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Minal Damani
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Born in 1979, Minal Damani received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in painting from the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, in 2000 and 2002 respectively. Working in a wide range of media, from ink and watercolour to gouache and acrylic, Damani’s works are an exploration in colour and form.
Stemming from a deeply autobiographical narrative, her works are peppered with images of stars, flowers, flying birds and other objects...
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Born in 1979, Minal Damani received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in painting from the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, in 2000 and 2002 respectively. Working in a wide range of media, from ink and watercolour to gouache and acrylic, Damani’s works are an exploration in colour and form.
Stemming from a deeply autobiographical narrative, her works are peppered with images of stars, flowers, flying birds and other objects that make personal references to her environment. Each painting has a new pattern for the story which reveals the inner life of the 'self' and the hopes, optimism, dreams, opportunities, fears, pulls and pressures it experiences. Gradually, the visuals in Damani’s work changed from fantasy-like narratives to highly patterned visuals, in which the arrangement of images is done in such a way that they form an 'even -pattern' and thus give an abstract feel to the painted surface.
Damani’s solo shows include 'Drawing Lines' at Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, in 2008; and ‘Refilled’ at Gallery Beyond, Mumbai, in 2006. Her work has been also a part of several group shows, including 'Size Matters or Does it?' at Latitude 28, New Delhi, in 2010; ‘Evidentia' at Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore, in 2009; and 'Vicissitudes of the Constructed Image' at Tangerine Art Space, Bangalore, in 2009.
Damani was honoured with the ‘J.J. Teachers Award', by her alma mater in 2002, and also received the Human Resource Department’s Young Artist Scholarship from the Government of India, New Delhi, for 2001-03.
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Born
August 23, 1979
Mumbai
Education
2002 Master of Fine Arts (Painting), Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai 2000 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting), Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai
Exhibitions
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2008 'Drawing Lines', Vadehra Art...
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2008 'Drawing Lines', Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi 2006 ‘Refilled’, Gallery Beyond, Mumbai
Selected Group exhibitions
2012 'Extending the Line', Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi2011 'At Walden Pond', Gallery Beyond, Mumbai
2010 'Loss', The Loft, Mumbai2009-10 'Evidentia', Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore 2009 'Vicissitudes of the Constructed Image', Tangerine Art Space, Bangalore 2009 'Home', Travancore Art Gallery, New Delhi 2007 ‘Meandering Membranes’, presented by Empire Art & The Shrine Gallery, New Delhi at The Taj Bengal, Kolkata 2007 ‘Urban Similes: Transforming Cities’, Project 88, Mumbai 2007 ‘De – Sizing’, Presented by Bombay Art Gallery at Jehangir Nicholsan Art Gallery, National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai 2007 ‘Indian Art Part III: Here and Now: Contemporaries Voices from India’ Grosvenor Vadhera Art Gallery, London. 2007 ‘Does Size Matter – II’, Jehangir Nicholson Gallery, National Centre for Performing Arts (N.C.P.A)., Mumbai 2007 Studio Confluence, Mumbai 2007 ‘Works on Paper’, Gallery Articulate, Mumbai 2007 ‘Soft Spoken’, Bombay Art Gallery, Mumbai 2007 ‘Does Size Matter’, Art Konsult Gallery, New Delhi 2006 ‘Paper Flute’, Gallery Espace, New Delhi 2006 ‘Split-Ends’, Bombay Art Gallery, Mumbai 2006 ‘Summer Rites’, Gallery Beyond, Mumbai 2006 ‘Real 2006’, Visual Art Gallery, Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi 2005 'Present-Future', National Gallery of Modern Art (N.G.M.A)., Mumbai 2005 Exhibition / Auction for Tsunami Relief, National Gallery of Modern Art (N.G.M.A)., Mumbai 2004 'L.C.M', Bajaj Art Gallery, Mumbai. 2002 MFA Students Show, Hermitage Art Gallery, Mumbai 2002 'Tongue in Cheek', Art Resource Trust, Mumbai 2002 Group Show curated by Gallery Beyond at India Habitat Center, New Delhi 2002 'Unreal but Probably True, True but Probably Unreal', Tao Gallery, Mumbai 2002 'Shakti', Group Show of Women Artists curated by Gallery Beyond at Hacienda Art Gallery, Mumbai 2001 'Legends of Indian and African Art', Nehru Centre, Mumbai 2001 All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS) Exhibition, Kamalnayan Bajaj Art Gallery, Mumbai 2000 'Agrees' Exhibition for Gujarat Relief Fund, National Gallery of Modern Art (N.G.M.A)., Mumbai 1999 'Vidhyarthi Vishesh', Pradarshak Art Gallery, Mumbai
Joint Exhibitions 2007 ‘Split Ends’, With Prajakta Palav at Bombay Art Gallery, Mumbai
Participations 2012 'Art for Humanity', Coomaraswamy Hall, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai
2011 '1:3:1- Part I', W+K Exp, New Delhi 2010 'Size Matters or Does it?', Part2 at Latitude 28, New Delhi2010 'Size Matters or Does it?', Part I, Latitude 28, New Delhi 2007 International Incheon Women Artists’ Show, Biennale, Korea 2007 ‘Harvest’, Arushi Art Gallery, New Delhi 2006 ‘Annual Show’, Shrishti Art Gallery, Hyderabad 2000 2nd Western Region Camlin Art Foundation Exhibition, Mumbai. 2000 'Chatak', Student Monsoon Show, Nehru Centre, Mumbai. 2000 Monsoon Show, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai. 1998 Maharashtra State Art Exhibition
Honours and Awards
2002 'J.J. Teachers award', Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai 2001-...
