JEHANGIR NICHOLSON ART FOUNDATION
Many people feel a disconnect when they view abstract art. In this lecture, Ranjit Hoskote explored some of the consequences of the visual estrangement produced by abstraction. What form of relationship does abstraction propose with its viewership? To what extent can viewers truly participate in the art of abstraction? What forms of freedom might abstraction signal towards? These are the questions that Hoskote opened up in the course of this lecture.
The programme is part of a series of events structured around the exhibition “ Nothing is Absolute: A Journey through Abstraction”. The exhibition co‐curated by Mehlli Gobhai and Ranjit Hoskote, is an unorthodox account of the several strands that tell the story of abstraction in India.
Ranjit Hoskote is a cultural theorist, curator and poet based in Mumbai. He is the author of 30 books, including a biography of Jehangir Sabavala, Pilgrim, Exile, Sorcerer (Eminence Designs, 1998), and numerous monographs, among them The Complicit Observer: The Art of Sudhir Patwardhan (Eminence Designs, 2004), Zinny & Maidagan: Compartment/ Das Abteil (Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt/ Walther König, 2010), and Atul Dodiya (Prestel, 2014). With Nancy Adajania, he is co-author of The Dialogues Series (Popular, 2011), an unfolding programme of conversations with artists. With Maria Hlavajova, he is editor of Future Publics: A Critical Reader in Contemporary Art (BAK/Valiz, 2015).
Hoskote curated India’s first-ever national pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2011), co-curated the 7th Gwangju Biennale (2008), and was co-convenor of Documents, Constellations, Prospects (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, 2013). His exhibitions include Bombay: Labyrinth/ Laboratory (Japan Foundation, Tokyo, 2001), a mid-career retrospective of Atul Dodiya; Jehangir Sabavala, a lifetime retrospective (NGMA Mumbai & Delhi, 2005-2006); Unpacking the Studio: Celebrating the Jehangir Sabavala Bequest (CSMVS/ JNAF, 2015), and No Parsi is an Island (with Nancy Adajania; NGMA Mumbai, 2013 & NGMA Delhi, 2016).
