"City of Hope - II" Martand Khosla's first solo exhibition at School of Arts & Aesthetics (SAA), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Mehrauli Road > 27th October-17th November 2012

Time : 
27th October : 6:00 pm onwards - Opening
28th October to 17th November : 10:00 am - 6:30 pm 

Entry : Free

Place : Auditorium, School of Arts & Aesthetics (SAA), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi - 110067

Venue Info : www.jnu.ac.in | Map
Nearest Metro Stations - 'Hauz Khas(Yellow Line)' &  'Delhi Aerocity(Orange Line)'

Event Details : 'City of Hope - II' Martand Khosla's first solo exhibition

City of Hope, Martand Khosla's first solo exhibition, is presented in two parts simultaneously at the School of Art & Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University and at Seven Art gallery. It is important that the works inhabit these distinct sites of knowledge production one a public institute of higher learning and the other a private contemporary art space as it mimics and explains dualities within Martand's practice.

Martand is an artist and architect and his experiences as the latter inform his artistic work materially and conceptually. His architectural practice brings him in contact with both the privileged and the underprivileged, the ones 'building' India's urban centres and those for whom it is being built. Martand interacts with the myth and reality of India's urban development via several avenues from interacting with the workers and providing them with a individual visage and thus identity, from conveying a small sense of their physical experience at construction sites and through their disenfranchisement from the State.

He uses brick dust, abundant at construction sites, to create portraits of the workers; to create parched and barren or abandoned landscapes; to create poetic vignettes of workers footwear and tools as they rest during lunch; and to create miniature and acrylic encased rooms of singular possessions that mark an upwardly mobile population. Martand makes installations, portraits and landscapes using the ubiquitous official rubber stamp and the text of the Olga Tellis court judgment to inform us of the gap between judicial and State promises and practices towards its disenfranchised citizens. 

Martand Khosla (b. 1975) holds a Diploma in Architecture from the Architectural Association in London. He returned to India in 2001 and co-founded RKDS, a well-known architectural design office in Delhi. He has won numerous awards for his design and architecture, and has been extensively published in India and abroad, including Architecture in India since 1990, Pictor Press, India (2011) and Reclaiming the Streets, Netherlands (2011). His exhibitions include MATTER, curated by Deeksha Nath, Blueprint 12, New Delhi (2012); India Art Fair, Seven Art Limited, New Delhi (2012); Reclaiming the Streets, Showroom MAMA, Rotterdam (2010); Building for Bouwkunde, Delft (2009); Playground and Toys, Hangar Bicocca, Milan & European Parliament, Brussels (2005) and 1 dig KX, Cubbitt Gallery, London (1997).

Accompanying Exhibition : "City of Hope - I" Martand Khosla's first solo exhibition at Gallery Seven Art Limited, M – 44, Greater Kailash Part – 2 > 26th October-1st December 2012

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