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Sheetal Gattani
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"It's a give-and-take. I give my impressions to it; I get my expressions and even identity from it. My painting introduced me to the being that I am in a social context."
Born in Mumbai in 1968, Sheetal Gattani never believed she would be an artist when she was in school or college. She first went to the Sir JJ School of Art aspiring to become qualified to teach art to children. Gattani obtained a diploma in Art Education from...
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"It's a give-and-take. I give my impressions to it; I get my expressions and even identity from it. My painting introduced me to the being that I am in a social context."
Born in Mumbai in 1968, Sheetal Gattani never believed she would be an artist when she was in school or college. She first went to the Sir JJ School of Art aspiring to become qualified to teach art to children. Gattani obtained a diploma in Art Education from that institution in 1990, and then because she became so taken up by the idea of painting, went on to complete her Master’s degree in painting there as well.
Now, a well-established abstractionist and a teacher of art at the Convent of Jesus and Mary School, who has mastered the medium of watercolour, Gattani paints with a confidence and flair that is a rare sight amongst watercolourists.
In 2001, at the Chemould Art Gallery, one of the few solo exhibitions of her work that Mumbai has seen, the eminent artist and fellow abstractionist Melhi Gobhai admitted that he was apprehensive about her work at first because most contemporary abstract art tends to take a path that most often leads to a "dry sterility". He was pleasantly surprised, however, to see Gattani’s work, and said that she had, "...not only charted a course that has steered clear of these dangers but she has returned from her journey with paintings that seem to be throbbing new life-forms from another world yet to be created and totally her own."
Her earthy, roughly textured paintings, with their highly reduced visual vocabulary, are built with several layers of watercolours, which in some places erupt on the surface and cause the paintings to resemble flaking, damp walls. With the weight of the many layers of colour almost equal to that of the paper, it is only natural that the surface might bulge or tear, but for Gattani this is as natural and as much a part of her work as anything else. Beginning with a simple piece of black paper, the artist instinctively chooses her colours and the time she needs to switch hues. There is nothing predetermined about her work.
Gattani only knows her painting is complete when it "seduces" and "talks" to her. The artist understands her role as a simple middleman or midwife, aiding in a birthing process that was always meant to b. she says, "...in any case, it's a creation that was meant to be, I just happened to be the tool. When it was being done, that was the moment of wholeness, without being aware of it. Which, of course, has seeds in a contrived effort of sitting down, letting go of the palette, the brush and you."
This seems like a process that wouldn’t need any formal training in fine art, but Gattani is emphatic when she says, "Learning must precede unlearning."
Sheetal Gattani has taken part in several group exhibitions, and has recently had a spate of successes with her solo shows.
The artist lives and works in Mumbai.
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Born
1968
Mumbai
Education
Post Graduate Diploma in Indian Aesthetics, Mumbai
1993 Master of Fine Arts (Painting), Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai
1990 Diploma in Art Education, Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai
1989 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting), Sir J. J School of Art, Mumbai
Exhibitions
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2009 Chemould Prescott Road,...
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2009 Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai
2008 Gallery Sumukha, Chennai
2007 ‘Samasthiti’, Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2007 ‘Personal Soliloquy’, Bodhi Art, Singapore
2006 Gallerie 88, Kolkata
2005 Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
2004 Apparao Gallery, Chennai
2001 Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
1998 Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
Selected Group Exhibitions
2012 'Aviraam: Celebrating the Pioneer Spirit- SH Raza at 90', presented by The Raza Foundation at Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
2011 'Abstract Articulations', Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2011 'At Walden Pond', Gallery Beyond, Mumbai
2011 'Morning at the Window', Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai
2011 'Black and White in the Horizon', Gallery Beyond, Mumbai
2010 'A. SYCO', The Viewing Room, Mumbai
2009-10 'On Canvas -1', Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi
2009 'Divagations: Spaces of Possibility', Raza Foundation Awardees Show, Art Alive, New Delhi
2009 'Deep In Black', Galerie Muller and Plate, Munich
2008 'Abstract Contemporary Art', Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi
2008 'Point and Line to Plane VI', Gallery Beyond, Mumbai
2008 ‘iWitness’, presented by Fine Art Company at Museum Art Gallery, Mumbai
2007 ‘Panchatantra', Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi
2007 'Softspoken', National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai
2007 ‘Understanding Oneness in Diversity’, Kitab Mahal, Mumbai
2007 ‘De-Sizing’, Presented by Bombay Art Gallery at Jehangir Nicholsan Art Gallery, National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) Mumbai
2003 ‘Solitude’ organized by Apparao Gallery at Artist Centre, Mumbai
2002 ‘Shakti’, Women Artists’ Show, Haceinda Gallery, Mumbai
2001 ‘Never too young’, Jamaat Art Gallery, Mumbai
2000 ‘Anonymously Yours’, organized by Lakeeren Gallery at the British Council, Mumbai
2000 ‘Ideas and Images ’II , Artist’s Choice section – selected by S. H. Raza, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
2000 ‘Ideas and Images ’II , Art and Technology Section, through Gallery 7, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
2000 ‘Ideas and Images ’II , Museum Shop – Functional Art Objects by Contemporary Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
1999 ‘Jamboree’, Lakeeren Gallery, Mumbai
1998 ‘Essays in Time’, Nehru Center , Mumbai
1997 ’50 Years of Independence ’, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
1996 ‘Surface Tension’. Lakeeren Gallery, Mumbai
1993 ‘Young Talents’, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
1993 ‘Direction II’, The Gallery, Chennai
1993 Jehangir Art Gallery , Mumbai
1993 Artist Centre, Mumbai
Joint Exhibitions
2007 ‘Reduced to Essentials – I’, with Zarina Hashmi at Bombay Art Gallery, Mumbai
2006 With Pandit Khairnar at National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai
2006 With S Harshavardhana at Gallery Mueller and Plate, Munich
2005 ‘Rays of Silence’ with Ceramic artist Jackline, Gallery Art and
Soul, Mumbai
2000 'Festival of Contemporary Art’, With V. K. Wankhede Gallery 7, Mumbai
1999 'Festival of Contemporary Art’, With Sohan Qadri, Gallery 7, Mumbai
Participations
2012 'Art for Humanity', Coomaraswamy Hall, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai
2010 'Evolve: 10th Anniversary Show', Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2009 'Miniature Format Show 2009 - IInd Part', Sans Tache Gallery, Mumbai
2007-08 ‘Kashi 10 Light Years – Anniversary Show’, Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi
1989 ‘Monsoon Art Show’, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
1996-2000 ‘Miniature Format Show’, Sans Tache Gallery, Mumbai
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