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Nilima Sheikh
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Nilima Sheikh describes herself as part of the third generation of artists who have engaged with Indian traditions. To be specific, there was the generation of Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose and Benode Behari Mukherjee followed by the one of their student K G Subramanyan from whom she has sought inspiration.
The artist, trained initially in Western-style oil painting, has spent almost all of her student and professional life in...
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Nilima Sheikh describes herself as part of the third generation of artists who have engaged with Indian traditions. To be specific, there was the generation of Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose and Benode Behari Mukherjee followed by the one of their student K G Subramanyan from whom she has sought inspiration.
The artist, trained initially in Western-style oil painting, has spent almost all of her student and professional life in Baroda. Nilima Sheikh was born in 1945 in New Delhi. She studied history at the Delhi University (1962-65) and painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda. (MA Fine, 1971). She has taught painting at the Faculty between 1977 and 1981. According to her, Baroda, in the '60s, was certainly identified with modernism. There was an attempt to clear the deadwood that had accrued around the older Santiniketan experiment. At the same time, many of the influential teachers recognized the value of history and of reinventing tradition.
She elaborates to say, "Baroda saw itself as quite distinct from the Progressive painters of Bombay. After all, K.G. Subramanyan was very active in Baroda during my student days, as a teacher, ideologue, and as an artist. He was definitely as interested in exploring Indian craft traditions as in painting in oils. And his concerns were all about bridging these dichotomies. He was a great inspiration to me." Nilima Sheikh claims a lineage born of pre-independence Indian nationalism fostered in the climate of progressive internationalism of the 1940s and 1950s. Sheikh turned her attention to miniature painting mid-career. Her relationship to pre-modern painting has been thus more geared toward its visual forms than its technical aspects.
Apart from exhibiting her work in India and internationally, the artist has lectured on Indian art at many venues in India and internationally. "Conversations with Traditions: Nilima Sheikh and Shahzia Sikander" that presented paintings by the two artists from the disparate religious and aesthetic cultures of India and Pakistan, as part of the inaugural celebration of the new Asia Society Museum in New York in 2001-2002, is one of her memorable shows. It presented about 30 individual works by each artist, including work from their early encounters with miniature painting as well as recent work suggesting the changing nature of such relationships. Additionally, the artists created a specially commissioned collaborative work.
Art critic Randi Hoffman who had mentioned of her work: "Sheikh is more painterly and graceful. Her symbols are simpler and more profound, and her subject matter is more emotional. The twenty years more she has been painting show in the apparent ease and level of accomplishment in her work." She was then quoted as saying: "I found working in an intimate scale on paper a very liberating experience. I could talk about things that would seem incongruous in a framed canvas on a wall. I still feel new avenues remain unexplored (in this medium), and that there is still a lot to be done."
Her new set of works on Kashmir, with a focus on the poetry of Kashmiri poet Agha Shahid Ali, formed core of her recent series titled "The Country Without A Post Office - Reading Agha Shahid Ali." As the painter recounts: "I had planned a bigger more ambitious take, wanting to read and refer to various accounts of Kashmir historical and contemporary to try and put together configurations to rework my fairly confused or at least mixed feelings on Kashmir.
He (Agha Shahid Ali) seemed to have said almost everything I had thought of saying and more! I found his poetry incredibly moving and also extremely visual, which gave me an entry to try and 'illustrate' text, something I had been trying to do for a while. Though I have often tried to illustrate passages of the poems per se, I have often gone back and forth between connecting images coming out passages of other poems. So there is often a repetition of motif and a certain amount of blurring." The vertical paintings also go to sources other than Agha Shahid Ali, an account from Jahangir's memoirs here and there, or some lines from a Chinese account, or from Midnight's children become inspirational as leit motif.
