Baiju Parthan will showcase artistic works in New York

Baiju Parthan is one of the most celebrated Indian contemporary artists.

And he is all set to take the nostalgia of Mumbai to London and New York with his upcoming show titled Mill Junction. This show is about Mumbai as a city that exists in retrospect solely as memory or recollection.  It is also how these memories get erased or modified through technology and social change.

A total of seven works will be shown at the AICON gallery in New York (March 5th onwards) and later the exhibition will move to London with additional works.

Baiju’s solo show after a span of two years was scheduled earlier. But it was recession that postponed it. He explains, “The delay was mostly because I took a while to complete the works. Also, the recession did influence the shifting of dates. I mean, there was not much pressure to adhere to the dates from the gallery side mostly due to the recession.”

Ask him what is the USP of the show and he replies with a smile, “I would say, a few good paintings done in the old fashioned way - solely by the artist.” He continues, “This show is a development or the logical next step in what I have been doing - which is the exploration of the  ‘image’ within the information space. These are paintings done from photographic references and then the painting is intentionally defaced with over painted ASCII code graffiti. ( Digital photographs/ albums we view on the computer screens are actually made up of ASCII code which is parsed/ translated into the image by the computer). The photo-works try to present the city environment as it could be experienced in First Person Shooter games (FPS computer games).”

Lastly, the shy artist makes some remarks about the expectations from the show. He says, “Hopefully, the exhibition will be appreciated for its conceptual and formal strength. It will be accessible to those who are open enough to look beyond auction prices and resale values. On the other hand, to be absolutely frank, I have no expectations. One does what one believes in and hopes one keeps doing it in future.”