Art Park – 75th Edition

S.G. Vasudev is an Indian Asian Modern & Contemporary painter born in 1941 in Mysore. S.G. Vasudev received recognition as a painter early in his career. He won the National Award from the All India Lalit Kala Akademi in 1967 and later, awards from State Academies of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, besides the prestigious Karnataka Rajyotsava Award, Venkatappa Award and Paniker Puraskaram. Vasudev is a founder-member of the Cholamandal Artists’ Village, outside Chennai, where he lived and worked till 1988.  

Vasudev has participated in several important group exhibitions in India and abroad. In addition, he has held solo exhibitions in different parts of India and the world (including the USA, Canada, England and Germany).   Exhibitions of his drawings based on the late A.K. Ramanujan’s poetry and translations, titled “Tribute to Ramanujan,” have been held in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, London and Chicago. He has held two retrospective exhibitions of his art works at National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore and Mumbai (1998-99).

Vasudev, Founder and Honorary President of Art Park, A Bengaluru-based art initiative to bridge the gap between artists and the public. Art Park brings together 20-25 artists from across the city on the first Sunday of every month. The event focuses on visual art and is hosted at the Sculpture Garden in Ravindra Kalakshetra, JC Road, and at different venues or communities in Bangalore.

Bhagya Ajaikumar is an artist, professor, and art administrator. Born and educated through college in India, she is now based in Bangalore and Chicago. She has a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa, USA. 

Bhagya currently is a Guest faculty at Department of Visual Arts at Bangalore University.  Previously, a visiting professor at the Chamarajendra Academy of Fine Arts and at the University School of Design, Manasagangotri in Mysore. She was an Art Educator at Gallery 37 in Chicago, and Arts for the Living Center, Burlington, Iowa.

Bhagya Ajaikumar is the President of Art Park, Bengaluru a unique cultural initiative launched by Bangalore-based contemporary artists, fostering connections with the Public. Bhagya is a Co- President of Terrain Exhibitions, Chicago, USA, she has invited artists from India and the US to participate in the Terrain Biennial 2021 and 2023.

Arundhati Nag is a film and theatre personality. She has been involved with multilingual theatre in India for over 25 years. She has been involved with Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) and has done various productions in Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and English.

She has performed several plays in Kannada: Girish Karnad’s ”Anju Mallige”, ”27 Mavalli Circle”, ”Sandhya Chayya” (Jayant Dalvi), Girish Karnad’s ”Nagamandala” and Bertolt Brecht’s ”Hulaguru Huliyavva”. She has also worked in several Kannada movies like ”Accident” (1984), ”Parameshi Prema Prasanga” (1984) and ”Nodiswamy, Navirodu Heege” (1987).

Arundhati is the force behind the conception of the theatre space dedicated to quality theatre in Bangalore: Ranga Shankara. She is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2008), the Padma Shri (2010) and the National Film Awards (2010).

G. Jayakumar was born in Bangalore, studied art from Ken School of Art, Bangalore under Master RM Hadapad and studied Printmaking  from M S University of Baroda under Prof. PD Dhumal and Prof. Jyothi Bhat from 1980-83 and went on to pursue Master’s at Royal College of Art  London on Inlaks Foundation Scholarship (UK) for higher studies in Printmaking under Prof. Alastair Grant, Prof. Paul Huxley and Prof. Chris Orr. He was awarded the Inlaks Scholarship (1983-85) and State Lalitkala Annual Award for Print in 1980, 1983 & 1989.

He started teaching at Falmouth School of Art (now Falmouth University), a short term fellowship in 1985. He set-up and supervised Graphic Studio of Karnataka Lalit Kala Academy in Bangalore 1989-92 and later in 1993, he was invited to join Kannada University in Hampi to establish the faculty of Fine Arts and he also created a Sculpture Garden.

He joined Bangalore University on invitation in 2007 to establish the Department of Visual Arts, which is now an important Post Graduate Centre for higher learning in the field of Visual Arts in South India. He has nurtured many young creative minds of this generation, who are among the most successful practicing artists of the country.