In the year 1984, she painted a series of 12 small, tempera paintings-titled "When Champa Grew Up" that narrated the true story of a married young girl who is tortured, and burnt by her in-laws. The first few panels show a happy young girl, playing on a swing and riding a bicycle. Then her marriage ceremony is shown, along with a flock of birds that symbolize her leaving her parents' house. Next she is depicted naked and crying while working in the kitchen, maybe after being beaten. And in the final panels portray her funeral pyre, and women wailing in mourning.
Through traditional idioms she portrayed the grim reality and violence of contemporary life. The painter recounted: "It seemed inevitable that I would paint her story. I had wanted to paint dowry-deaths prior to Champa's (not the girl's real name) death because they confronted us daily in the newspapers. But I struggled to find a mode that could contain anguish without reducing it to cliché.
"I chose a serial form-pages, folio pictures to be turned over and read laterally. To delineate the event in time and space, I tried out a one-third/two-third subdivision of some of the paintings as a means of extending the pictorial space. I painted a whiting gesso onto handmade vasli paper from Sanganer with paint tempered by gum-Arabic or the whiting dissolved in glue size mediums traditionally used in Rajasthani and Pahari paintings on paper."
Once the painting was over, Gulam Mohammed Sheikh helped her find songs from the Gujarati oral tradition that could actually work as texts with the serially painted images. It was both ironic and gratifying for the artist to find traditional verses closely related to her paintings. The last of the 12 works was the image that pushed her into painting the set. Women expressing their sorrow; beating their breasts, belting out their grief in song together.
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Born
1945
New Delhi
Education
1969-71 Master of Fine Arts (Painting), Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
1962-65 Studied History at the Delhi University, New Delhi
Exhibitions
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2014 'Each Night Put Kashmir In Your...
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2014 'Each Night Put Kashmir In Your Dreams', The Art Institute of Chicago
2010 'Each Night Put Kashmir in Your Dreams', Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai; Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2009 'Drawing Trails', Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2003 'The Country Without A Post Office: Reading Agha Shahid Ali', Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
1999 'Painted Drawings', Gallery Espace, New Delhi
1999 'Images from Umrao', Nature Morte, New Delhi
1998 Galerie FIA (Foundation for Indian Artists), Amsterdam
1998 'Garden for Mother', Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore, Karnataka
1995 'Song-Space', organized by Gallery Chemould, at Max Muller Bhawan, Mumbai
1993 'Song, Water, Air', Gallery Espace, New Delhi
1985 Contemporary Art Gallery, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
1984 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai
1983,85 Triveni Art Gallery, New Delhi
Selected Group Exhibitions
2016 'Diary Entries', Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2015 'Remembering Bhupen', Sarjan Art Gallery, Vadodara
2013 'Still Life', Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi
2011 'Pause: A Collection', Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2011 'Tradition, Trauma, Transformation: Representations of Women by Chitra Ganesh, Nalini Malani, Nilima Sheikh', David Winton Bell Gallery List Arts Center, Providence RI
2011 'Narrations, Quotations & Commentaries', Grosvenor Gallery, London
2010-11 'A Collection', Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2010 'STPI Review Show', Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI), Singapore
2010 Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2010 'Modern Folk: The Folk Art Roots of the Modernist Avant-Garde', Aicon Gallery, New York
2009 'Tracing Time', Bodhi Art, Mumbai
2008 'Baroda: A Tale of Two Cities', (Part I), Sarjan Art Gallery, Vadodara, Gujarat
2008 'Of Personal Narratives and Journeys', Bodhi Art, Gurgaon, Harayana
2008 'Horn Please: Narratives in Contemporary Indian Art', Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland
2008 'Mapping Memories – 1', Painted Travelogues of China and Greece, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi
2007 Gallerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai
2007 Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2006 'Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India', National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) at Mumbai and New Delhi
