BE , Kolkata ::: “Kaee Contemporary”, the new art gallery has been conceptualized and developed to target new audiences and interpret the art of our times. ‘Kaee’ — a colloquial word for algae — denotes a vitalizing presence within an ecology. It will question and adapt to the changing definitions of art and culture.
‘Kaee’ an idiomatic word for algae — denotes an enlivening presence within an ecology. Not only does it fulfil a nourishing and filtering function, but its metabolisms and composition can also be further studied to determine the health of the ecosystem. Founded by Ambica Beri in 2022, Kaee Contemporary lodges itself within a perceived need for a dedicated contemporary art space that curates emerging and experimental practices and places them in an intergenerational dialogue with established practitioners. With a range of energizing residencies between Kolkata and Maihar illuminating its core , the programming at Kaee catalyzes an interplay of urban and rural perspectives. In doing so, Kaee hopes to bring two distinct social ecologies into a fruitful field of pollination. Its homely settings in Alipore complete with a café and relaxed outdoor spaces counters the alienating white-cube aesthetic with a sense of coziness, hospitality, and commensality. These unconventional settings are set to play host to a variety of formats — exhibitory, pedagogical, interactive — that foreground ingenuity, innovation, and interdisciplinary. Kaee Contemporary brings to you it’s exclusive exhibition, ‘‘When the other stares back’ – curated by Adwait Singh on today 26th March, 2022 at our very own City of Joy.
The exhibition brings together the works of four female artists who hail from Kolkata. Their composite and layered works essay an inter-generational conversation about synthesized contaminants that impel us, governing our lifestyles. Each artist stages an encounter with non-human actants — plankton, animals, plants — that are caught up in a helpless becoming at the hand of man. Ranging from melancholic to monstrous, these become an update us against landscapes to come, transformed beyond recognition and grown allergic to our existence as a species. The artists of this renowned exhibition are Jayashree Chakravarty, Radhika Agarwala, Sonia Mehra Chawla and Suhasini Kejriwal.
● Jayashree Chakravarty – She was also an artist in residence at Aix en Provence from 1993 – 1995 where she was influenced in the formative years of her practice by the French movement Supports/Surfaces, especially by Claude Viallat and also had conversations with some of the group members at the time. Inventing her own creative techniques, using organic material and varied kinds of papers, her installations in the form of paper scrolls remain unique in their conceptions and execution. Chakravarty’s slow, extemporaneous, and layered approach is epitomized in the backlit work Twigs to Creepers (2018) where the composite materiality of the work is exposed for anatomization.
● Radhika Agarwala – Radhika is a force to reckon with the art fraternity today. Some of her recent solo exhibits include ‘For Two Lovers’ (2013) and ‘Encounter’ (2012) at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London. Recent group exhibitions include Delhi Contemporary Art Week,by Latitude 28 (2021-2017); ‘All The Days and Nights’, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London (2020), India Art Fair,at Latitude 28 (2019-2018), and ‘Babur Ki Gai’, Latitude 28, New Delhi (2018), ‘Participate’, Asian Arts Initiative, Mumbai (2014). She has also done artist residencies in Atelierhaus Salzamt, Austria & Casa Dell’Arte, Turkey (2013).
● Sonia Mehra Chawla – Chawla’s work has been exhibited at CSMVS, Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai in collaboration with Goethe-Institute (2022); ZKM | Museum &Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe(2022), Radial system, Berlin (2021), Edinburgh Printmakers, in collaboration with Marine Scotland (2021), Edinburgh Science Festival (2021), Albertina Modern Museum, Vienna (2020), Institute für Auslandsbeziehungen, ifa-Galerie Stuttgart (2017).
● Suhasini Kejriwal – Suhasini Kejriwal lives and works in Kolkata. Her achievements include a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Parsons School of Design in New York and a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Goldsmiths College, London. Solo exhibitions of her work have been held at Gallery SKE, Bangalore (2004), Nature Morte, New Delhi (2005, 2007, 2014, 2020), she has also exhibited at numerous group exhibitions in galleries and institutions throughout the world.
Ambica Beri, Founder, Kaee Contemporary, says, “With Kaee Contemporary, we come full circle to where we began, to what may seem a complete reversal of the original form. However, much like the nature of the evolving ‘kaee’ which supports life on the planet, the new art space will generate an environment for art to evolve and continue to grow in synthesis.”