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Ajay Dhandre
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Ajay Dhandre draws with meticulous detail and highlights his images with sheer, transparent watercolours. He carefully positions these multi-layered intricacies within the spatial white of the paper; the contrast making his line-work appear even more congested – just like the metropolis he is trying to depict. Dhandre’s almost-technical imagery looks like a planned elevation of a science-fiction city, one that is impersonal and devoid of...
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Ajay Dhandre draws with meticulous detail and highlights his images with sheer, transparent watercolours. He carefully positions these multi-layered intricacies within the spatial white of the paper; the contrast making his line-work appear even more congested – just like the metropolis he is trying to depict. Dhandre’s almost-technical imagery looks like a planned elevation of a science-fiction city, one that is impersonal and devoid of the ‘human touch’. The artist seems to have a foresight into what is soon to happen.
Born in Nagpur, the artist found Mumbai ‘dramatic’ when he moved there. His reaction to the bustle of the cosmopolitan city led him to capture some of its drama on his surface, albeit with a futuristic take. Critics find the artist’s approach “in terms of robotics and architecture”, very novel. His futuristic Mumbai landscapes like ‘Cyber Village’ and ‘Dream Formation’ depict buildings suspended in air. “We can look up to technology alone to save us,” Dhandre says. “What with the threat of Mumbai drowning because of global warming and rising sea levels, we might find ourselves living in apartments floating in the sky.”
Born in 1977, Ajay Dhandre completed his Bachelor’s degree at the College of Art there in 2001. Since then he has participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions throughout India. In 2007 he held a solo show, ‘Hyper-Bio-Nano Materialism’, at the Museum Art Gallery in Mumbai. Amongst the most recent group shows in which his work has been featured are ‘Third Life’ at Bombay Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2008; ‘Millennium Turks’ at Art Konsult, New Delhi, in 2008; Daira Centre for Arts and Culture, Hyderabad, in 2008; ‘Recent Works’ at Project 88, Mumbai, in 2007; ‘Does Size Matter?’ at Art Konsult, New Delhi and Mumbai, in 2007; and ‘Ye Hai Mumbai Mari Jaan’ at Art Konsult, New Delhi, in 2006.
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Born
June 12, 1977
Nagpur
Education
2001 Bachelor of Fine Arts, College of Art, Nagpur
Exhibitions
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2007 ‘Hyper-Bio-Nano Materialism’,...
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2007 ‘Hyper-Bio-Nano Materialism’, Museum Art Gallery, Mumbai
Selected Group Exhibitions
2012 'Aqua', Gallery Beyond, Mumbai
2012 'Quarto 2012', Art Musings, Mumbai
2011 'Quarto, Art Musings, Mumbai
2011 Art Musings, Mumbai
2010 'Purva', L & P Hutheesing Centre, Ahmedabad
2010 'A. SYCO', The Viewing Room, Mumbai
2010 'The Evolution of the Species', Institute of Contemporary Indian Art (ICIA), Mumbai
2009 'Labyrinths Urban-Organic', 1x1 Art Gallery, Dubai
2009 'Resonating Pulse', Alliance Francaise, New Delhi
2008 ‘Third_Life’, Bombay Art Gallery, Mumbai
2008 ‘Millennium Turks’, Art Konsult, New Delhi
2008 Daira Centre for Arts and Culture, Hyderabad
2007 ‘Recent Works’, Project 88, Mumbai
2007 ‘Does Size Matter?’, Art Konsult, New Delhi, Mumbai
2006 ‘Ye Hai Mumbai Mari Jaan’, Art Konsult, New Delhi
2004-05 ‘Point & Line to Plane: I & II’, Gallery Beyond, Mumbai
2003-05 Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2003-04 Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal
2004 K.C.P.Art Gallery, Bangalore
2000 South Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC), Nagpur
Participations
2009 'Miniature Format Show 2009: IInd Part', Sans Tache Gallery, Mumbai
2004 South Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC), Nagpur
2003 Maharashtra State Art Exhibition, Mumbai
2003 All India Fine Art & Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi
2003 6th Bharat Bhavan International Biennial of Print, Bhopal
2003 Bombay Art Society, Mumbai
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It seems that science fiction plays an important role in your work. Could you elaborate on this aspect of your work and the futuristic landscapes and creatures that populate it?
Yes! It is true that science fiction plays an important role in my work, but in a very dynamic way. I think about futuristic modern structures in the age of Machines, when buildings would become innovative and technically...
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It seems that science fiction plays an important role in your work. Could you elaborate on this aspect of your work and the futuristic landscapes and creatures that populate it?
Yes! It is true that science fiction plays an important role in my work, but in a very dynamic way. I think about futuristic modern structures in the age of Machines, when buildings would become innovative and technically advanced. New technology gives an extended range of functions and new abilities to these future structures. Every object’s visual ability will be very new. So future related subjects like science fiction, technology and modern philosophy have had an important impact on my work.
Can you tell us a little about your creative process and the things that inspire your work?
My process is based on philosophical exercises through technological progress, and on the realistic possibility of a future world. I investigate new aspects of the future and have developed a visual language that makes for an even more futuristic representation of my ideas. I also investigate the inner and outer metamorphosis of form.
Is there any particular reason that your compositions float in mid-air, devoid of any anchoring context?
Yes! The objects in my works represent the future age, that’s why they have the ability and power to stay afloat on the air. That’s my basic intention.
Apart from watercolour on paper, is there any other medium you have worked with? Is there something specific about the watercolour medium that attracts you to it?
Now I try to work with different mediums like wood and metal, but this are still under process. Watercolour is very flexible, so I use it. But the medium I feel closest to is drawing.
What are you working on now, and what direction do you see your body of work taking in the future?
I am increasing my conceptual planning and the individual subjects of my work. I am also trying to define my new work and trying new mediums according to subject’s requirements.
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PAST AUCTIONS
Showing
4
of
4
works
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Lot 61
Details
Absolute Art Auction
23-24 January 2013
Enter the Dragon ...
Watercolour on paper
70.5 x 59.5 in
Winning bid
$1,200
Rs 63,600
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)
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Lot 54
Details
24 Hour: Absolute Auction
16-17 April 2012
Cyberkinetics...
Pencil and watercolour on paper
20.5 x 28.5 in
Winning bid
$240
Rs 11,760
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)
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PAST StoryLTD AUCTIONS
Showing
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13
works
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