January 10 - February 15, 2009
Beverly Hills, CA, January 10, 2009 – Sundaram Tagore Gallery in beverly hills is pleased to present works by Natvar Bhavsar in his exhibition entitled RANG. In conjunction with the show, Skira, the leading Italian art publishing house, has published a monograph on the artist.
The show opens with a cocktail reception on January 31, 2008, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and runs through February 15, 2009.
Using his characteristic style—sifting layers of pure pigments onto canvas—New York-based Bhavsar produces brilliantly colored paintings with fluid, dense color. The works are inspired and informed by the vibrant palette of India, with colors floating in the center of the canvas, expanding like a cloud.
Gallerist Sundaram Tagore says, "Bhavsar's work is striking and luminous—the colors expand and contract and there is an endless alternation of light and dark. He evokes the feeling of fluctuation with static images. Bhavsar's style has evolved over decades, and his technique of painting with dry pigment is groundbreaking and unique."
Tagore adds, "Bhavsar was touched by the visual impact of Holi and Rangoli, during which festival goers throw bright pigments on each other in celebration. This inspired Bhavsar to explore the language of color-field painting."
For Bhavsar, the process of painting is of the utmost significance. His method, which has been refined over many years, consists of using various tools, such as screens and sieves. Bhavsar works with pure pigment powder, sifting it in many layers onto a canvas. He carefully controls the rhythm of his movements, so each drop of pigment seen is put there deliberately. What emerges are lyrical, brightly-hued canvases with a delicate texture. Oftentimes his nebulous color fields echo cloud formations or constellations. They suggest the artist's exploration of the microcosmic and the macrocosmic universe. The work is monumental, with some pieces reaching more than 30 feet in length. Regardless of scale, Bhavsar's paintings offer a glimpse of the infinite.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
In 1934, Bhavsar was born in Gujarat, India and gained his early artistic education at the C.N. School of Art in Ahmedabad. In 1962, Bhavsar left India to further his education at the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Fine Arts. Since 1965, he has been an active member of the New York School of Colorists. In 1965, Bhavsar received a John D. Rockefeller Grant, which launched him into the New York art world. He was also awarded a Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship in 1975. His paintings are in more than 800 public and private collections, including those of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. His paintings are included in the university museums of Cornell, Brown, MIT and Delaware. Bhavsar's work is also featured in many corporate collections, such as AT&T, Exxon, American Express, Swiss Bank, Hilton Hotels, Mobil, NBC and Reader's Digest Association, Inc.
For more information contact Emily Beck at emilybeck@sundaramtagore.com or call 212 677 4520