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iSculpt for Keshav Malik at 100 years
December 7, 2023 @ 11:00 am - December 21, 2023 @ 7:00 pm IST
The world of visual arts will pay homage to iconic scholar-critic Keshav Malik in his birth centenary year, as 23 sculptors will exhibit their works in the national capital next month.
The December 7-21 iSculpt will feature a tasteful assortment of compositions by established as well as emerging modern masters. To be held by Delhi Art Society (DAS) in association with India International Centre (IIC), the 15-day show has art historian Uma Nair as the curator.
Gracing the IIC premises, the event will be a collective tribute to Padma Shri Keshav Malik (1924-2014), who was a regular art writer for leading newspapers and editor of literary weekly Thought, besides a curator for art exhibitions within the country and abroad. An advisor to the National Gallery of Modern Art, he was an executive member of the Lalit Kala Akademi, the country’s apex institution for visual arts.
iSculpt will showcase works by seasoned artists as well as up-and-coming names for the visitor to get an overview of the contemporary art practices. “This blend will serve as a light to the past, present and future of the field,” Uma Nair notes. “The masters have loaned their work for the show. It shows the respect Malik continues to enjoy in the world of arts.”
Among the foremost masters are Amar Nath Sehgal, Satish Gujral and Himmat Shah, besides DAS president Neeraj Gupta, who is a key figure in organising iSculpt. Others include G. Reghu, Arun Pandit, Biman Das, Dhananjay Singh, Harsha Durugadda and S.D. Hariprasad. The women artists comprise Sonia Sareen and late Rini Dhumal. The other artists are Parmod Mann, Rajesh Ram, Nimesh Pilla, Phaneendra Nath Chaturvedi, Muzaffar Ali, Ankon Mitra, Vipul Kumar, Satish Gupta, Ram Kumar Manna, and Bhola Ram. Adding to the value of the show will be a set of monochromes by young cameraman Manoj Arora. As Uma notes, “Malik was a huge fan of photography, especially monochromes.”
Nonagenarian poet-philosopher Dr Karan Singh will, on December 9, formally launch the iSculpt catalogue. The 60-page DAS publication, which designer Mukesh Mishra conceptualised along with Uma Nair, is sponsored by Tarun Khanna of 108artprojects.com.
Neeraj Gupta, who is into public art backed by social commitment, says iSculpt upholds the Malik-founded DAS’s spirit of supporting progressive archival projects and fostering networks locally to expand conversations around artistic legacies. “We have been a non-profit foundation dedicated to transforming artists’ archives by nurturing equity and innovation,” he points out about the 2005-established DAS. “We strive for artistic advances amongst young and old practitioners while operating independently of commercial interests.”
As for the upcoming exhibition, the sculptures cover mediums that include wood, stone, metal and terracotta. Late Malik, with 18 volumes of poems to his credit, co-founded the Poetry Society of India and was also president of the Poetry Club of India.