NEW DELHI.- Gallery Espace, one of Delhi’s premier art galleries is showcasing A(void), a presentation by two Indian Contemporary Artists – Dilip Chobisa & Tanmoy Samanta. The exhibition is open for viewing until Saturday, 13th May 2017.

Both artists excavate the void through the prism of memory. The empty spaces that evolve in the process of their art making are actually deeply layered, introspective, open-ended and revelatory. The presentation comprises of layered mixed-media canvases, works on paper and assemblages in subtle monochromatic palette. Each of these have a unique story to tell and yet manage to have a dialogue. This dialogue is further beautifully defined by Rosalyn Dmello as -

A(void) is the sum total of everything it does not contain.

Chobisa compares the process of beginning a work as one of birthing a void. “It’s like giving birth to abstract liquid thought and transforming it into form,” he says. The first stage is to materialise the thought, the second is to compel the material to go beyond so the blank space can be dominated by the richness of autobiography. Even though they may seem like sketches illustrating a room, Chobisa’s graphite on paper works are vignettes constructed from memory. They are constituted by pared down fragments exclusive of miscellanea such as objects and any other thing that may convey the sentimental. They are visual transcriptions of his remembrance of emotionally charged sites. These architectural assemblages are not the result of references but of diagrammatically accessing the emotional equilibrium or disequilibrium that marked his encounter with the site in question to which he may or may not have forged a sense of belonging. “I draw it with the sense of my loneliness,” he says.

Likewise, Samanta prefers to subtract sentiment or nostalgia in favour of a more complex evocation of belonging. He, too, is emotionally invested in not just the substance of a space or an object but the void that births it. His works on Nepalese paper and particularly his books, like Chobisa’s drawings, are closer to sculptural reliefs in that they are constituted by intricate layers that attest to the multiple dimensions through which one can enter the work. The backdrop for Samanta’s works is the void of night, which allows one to introspect and conveys a sense of infinity. “The absence of details opens the door to mystery and imagination,” he says. “The silence of the night connects us to our primordial existence.” Samanta’s visual vocabulary is entrenched in the corollary concepts of volume and void. His recent move towards a more carefully calibrated minimalism through the trimming of any extraneous detail further punctuates his strategic use of texture and colour as evocations of his remembrance of home as a gestative site. In his practice he seems to be inching closer towards “Tao landscapes, where the vastness of the misty landscape interpreted life in a larger context” and “the barrenness of Islamic art that echoes the desire to transcend the complexities of life.”

Dilip Chobisa (b. 1978) lives and works in Vadodara, Gujarat, in India. He practices out of his studio in a burgeoning two-tier town that is characterized by a strong art scene in and outside the Fine Arts Faculty. In 2002 and 2004, Dilip completed his Bachelors and Masters in Visual Art, Sculpture, at the Faculty of Fine Arts Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, respectively. Dilip Chobisa’s solo projects include ‘The Space Beyond’, presented by Latitude 28, at Art Dubai, 2015; Solo Booth section at the India Art Fair, 2012 and‘Silent Celebration’, was his first solo exhibition at Anant Art Gallery, 2010.

The artist has participated in several group shows including ‘WORKING SPACE - around memory and perception’, curated by RoobinaKarode and represented by Paradox and 1x1 Gallery, Singapore; ‘In You is the Illusion of Each Day’, curated by Maya Kóvskaya, 2011, Latitude 28; Commonwealth Games Exhibition, New Delhi, 2010; ‘Silent City’, Aicon Gallery, London, 2010; ‘Size Matters or..Does it?’,2010, Latitude 28, Delhi; ‘Immersions’, curated by DeekshaNath at Anant GalleryLatitude 28 at the KiranNadar Museum, New Delhi, 2015; ‘Ethereal’, curated by Dr. Amin Jaffer, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, 2014; ‘A Matter of Importance’, a three-person exhibition, Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai, 2012; ‘Fragile’ in 2012, , Delhi in 2009; ‘Keep Drawing’, Gallery Espace, Delhi, 2009;, Aicon Art Gallery, London; ‘Urgent: 10ml of Contemporary Needed’ presented by FICA, Delhi. His public art projects include the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Commission, 2013 and the Indira Gandhi International Airport Commission, 2011. He has been the recipient of the Harmony Art Foundation Emerging Artist award of the Year, 2008. His works have been collected by the Devi Art Foundation, The R.P.G Collection, Harmony Art Foundation, Uttrayan Foundation, Patrons of Tel Aviv Museum, the Gwangju Museum of Art and several private and public.

The artist lives and works in Vadodara, Gujarat.

Tanmoy Samanta (b.1973) obtained BFA and MFA in painting from Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan. He has also been the recipient of Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award, New York in and a National Scholarship from Govt. of India. Tanmoy Samanta has also participated in residencies at Vermont Studio Center USA, Kanoria Center for the Arts, Ahmedabad and Harmony Foundation, Mumbai.

Represented in Dubai Art Fair, India Art Fair, Dhaka Art Summit and Art Chennai. Prestegious public art projects include T2 Liminus: Mumbai International Airport, Bee-hive project: Hyatt Regency, Chennai, Hyatt Regency, Delhi, Reliance ADA New Delhi Airport Metro. He has had three solo shows at Gallery Espace, New Delhi, one at Anant Art Gallery Kolkata and at Tarq in Mumbai curated by Ranjit Hoskote.

Along with these he has had some significant group shows in India and UK.

The artist lives and works between New Delhi and Santiniketan, India.