The Guild is delighted to present Retinal Pleasure, a solo exhibition of the works of Shibu Natesan.

The solo exhibition ranges over the various artistic genres with which he engages, featuring still lifes, landscapes, as well as a number of rare self-portraits. Natesan’s art explores the social through a constant engagement with the ubiquitous, from the plein air works that capture places he travels, to the still lifes of his collection of kitsch and other objects.
 
“The good thing about travel is that while you are travelling you are always in the present. That moment, you don’t think about yesterday and you don’t think about tomorrow.” - Shibu Natesan
 
The exhibition will preview at our Alibaug location on Saturday, the 24th of June at noon. The preview is accompanied by the publication of the exhibition catalogue, which features two interviews of the artist that delve into his practice, discover the nature and experiences of his travels and come to understand his approach to art, media and the contemporary world around him. 

“I think as a painter I always want maybe a connection with the history of painting, and for me that is always remembering something. If I paint an object, I know that somebody has attempted to paint this thing. So that connection with the history of art is very important.” -Shibu Natesan
 

About the Artist

Shibu Natesan, born in Kerala, 1966, studied Painting at the College of Fine Arts, Trivandrum, Kerala, followed by a master’s degree in Printmaking at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda. In 1996–1997 he was the Artist in Residence at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam, and was awarded the Uriot Prize. 

Natesan’s work has been exhibited widely. Some of his recent shows include Past-Present-Continuous: 25 Years of The Guild, at CCA Galleries, Bikaner House, New Delhi, 2022; Shibu Natesan, Tobit Roche & Mark Shields: Landscape, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 2020; Sightings: Out of the Wild, curated by Roobina Karode, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, 2019; Summer Show 2018, 1x1 Art Gallery, Dubai, 2018; Group Show, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, 2017; Bhupen Khakhar’s Contemporaries: India 1960-2016, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 2016; Mapmakers II: The Evolution of Contemporary Indian Art, Aicon Gallery, New York, 2013.

Select solo shows include Shibu Natesan: Plein Air Views of India and London, Grosvenor Gallery, London, Saffron Art, Mumbai, 2023; Uninterrupted Speech, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2013; External Affairs, Grosvenor Vadehra, London, 2009; Each One Teach One, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, 2007; Vision Unlimited, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 2005.

 
About The Guild

The Guild was established in 1997 with an aim to function as a semi-institutional space within the bustling art-hub of Mumbai, India. Since its inception, it has been providing a platform for discursive practices, innovation and experimentation in contemporary art. The Guild represents artists of diverse generations who have brought in robust dialogue within and across their disciplines. The Gallery has held major retrospectives of K. P. Reji, Sudhir Patwardhan, Navjot Altaf and G. R. Iranna in collaboration with premier national art centres.

The gallery has published a number of books with essays by preeminent critics and curators on contemporary Indian artists, such as Sudhir Patwardhan, Navjot Altaf, Jyoti Bhatt, K. G. Subramanyan, A. Ramachandran and T. V. Santhosh, amongst others.

For more details, please contact us at:
theguildart@gmail.com, teamattheguild2@gmail.com