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Kahini Arte Merchant
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"I don't have words, that is why I paint."
Kahini Arte-Merchant was born in New Delhi in 1960, but brought up and educated in England for the most part. Never formally trained in fine arts, Merchant studied interior design at the Sir JJ School of Art in Mumbai, graduating from that institution in 1979 with a First Class. Naturally the time she spent at this school, known for the great painters, sculptors and graphic artists it...
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"I don't have words, that is why I paint."
Kahini Arte-Merchant was born in New Delhi in 1960, but brought up and educated in England for the most part. Never formally trained in fine arts, Merchant studied interior design at the Sir JJ School of Art in Mumbai, graduating from that institution in 1979 with a First Class. Naturally the time she spent at this school, known for the great painters, sculptors and graphic artists it has bred for more than eight decades, left a mark on Kahini.
Realizing that all she ever wanted to do was paint, Merchant began to accept the big modeling campaigns she was offered just so that she could afford the materials to work with like expensive canvases and pigments. Preferring to find her own way in the world of art through a trial and error method, the artist acknowledges that her earlier work was immature. However, through the process of experimenting and learning form her mistakes, Kahini has now arrived at a stage in her career where she is confident of her idiom and style. All she wanted was, "Not have my art fall into somebody else's way of thinking what art should be - be typecast or have to unlearn pre-digested matter."
Today Arte-Merchant's works display an introspection and understanding that was not visible in her first set of canvases. She believes that she has gotten past the most difficult hurdle she has had to face, saying, "It is easy to fall into a trap where people are buying so you keep producing. It takes courage to experiment." The artist's inspiration comes from wherever she may find it. In her series titled 'Messenger', she drew inspiration from Hanuman and Hindu mythology. For her paintings belonging to the recent 'Metamorphosis' series, Merchant moved away from her previous and more formal figurative work to almost breach the abstract, finding the masks and personas that people keep changing as her muse.
Most of Merchant's paintings tell tales with female protagonists, and one really wonders whether they are in any way biographical or representative of the artist's own development and experimentation in the field. Like Merchant, these protagonists have evolved since they first appeared, and today appear as self-aware, strong, magical and empowered.
Also an avid collector of art, Merchant held her first solo show in 1988. Titled 'Evening', it was held at the Taj Art Gallery and followed by four more solo shows at the Jehangir Art Gallery in 1991, 1994, 1998 and 2001. The artist has also participated in several group shows around the country, and has shown her works in other countries like Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The artist lives and works in Mumbai.
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Born
May 12, 1960
Education
Schooling : India and England
College : 1st Class 1st from Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai 1979.
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2010 'R.E.M', Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai
1998 Taj...
Solo Shows
2010 'R.E.M', Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai
1998 Taj Art Gallery; "Evening"
1991 Jehangir Art Gallery; "Passages"
1994 Jehangir Art Gallery; "The Fractured Dream"
1998 Jehangir Art Gallery;"An Invented Memory" & "Altered Images"
2001 Jehangir Art Gallery; "Metamorphosis"
Group Shows
2010 'Evolve: 10th Anniversary Show', Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
1992 Jehangir Art Gallery; Bombay Art Society Show
1995 Y.B. Chavan Gallery; "The Arts Trust Collection"
1995 The Gallerie Leela; "Contemporary Miniatures"
1995 Jehangir Art Gallery; "Bombay" (RPG Enterprises)
1995 The Gallerie Leela; "Ganga"
1995 Y.B. Chavan Gallery; "Show of Premier Artists" (Citibank)
1995 Galleria; "Faces"
1996 Nehru Centre; "Harmony" (Reliance Industries Ltd.)
1996 Y.B. Chavan Gallery; "Show of Premier Artists" (Citibank)
1997 Chitrakala Parishad (Bangalore); "Art for Ashraya"
1997 Nehru Centre; "Harmony" (Reliance Industries Ltd.)
1997 National Gallery of Modern Art (Mumbai); "50 Years of Art in Mumbai
Part-11"
