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September 2005 New York - Bose Pacia Gallery presents a solo exhibition of new work by
Ranbir Kaleka from September 15th through October 29th, 2005. 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 on Thursday, September 15th from 6 to 8pm. The public is invited.
Ranbir Kaleka's installations introduce a new point of departure for the understanding of painting, video and new media art practice. The use of digital media coupled with painting techniques allows Kaleka to arrive at an image which is both absent and present, where the character is conjured as a simulacra that exists momentarily only to vanish under close observation. Whether it is the portrayal of a carpenter in Man Threading a Needle, an exotic bird-seller in Crossings or a serene Buddha-like character clutching a plumed fowl in Man with Cockerel, Kaleka presents a visual exploration of fleeting impulses and desires in human nature that are often difficult to categorize.
In the video installation, Crossings, Kaleka projects onto four paintings creating a dreamlike cinematic narrative where the aesthetic and psychological landscape unleashes a contemplative, playful and critical dialogue. The video is based on a script written by the artist; 'a magico realist drama of private lives and historical engagement with a smudging of boundaries which brings reality into fantasy and fantasy into reality'. The narrative includes strong references to cultural and religious identifiers as depicted in the episode of a Sikh man and his turban.
Despite their very different orientations, all three installations address similar themes: the question of personal and political identity, the creation of new communities, the dynamic re-definition of art practice in relation to cultural change, and the dialogue between the poetic and the technological dimensions of art. These video installations together give us a glimpse not only into Kaleka's oeuvre but also into the dynamic visual language he employs to create a world that is at once anchored in social reality while exulting in fantasy.
Selected solo & group exhibitions include iCon:India Contemporary (Venice Biennale, 2005); Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India (Asia Society, New York 2005); Culturgest-Lisbon (Lisbon, 2004); Zoom! Art in Contemporary India (Lisbon, 2004); subTerrain: Indian Contemporary Art (House of World Culture, Berlin, 2003); Interactive - A 03 Biennale for New Media Art, (Museum of Contemporary Art Merida, Mexico, 2003); An Apparent Calm (Sydney, 2003); and Kapital & Karma : Recent Positions in Indian Art, (Kunsthalle, Vienna, 2002).
Ranbir Kaleka was born in 1953 in Patiala, Punjab, India. He studied at The College of Art, Punjab University and the Royal College of Art, London. The artist lives and works in New Delhi.