and experiments undertaken by curators. It is hoped that the exhibitions will pose questions, present responses and provoke thought, and maybe even action, with their selection of works, exhibition design and the texts generated around the exhibition. By presenting art from all over the Subcontinent, the exhibitions of the Foundation hope to re-invoke the sense of a shared history within the region.
As one of the most comprehensive compilations of contemporary art in India, the Lekha and Anupam Poddar Collection is comprised of significant artworks in media as varied as painting, sculpture, interactive installation, video, and photography, reflecting the collectors’ cross-disciplinary interests. Even as representations of India’s folk and tribal traditions have been integrated into the core of the collection, other countries in the Sub-continent such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Tibet have a growing and substantial voice.