1998 Nehru Centre; "Harmony" (Relianace Industries ltd.)
1998 Y.B. Chavan Gallery; "Art Quest for CRY"
1998 Artwalk, Hotel Oberoi; (Following art camp at Hotel Oberoi)
1998 Sans Tache Art Gallery; "The Miniature Format Show 1998"
1998 Hongkong Bank; "Windows to the Soul", followed by Auction conducted
by Sotheby's in Aid of the National Association for the Blind (India)
1998 Intex Universal (Dubai); "Masters for a Child" (Ashraya)
1998 Apparao Galleries (Singapore)
1998 The Fine Art Company
1999 Sans Tache Art Gallery at the Kala Ghoda Fair
1999 Nehru Centre; "Harmony" (Reliance Industries Ltd.)
1999 Jehangir Art Gallery; The Bombay Art Society Invitees Show
1999 Artwalk, Hotel Oberoi; (Following art camp at Hotel Oberoi)
1999 National Gallery of Modern Art (Mumbai); followed by auction for Kargil
1999 Children's Fund (with ABN Amro Bank & the Rotary Club)
Art Today (New Delhi); "Small Formats"
1999 India Habitat Centre (New Delhi); Gallery Pegasus show
1999 Sans Tache Gallery; "Miniature Format Show 1999"
2000 Intex Universal (Dubai)
2000 Art Today (Dubai); Dubai Shopping Festival
2000 Nehru Centre; "Harmony" (Reliance Industries Ltd.)
2000 Cymroza Art Gallery; Summer Show 2000
2000 Art Walk, Hotel Oberoi; (Following 3rd Oberoi Art Camp)
2000 Sans Tache Art Gallery; "Monsoon in the Millennium"
2000 Art Today (New Delhi); Rainbow Show
2000 The Fine Art Company; Triptych Show
2000 Cymroza Art Gallery; Etchings done on site at the Kala Ghoda Fair
2000 Sans Tache Gallery; "Miniature Format Show 2000"
2001 Auction for Kala Ghoda Benefit; Kala Ghoda Festival, Oberoi Towers
2001 Soul Kurry.com offline exhibition curated by Anjolie Ela Menon;
"Shakti"
2001 Indigo; SoulKurry.com offline show; "Shakti"
2001 Studio 51-J; "Wish you were here" - Picture Postcards from Mumbai
2001 Nehru Centre; "Harmony" (Reliance Industries Ltd.)
2001 National Gallery of Modern Art (Mumbai); The RPG Collection - Self
Portraits and Bombay Artists
2001 National Gallery of Modern Art (Mumbai); AGREES - Art for Gujarat
Relief
2001 Gallery Vinyasa (Chennai)
2001 Olive; Art Incentive Weekend
2001 Indigo; "Akanksha" exhibition followed by auction conducted by
Christies
2001 Hacienda; "Shakti" (for International Women's Day)
2002 Jehangir Art Gallery, "Mela-Carnival of Indian Art by RPG
2002 Hotel Clarks Amer (Jaipur); (following Art Camp at Hotel Clarks Amer)
2002 Hongkong; Show by Poonam Dhillon
2002 The Victoria Memorial School for the blind; followed by auction in aid of
the school conducted by Christies
2002 Suntec (Singapore); Contemporary Asian Art fair by Gallery Surnukha
2002 Indigo; "Akanksha" exhibition followed by Auction conducted by
Christies
2002,2003 Ceat/Arts Trust, Marve, Mumbai
2003 Le Meridien Art Camp, Royal Meridien Hotel, Mumbai
2003 "Art for God Sake" —Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
2003 Nehru Centre; "Harmony" (Reliance Industries Ltd.)
2003 Bowrings Auction for WISE at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
2003 Christies Auction for Rotary, The Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai
2003 Taj Art Camp, The Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai
2003 Indigo; "Akanksha" exhibition followed by an Auction conducted by Christies
2004 The Arts Trust Art Camp at Gajner, Rajasthan
2004 Jehangir Art Gallery, "Romancing the Figure, Indian Figurative Painters"
2004 Nehru Centre; "Harmony" (Reliance Industries Ltd.)
2004 Sydney and Gold Coast (Australia) Art Camp
2004 J.W. Marriot Art Camp, Curated by Kahini Arte-Merchant, J.W Marriot, Mumbai
2004 National Gallery of Modern Art (Mumbai); "Ideas & Images"
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