Nalini S Malaviya is a Bangalore based curator and writer. In addition to curating contemporary art exhibitions, she offers curatorial and advisory services to individuals and corporate, facilitating art acquisition. She has been writing for the media since 2003, and has been an art columnist for leading newspapers. She has contributed to Financial Times, Times of India, Bangalore Mirror, Deccan Herald, several art magazines and artist books, among other publications.

Nalini is the Founder/Publisher of Art Scene India, www.artsceneindia.com, which was established in 2006 as a blog, and which has evolved into a significant resource site and a digital archive, with extensive documentation of the Indian art scene over the last 17 years.

Nalini has published short fiction as part of anthologies – The Shrinking Woman, Curse of the Bird, Bhelpuri, etc. She was invited to contribute to an international ebook on motivation and creativity, where she shares her personal experiences on staying motivated and finding creative success.

She is currently involved with the curation of several solo artist projects, and has a fortnightly art column in Sunday Herald. She is former Member, Advisory Committee, National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore, and currently she is the Chairperson for ALL Bangalore Chapter for Fine Arts and President, Karnataka Arts Leadership Council, WICCI (Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry), both non profit initiatives.

Suresh Jayaram is an artist, art historian, arts administrator, writer, and curator from Bangalore. He is the Founder and director of Visual Art Collective/1.Shanthiroad Studio is an international artist’s residency and alternative art space in Bangalore, India.

He is involved in art practice, urban mapping, archiving, curation, and arts education. His keen interest in environmental and urban developmental issues influences his work.

He is actively networking and collaborating with artists and art organizations to create a conversation across cultures locally and globally. He often mentors students with projects and curates walks in the city about nature and culture. He runs an open house at his studio and regularly cooks and serves food to connect and encourage creative encounters among people.

Pradeep Kumar DM(b.1988) lives and works between Davangere and Bengaluru as an Inter-media artist and is also a Guest Faculty at the Bangalore University.

He holds a BVA in Painting from the College of Fine Arts, Davangere and an MVA in Painting from Bangalore University. Pradeep works mostly with found objects and surfaces like terracotta tiles, dry gourds, slates, charcoal and cow dung for his drawings, paintings, sculptures & installations.

He is the recipient of the Camlin Art Foundation Award (Student) and Europe Tour, Mumbai (2010); Karnataka Lalit Kala Academi State Award (2010); Young Artist Scholarship, Ministry of Culture, New Delhi (2010-12); Shenoy Art Foundation Emerging Artist Award, Bengaluru (2014); Arnawaz Vasudev Charities Scholarship, Bengaluru (2019).

Pradeep has exhibited in solo’s and various group shows and projects both in India & abroad.

Veeresh Rudraswami is an accomplished artist and art educator based in Bangalore, India. He completed his Bachelor of Visual Arts (B.V.A.) in Painting from Kannada University, Hampi, in 2010, and went on to earn his Master of Visual Arts (M.V.A.) in Painting, ranking second, from Bangalore University in 2012. In 2016, he completed his MPIL from Kannada University, Hampi.

Veeresh has a notable exhibition history, including solo exhibitions such as “Life Patterns” (2019) and “Metropolis” (2019) at Swasti Art Gallery, Bangalore, and “VARSHA 2020” (2020) at the same venue. He has also participated in group exhibitions like “ODYSSEY” (2023) at Swasti Art Gallery, Bangalore.

His artistic journey has been enriched by participation in various workshops, including Shilpavana at Ravindra Kalakshetra Annexure, Bangalore (2017), KALA CHITRA in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh (2017), and an open-air Karnataka Art Camp at Capital, Delhi Karnataka Sangha, Delhi (2017).

Veeresh has been honored with several awards throughout his career, including the KalaSamskar Award from Bangalore Art Foundations (2012), the Kalabhushan Award from Ilkal (2015), and the 46th Karnataka Lalit Kala Academy Award (2017).

In addition to his artistic endeavors, Veeresh is also known for his contributions to the field of art education, sharing his passion and knowledge with aspiring artists.