2006 'Back to the Future', Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2006 'The Lyrical Line', Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2005 'Ritu/Mausam/Seasons', organized by Anant Art Gallery at Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi
2005 'Angkor The Silent Centuries', organized by Bodhi Art and Gallery Threshold at Bodhi Art, New Delhi
2005 'Bhupen Among Friends', organized by Gallery Chemould at Museum Gallery, Mumbai
2005 'Identity Alienation Amity', Gallerie Publishers and Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2005 'Edge of Desire: Recent Art In India', Asia Society Museum, New York; Tamayo Museum, Mexico City; Museum of Contemporary Art, Monterrey, Mexico; Asian Art Museum of San Francisco; Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
2005 'Change of Address', The Guild, Mumbai
2005 'Tree Basera', India International Centre, New Delhi
2004 'The Margi and the Desi', organized by Gallery Espace at Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi
2004 'After Dark', Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2004 'Interlude in Srilanka', The Guild, Mumbai
2004 'Edge of Desire: Recent Art In India', Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
2004 'In Transit 2', presented by Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai at Alexander Ochs Gallery, Berlin
2003 'Ways of Resisting', SAHMAT, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi
2003 'Celebration of Color', Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2003 'Contemporary Miniatures: India / Paksitan', The Fine Art Resource, Berlin
2003 'Crossing Generations: diVERGE', 40 Years of Gallery Chemould at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
2002 'Words and Images', The Guild, Mumbai
2001 'Ashta Nayika', Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2001 'In Conversation', Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2001 '3 Contemporary Artists', Bose Pacia, New York
2001 'Once Upon a Time', Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
2000 'Celebration of the Human Image', organized by Gallery 42 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
2000 'Vilas', Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Mumbai
2000 'Embarkations', Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2000 'A Global View: Indian Artists at Home in the World', organized by Fine Art Resource at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
1999 'Theatre und Kunst', The Fine Art Resource, Berlin
1998 'Contemporary Indian Art', Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi and AI Funoon Gallery, Kuwait
1997-98 'Indian Contemporary Art: Post-Independence', organized by Vadehra Art Gallery at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi
1997 'Indian Contemporary Art: An Overview', The Fine Art Resource, Berlin
1997 'Major Trends in Indian Art', Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1997 'Gift for India', organized by Sahmat at New Delhi and Mumbai
1997 'Women Artists of India: A Celebration of Independence', Mills College Art Gallery, Oakland, California
1997 'The Self and the World', organized by Gallery Espace, New Delhi at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi
1996 'Chamatkar', organized by Center for International Modern Art (CIMA) Kolkata at Whiteley’s Art Gallery, London
1996 'Water colours: A Broader Spectrum-III', Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
1995 'A Tree in my Life', The Village Gallery, New Delhi
1995,96 'Inside Out: Women Artists of India', Middlesborough Art Gallery, Middlesborough, UK
1995 'Postcards for Gandhi', organized by Sahmat at New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad
1995 'A Homage, 125th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi', Little Thatre Gallery, New Delhi
1995 'Portraits', Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
1994 'Drawing 1994', organized by Gallery Espace, New Delhi at All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi
1992-95 'Works on Paper', Gallery Espace, New Delhi
1992 'Contemporary Indian Art', Bangladesh Shilpa Kala Akademi, Dhaka
1990 'Exhibition for Expressions', Women’s Theatre Festival, Mumbai
1989 'Artists Alert', organized by Sahmat at New Delhi
1989 'Timeless Art', Sesquicentennial Exhibition of Times of India at organized by Times of India, Mumbai
1988,95,99 'Art for Cry', in aid of Child Welfare Organisation, Mumbai
1987-89 'Through the Looking Glass', Centre for Contemporary Art, New Delhi; Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Sista’s Gallery, Bangalore; Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi and Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal
1985 'Play', Exhibition of Six Indian Painters, sponsored by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) at Belgrade, Titograd, Istanbul, Ankara
