|
T. V. Santhosh
‘This work is an extension of a series
of watercolours I had done some years back titled Protagonists and
Folklores of Justice. Essentially, these are part of my ongoing
preoccupation with understanding history in relation with the war and
terror that shapes our current reality. Like in a one-act play wherein
the protagonist interacts with objects that determine the progress of
its narrative, I choreograph the act of the protagonist in order to
shapeshift his identities through history and its landmark events. In
this work the Protagonist stands immersed in an act of wrapping and
untying knots of entangled threads connecting various props hung or
placed around. Some are partially or fully wrapped by threads forming a
protective layer. It is more like a meditative process to encounter
enigmatic aspect of inner world, yet the signs of elusive associations
of the turbulent world outside lingers on through the imageries.’ - T.
V. Santhosh
T.V. Santhosh, born in Kerala, India, 1968,
obtained his graduate degree in sculpture from Kalabhavan, Santiniketan
and his master’s degree in sculpture from the Maharaja Sayajirao
University of Baroda. His art cites histories of violence, injustices,
war, terrorism and media propaganda. His art practice has stood as a
strong commentary on the current social and political crisis of our
lives.
Santhosh’s works have been shown widely in museums and biennales. Some
of his recent museum shows include the Kochi Biennale Pavilion,
Kozhikode Beach, 2024;
Contextual Cosmologies,
curated by Anushka Rajendran, Bose Krishnamachari, Premjish Achari and
Sujit SN, College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram, 2023; Freedom
and Awakening, Kolkata Centre for Creativity in collaboration with
the Government of West Bengal, Kolkata, 2022–23; Lokame Tharavadu
(The World is One Family), curated by Bose Krishnamachari, Kochi
Biennale Foundation, 2021; forming in the pupil of an eye,
curated by Sudarshan Shetty, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, 2016; The Great
Game, curated by Marco Meneguzzo and Mazdak Faiznia, National
Pavilion of Iran, 56th Venice Biennale, 2015; Making History,
Colombo Art Biennale, 2014; Heritage Transport Museum, curated by Priya
Pall, New Delhi, 2013.
Santhosh’s select solo shows include History Lab and the Elegy of
Visceral Incantations; Kerala Lalithakala Akademi, supported by The
Guild, 2024; Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum in collaboration with The Guild,
2023–24; Common Wall, Grosvenor Vadehra, London, 2014, in
collaboration with The Guild; The Land, Nature Morte, Berlin,
2011, in collaboration with The Guild; Burning Flags, Aicon
Gallery, London, 2010, in collaboration with The Guild; Blood and
Spit, Jack Shainman Gallery, 2009, in collaboration with The Guild; Living
with a Wound, Grosvenor Vadehra, London, 2009 in collaboration with
The Guild; A Room to Pray at Avanthay Contemporary, Zurich, 2008,
in collaboration with The Guild; Countdown, Nature Morte, Delhi,
2008, in collaboration with The Guild; Countdown, The Guild,
Mumbai, 2008.
His art practice has been
widely written about, including in three books, History Lab and the
Elegy of Visceral Incantations (The Guild and Dr. Bhau Daji Lad
Museum of Art, 2024); T. V. Santhosh: Unresolved Stories (The
Guild Art Gallery, 2008) and Blood and Spit: Living with a Wound
(The Guild and Jack Shainman Gallery, 2009). Other catalogues of his
solo shows include One Hand Clapping/Siren, Living with a
Wound, and False Promises. |
|
|
