Kiran Nadar Museum of Art presents an online exhibition called ‘Visions of Interiority’ by Rameshwar Broota
New Delhi: The pandemic and subsequent lockdown has made us pause, slow down and reflect at the situation we are in, where social distancing and safety protocols have made us reschedule our immediate programs/activities at the museum. But subsequently, it has turned our lens to focus on our exhibition history of the last ten years, and make accessible to a global audience some of our early exhibitions, by revisiting and retro-fitting it for a virtual experience.
Life at present is gripped by the fear of mortality and death, pain, helplessness, fighting an invisible enemy, where in the body and its care has become the most pertinent subject of discussion – its strength, and immunity, its frailty and vulnerability have taken centre stage. The KNMA team felt it pertinent to re-present the retrospective of Rameshwar Broota, ‘Visions of Interiority’ that would bring to the global /digital/virtual audiences, the overbearing emphasis in Broota on the human body and its predicament.
This project refrains from becoming a simple walkthrough of the past exhibition. Instead it interweaves fresh juxtapositions of visuals, insertions of texts and an abbreviated narrative that hints at various encounters of the human body vis- a-vis natural and urban industrial environments.
Mrs Kiran Nadar, Founder and Chairperson, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art commenting on the occasion, “My first acquisition for our house in Delhi was a very graphic male nude by Rameshwar Broota and I must say it was a courageous purchase for both of us, me and my husband. Rameshwar Broota – the painter who has been described as one of India’s finest treasures is a great artist. His trademark style was the “scratch” technique – unlike most artists who apply paint to create images, he first layers the canvas with paint and then painstakingly scratches it out for forms to emerge. Our current re-presentation of Broota’s retrospective exhibition in a form of a virtual walkthrough, is part of our effort to share and safeguard great histories of Indian art and artists. It allows large and diverse audiences to engage with his work from the comfort of their homes”.
Watch Broota’s early experimental films, zoom in and get a closer look at his iconic paintings in the Viewing Room, hear the artist speak about his technique, explore press clippings and reviews of his early solo exhibitions, walk through his retrospective organised by KNMA in October 2014, and much more at https://www.knma.in/