Texas sculptors inaugurate exchange exhibition in India.
Anywhere you go in the world, the work of Texas artists is sure to turn up. Visiting India this month? Be sure to see Texas!, an exhibition at the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi?s National Academy of Art. The exhibition features the work of 14 sculptors from the Lone Star State.
Spearheading it are George Tobolowsky and Bill FitzGibbons. The pair created The Lone Star Art Alliance to promote the work of Texas artists on the international stage. FitzGibbons, a San Antonio sculptor, selected the participants: Ricky Armendariz, Amita Bhatt, FitzGibbons, Wayne Gilbert, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Christy Karll, Sharon Kopriva, Catherine Lee, Charmaine Locke, Rahul Mitra, Sherry Owens, George Schroeder, ]ames Surls, and Tobolowsky. He looked for a broad demographic representation from the three largest sculpture centers in the state: Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Lily Wei, an independent curator based in New York, is curating the exhibition and writing the catalogue.
The genesis of this exhibition began in San Antonio, where FitzGibbons, the former director of the Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum, established the Icelandic Culture Exchange in 2007. FitzGibbons says the exchange program was initiated as a result of a lighting installation he had done in Reykjavik. And so it was that in 2011, the sculptor Gudj?n Bjarnason came to Blue Star as part of this program. Bjarnason, who is also an architect, spends several months of the year working in Pondicherry, India, where he first introduced the work of Texas artists to the Icelandic ambassador. It was actually Bjarnason who was first asked to show at the National Academy. However, the 30,000-square-foot space was too large for him to fill himself, prompting him to ask FitzGibbons to put together a contingent of Texas artists to show concurrently. ?It is important to have an ongoing dialogue. It works better when you have artists meeting with artists. That?s when things happen,? says FitzGibbons.
Dallas?s Tobolowsky and Sherry Owens are no strangers to India. Tobolowsky recently sent four of his large sculptures to a collector there who had seen his work at Dallas?s Museum of Biblical Art. And in 2011, Owens spent several weeks in the country, first joining Sharon and Gus Kopriva to see Sharon?s exhibition in Mumbai. While there, Amita Bhatt joined them. They were eventually joined by Charmaine Locke. After the Koprivas returned to the US, Owens, Bhatt, and Locke traveled to Vadodara where they spent several weeks doing an artists? residency at Bhatt?s alma mater, Maharaja Sayajirao University. Owens says, ?It was a real treat to visit the campus and meet several of the faculty.? On the same trip, Locke and Owens traveled to Agra and Varanasi. Their experiences on that trip still inform their work.
Every exhibition has its challenges, even for this group of veterans whose work has been seen worldwide. As James Surls says, ?Sculpture is hard. It takes up the most room and it makes the most noise.? But the challenges facing this group are unique. Tobolowsky worried about its installation, saying they aren?t even sure what equipment would be available. Moreover, such a large space inevitably includes quite a bit of wall space, prompting most of the artists to send works on paper in addition to their sculptures.
This exhibition is supported by the Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi, the United States Embassy in India, the Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas, the Texas Commission on the Arts in Austin, and Anubhav Nath, director of the Nath Foundation.
Joining the artists will be a group representing the Crow Collection, as well as the museum?s director, Amy Lewis Hofland, and curator, Dr. Karin Oen. Hofland says, ?We are excited to be offering our members and friends the opportunity to be a part of this extraordinary travel opportunity to India and a groundbreaking cultural exchange.? In addition to the opening at the Lalit Kala Akademi, followed by an opening party hosted by the American Embassy and the Crow Collection, the group will go to the Golden Triangle, visiting artists? studios along the way.
As an added benefit, Texas! will coincide with the India Art Fair, the largest art fair in Southeast Asia. For Tobolowsky, ?Having an international show is always exciting. The camaraderie among the artists is great. It will catch the attention of people in India but also the art fair people.? During the week between the opening at the National Gallery and the Art Fair, Tobolowsky is organizing a four-day trip that will include stops in Agra and Jaipur. Both groups will reunite in New Delhi for the opening of the Art Fair.
After closing in New Delhi, the exhibition will continue to Chennai in Southern India, where it will be exhibited at the regional center of the National Academy of Art. Chennai is San Antonio?s sister city, making the connection even more relevant. Another Texas connection on the subcontinent is Greg Pardo, the Deputy Director at the US Consulate in Calcutta. A fellow San Antonian, Pardo is keen to have the exhibition shown in Calcutta. As it happens, Calcutta is a sister city to Dallas. The exhibition will be in India for four to six months.
But the dialogue does not end when these crates return to Texas. Instead, there will be more crates, those carrying the work of 30 Indian painters who will have an exhibition at the Crow Collection later in the year. It is an exciting opportunity for Hofland. She says, ?At the Crow Collection, we are always looking for ways to expand our audience and deepen the understanding and connection here in Texas with what is currently happening in Asia. We are thrilled at the potential this exhibition promises?to draw a broad audience base, from our burgeoning Indian community, as well as the vibrant contemporary art scene here in Dallas.? She adds, ?This is our first collaboration with the Lalit Kala Akademi. We are excited to meet our colleagues there during this trip, and we look forward to the development of a long-term friendship and collaboration.? –P