2002 'J.J. Teachers award', Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai 2001- 03 Awarded 'Human Resource Department' Young Artist Scholarship, New Delhi, Government of India 2001 All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS) Award, Maharashtra State, Kamalnayan Bajaj Gallery, Mumbai 2000 Award at 2nd Western Region Camlin Art Foundation Exhibition, Mumbai 2000 Meyo Memorial Award, Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai 1999 S.B. Palshikar Award, Sir, J.J. School of Art, Mumbai
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Unlike your earlier narrative and autobiographical pieces, your recent work concentrates on varying formulations of ‘space’ – positive and negative, filled and empty. Can you walk us through this transition?
My earlier works were more like fabricated stories, where I invented situations and roles to play in it. Those images arrived to the narratives with protagonist, a self-image, positioned to play roles...
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Unlike your earlier narrative and autobiographical pieces, your recent work concentrates on varying formulations of ‘space’ – positive and negative, filled and empty. Can you walk us through this transition?
My earlier works were more like fabricated stories, where I invented situations and roles to play in it. Those images arrived to the narratives with protagonist, a self-image, positioned to play roles in the overlapped and entangled worlds of dreams and reality, personal and external. Gradually I explored different dimensions to this act of fabricating. This process in itself was the filler for a blank paper or canvass. I could see the parallels between this act of filling a surface and the way we deal with insecurities related to isolation and emptiness found in living. We invent or fabricate, we dream or re-collect to fill that nothingness. We invented god, mothers invent stories for children. Also, there are folk and mythological stories designed to bind us with certain social responsibilities and behaviors. This strong sense of believing in such fillers to an extent of un-questioned acceptance gives the secured way of existence.
Here I got involved in creating ‘filled spaces’. The spaces where one could be lost, where one can hide, dissolve, drown or fly as if completely absorbed. For me, creating such spaces is like making the cosmos to live and to believe in it, thus filling the surrounding emptiness and void within. Going back to earlier works I would say my approach has been towards making the fillers for an empty paper or an empty hand or wall or an empty mind. Earlier there were stories and now there are these stuffed spaces.
In your work, boundaries between the organic and inorganic and also between man and nature seem blurred. What else characterizes the intricate universes that you create, and what do they demand from the viewer?
One thing I always get to hear from the audience is ‘your work grows over me’. I believe this is the state of mind evoked by looking at a repetitive or dynamic image, just like when you uninterruptedly look at sea or sky. Such remarks give me a sense of fulfillment as I see my works as parallel universe in an already existing and defined world. I want the viewer to look at my works as if looking at sky which looks different every time you see it.
Can you tell us about the demands of your creative process and some of the people or things that inspire your work?
Its difficult to point out anything specific as different series of works need different set up of mind. But I have to be involved in a specific thought process constantly for a longer period of time before executing it. I just gulp the surrounding and then meditate on it till these thoughts get structured. That happens within and also on the surface, as I proceed in my work with an organic fashion, giving lot of room to evolve an image, looking for chances to discover new meanings in it. The image keeps on growing organically. Like I said my works are about creating filled spaces, I build up an image by layering and repeating elements till it turns into ever-growing and engulfing spaces to suck the viewer. This character of building a space is very important for me as it refers to the way universe is ordered.
What does the future hold in store for Minal Damani?
For this year I have my solo show coming up in September with Vadehra Art Gallery.
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PAST AUCTIONS
Showing
4
of
4
works
Lot 57
Details
The Art of India Auction
18-19 May 2022
a) To make it water - 1
Signed 'Minal' ...
Winning bid
$1,716
Rs 1,30,416
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)
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Lot 30
Details
Absolute Art Auction
23-24 January 2013
Untitled
Gouache and poster colour
21.5 x 27.5 in
Winning bid
$360
Rs 19,080
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)
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Lot 93
Details
Absolute Art Auction
23-24 January 2013
Untitled
Gouache and poster colour
21.5 x 27.5 in
Winning bid
$593
Rs 31,440
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)
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PAST StoryLTD AUCTIONS
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EXHIBITIONS
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