Within and Without

Is it only an Indian artist who can create artworks influenced by the country? Can only an African painter draw from his continent’s ideologies? Answering these questions is the second series of the art exhibition, We Are Not Your Native Informers, curated by Zasha Colah and Sumesh Sharma.

Polish artist Janek Simon creates a 3D dog-headed man, a visualisation of traveller Marco Polo’s journey through Asia. The Indian Justin Ponmany’s ‘anarchist manifestos’ critique the falsehoods of ideology and the ease with which people subscribe to them. Aluminium kerosene cans with gold leaf prints of the map of UAE also form part of the show – a comment by Sachin Bonde on the politics of oil and the subsidies attached to it. Many such works are included in the display that talk of multiculturalism through art.

Artist Profiles

Justin Ponmany Kerala-born artist, Ponmany has taken part in several group and solo shows. He draws influences from Mumbai city, whose landscape is constantly changing. His works also find personal mentions of love, longing and loss.

Simon Liddiment Based in Norwich, the artist is known for his installations that are ‘located somewhere in the stand-off between words and objects, in the visual and verbal slippages that occur between what may be spoken or written, and the physical stuff of the world’.

Janek Simon Polish artist Simon’s art pieces are made from scratch, and are visual visualizations based on mathematical formulas and statistical data. He is inspired by scientific, geographical and economic theories that he brings out through his artworks.

Yogesh Barve The Indian artist is known for his creative installation works. He has participated at several group shows at art spaces including Project 88, Clark House Bombay and Gallery Art and Soul.

Kemi Bassene Born in Dakar, Bassene is a photographer and musicologist. He frequently works on fragments of African cultures, as intersections out of Africa. The artist currently lives in Paris.

Sachin Bonde He is a part of the Mumbai-based artist collective, Shunya, and is an artist and curator. Bonde has worked with several artists including Judy Blum, Prabhakar Pachpute and Naresh Kumar. He has also curated at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai.

We Are Not Your Native Informers Series II is on display at 1×1 Gallery, Dubai (WH #3, Bldg #2, Al Fahad Complex, Street – 8) until May 10, 2015.