Three women artists play raconteurs with art, at their solo shows across the city

Telling stories of cities imagined and real, capturing a personal moment or commenting on larger political issues, it is the week for solo shows by women artists. In keeping with the same, the city is hosting three blockbuster shows. A good blend of message and medium, the works are by Mumbai based Shilpa Gupta, Delhi based Vibha Galhotra, and Bangalore based Minam Apang.

Apang has dug into local stories and myths form North-Eastern cities. Retold by Verrier Elwin, they create a world of fantastical beings rendered in her signature style which is graphic and linear. She renders her stories on paper with spontaneity and pizzazz.

Galhotra creates imaginary landscapes of images inspired by the metropolitan, capturing teeming slums, high-rise buildings and the tangled wires of electric poles. Gupta is showcasing works from over a year-and-half. Sound, light and image installations capture her personal and political concerns.

Apang, who is showing at the Chatterjee and Lal Gallery near Radio Club, is revisiting her childhood through this body of works. “I was not brought up in the North-East. In fact, I went to a convent school in Mussoorie where we were taught sacrificing animals was a pagan practice. It was in direct contrast with the practices back home. I needed to rediscover these old stories and reconnect with my native land which is why I chose to work on the story of the War with the Stars. What I like about this narrative is that it’s open-ended and can have a number of readings,” says Apang, who makes it clear that a political reading was not intended in the work.

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