1982 'Contemporary Indian Painting', sponsored by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) at Worpswede, Hamburg, Hanover, Braunschweig and Bremen, West Germany
1978 'New Contemporaries', organized by Marg and Indian Society of Art Appreciation at Mumbai
1977 'Pictorial Space', Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1976,77 Exhibitions with Black Partridge Gallery, New Delhi
1975 'Baroda University Silver Jubilee Exhibition', Vadodara, Gujarat
1974 Rabindra Bhawan, New Delhi
1969,72 'Art Today, II and IV', Kunika Chemould Art Centre, New Delhi
Joint Exhibitions
2001 'Conversations with Traditions', with Shahzia Sikander at Asia Society, New York
Participations
2013 'The Sahmat Collective: Art and Activism in India since 1989', Smart Museum of Art at University of Chicago, Chicago
2012 'The Calendar Project: Iconography in the 20th Century', part of Project CINEMA CITY: Research Art & Documentary Practices presented by National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and Ministry of Culture, Government of India at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
2012 'Art for Humanity', Coomaraswamy Hall, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai
2012 ‘To Let the World In: Narrative and Beyond in Contemporary Indian Art’, as part of Art Chennai, Edition II at Lalit Kala Regional Centre, Chennai
2011 'Ethos V: Indian Art Through the Lens of History (1900 to 1980), Indigo Blue Art, Singapore
2011 'Fabular Bodies: New Narratives in the Art of the Miniature',
presented by Harmony Art Foundation at Coomaraswamy Hall, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharah Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai
2011 'Watermark II', Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai
2011 'Roots in the Air, Branches Below: Modern & Contemporary Art from India', San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose
2011 'Time Unfolded', Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi
2010 'Place.Time.Play: India-China Contemporary Art', West Heavens Exhibition Project, presented by Shanghai International Culture Association, Institute of Visual Culture (China Academy of Art) at Shanghai Art Museum Lecture Hall, Shanghai
2010 'Roots', 25th Anniversary Exhibition of Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai at The Park, Chennai
2009 'ARCOmadrid', Spain presented by curator Bose Krishnamachari for 'Panoroma: India'
2008-09 ''Modern India', organized by Institut Valencià d'Art Modern (IVAM) and Casa Asia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture at Valencia, Spain
2008-09 ‘Expanding Horizons: Contemporary Indian Art’, Traveling Exhibition presented by Bodhi Art at Ravinder Natya Mandir, P.L.Despande Kala Academy Art Gallery, Mumbai; Sant Dyaneshwar Natya Sankul Art Gallery, Amravati; Platinum Jubilee Hall, Nagpur; Tapadia Natya Mandir Sports Hall, Aurangabad; Hirachand Nemchand Vachanalay’s, Solapur; Acharya Vidyanand Sanskrutik Bhavan, Kolhapur; PGSR Sabhagriha, SNDT, Pune; Sarvajanik Vachanalaya Hall, Nasik
2007 'Tiger by the Tail', Brandeis University, Waltham / Boston
1996 'The Second Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art', Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
1995 'Dispossession, Africus', First Johannesburg Biennale, South Africa
1986 3rd Asian Biennale, Dhaka
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PAST AUCTIONS
Showing
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16
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PAST StoryLTD AUCTIONS
Showing
4
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10
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Lot 25
Details
Absolute Tuesdays
10 January 2023
Under Which Earth?
Mixed tempera with collage and stencil on postcard
5.75 x 4.25 in
Winning bid
$1,463
Rs 1,20,000
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)
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Lot 50
Details
Absolute Tuesdays
2 February 2021
Untitled
Tempera and glitter on paper
9.5 x 13.25 in
Winning bid
$2,417
Rs 1,74,000
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)
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Lot 5
Details
FIAE Fundraiser Auction
10 November 2020
Untitled
Tempera on sanganeri paper
12.75 x 18.5 in
Winning bid
$4,515
Rs 3,27,312
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)
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Lot 42
Details
Absolute Tuesdays
4 August 2020
Baggage
Tempera on Sanganeri paper pasted on board
11.25 x 10 in
Winning bid
$3,301
Rs 2,44,260
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)
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EXHIBITIONS
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Lot 471
Details
Works on paper.
20 Feb-15 Mar 2003
About Season - 6
Tempera on paper pasted on board
22 x 17.75 in
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