Dr. Mamta Sagar is a poet, writer, academic and translator. Her doctoral work is in Comparative Literature from University of Hyderabad is titled as “Gender, Patriarchy and Resistance: Contemporary Women’s Poetry in Kannada and Hindi (1980-2000)”. She has taught Comparative Literature, Translation Studies, Kannada Literature, Feminism, Postcolonial and Cultural Studies at the Hyderabad Central University and Bangalore University. Mamta is actively involved with international poetry translation projects from the UK, Slovenia, Spain and Germany and facilitates poetry and translation workshops internationally. She has been a guest editor for Muse India the literary ejournal, Issue 96 and her editorial is titled as, ‘A decade long literary experience through translation’. She has three poetry films titled INTERVERSIONS I, II, III, produced with Srishti Films as part of the Wales-India collaborative projects. Art-Poetry installation project developed and co-curated by Mamta is on display at the Piccolo Museo della Poesia, (Little Museum of Poetry), Italy. Her areas of interest include Curating Poetry Performances and Installations, Poetry in Public Spaces, Transdiciplinary engagements with text, sound, visual and performative mediums of art. Presently Professor Sagar is Head of Studies, Creative Writing Programme, at Media Arts and Sciences, Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru. 

Pallavi MD is a singer, composer, actor and filmmaker. She comes from a family of artists and has a degree in Hindustani classical music from The Benares University. She has been performing Kannada poetry (bhavageethe) for the last twenty eight years. She has been composing music for theatre, dance and television.

She has won the META Best Actress award for her solo theatrical piece C Sharp C Blunt. Her play Shilpa, the Indian Singer App has won the Best Play Award at the Secondo Festival Switzerland, 2014 and ZKB Patronage Prize at the Zurcher Theater Spektakel, 2014. Playgrounds, a short film she wrote and directed, won the Best Film award at the Hong Kong International Film Festival and Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. She has won the State award Best Playback Singer in the year 2007, and the State Kempegowda award for her contribution in the field of music. She has been awarded the prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan national Award for her contribution to the field of Music.

She has performed jugalbandis with classical musicians, and has been a part of many fusion and world music ensembles. She has been a part of many international and interdisciplinary collaborations. She is keen on collaborating with multidisciplinary artists and looks for projects that experiment with form and content.

Dimple B Shah is a practicing multidisciplinary artist from Bangalore, who studied in MS University, Baroda. Her art practice has developed in Painting, Printmaking, Installation and Performance Art. She has worked in various International and National Festivals. She has worked in several International Residency Programmes, to name few, Virtual Canvas International online residency Krupa Gallery Wroclaw Poland, The Art house UK, Villa Welbreta, Germany, Space Studio, Baroda, Glasgow Print Studio UK, Printmakers Studio Mumbai & Baroda and Karnataka Lalit Kala Academy.

She has been honored with National & International Awards among them ROSL International Residency UK 2019, Villa Welbreta Residency by Municipal corporation of Munich 2017, India Foundation for the Arts grant for project 560, 2014, Afiriperforma International Residency, Lagos, Nigeria 2013, First Gold Prix in 7th Engraving Biennale, Versailles 2009, National Award, LKA, Government of India 2008, Commonwealth Arts & Crafts Award, UK 2005, Arunawaz Award 2004, Junior Fellowship, HRD, Govt.2000/2. She is practicing Live Performance art since last Twenty three years and widely performed in International performance Festivals and Biennales in the Zurich, Paris, Munich, Gothenburg, and Lagos, Colombo and Dhaka and several cities in India. She is active member Several performance art Platforms like Transitstation, Lock Unlock performance Art, Out of site Chicago  and  Be-coming Tree. She had solo shows in Glasgow Print studio, United Kingdom. Sumukha Art Gallery and Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad. She had two person show at The Art House United Kingdom and Manchester Contemporary and her Prints and performed at show titled ‘The Weitere Weiterreichung’ in Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin. Her work has widely exhibited in Hit | Haugesund International Relief Print Festival, THE 5TH BANGKOK TRIENNALE, EIGHT INTERNATIONAL TRINNALE, SOFIA, BULGERIA Dada Fest International Festival, Liverpool and Massachusetts USA and Third International Print Biennale of Yerevan. Her works are in collection in University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art and Private collection.