Arpana Caur

Arpana Caur is an Indian contemporary painter and graphic artist.[1] Arpana Caur exhibits dynamism and deep insight in her depictions of women’s conditions in modern India. A self-taught artist, Caur’s portrayals of women in urban environments reflect her concerns with the issues of our time: life and death, violence, the environment, and women’s issues. Clothing is a recurring theme in her work, both reinforcing and undermining the established image of women.[2]

Arpana Caur
NationalityIndian
Known forPainting
Parent

Early life and education

Arpana Caur [lower-alpha 1] was born in 1954, in Delhi. She comes from a Sikh family who fled the Pakistani West Punjab to the Republic of India in 1947 during the confusion over the partition of British India. Her mother Ajit Kaur (born in 1934), is a writer who writes in Panjabi. She has not had her first name Arpana since her birth, but she adopted it at the age of fifteen, as an expression of a personal development process.

Her exposure to art, music and literature happened early in her life. She learnt the Sitar, wrote poetry, but enjoyed painting the most. At the age of nine, she made her first oil painting, 'Mother & Daughter' inspired by the works of Amrita Shergil. Arpana graduated from the University of Delhi with a Master of Arts degree in literature. She never received formal training in painting, and was largely self taught. She proceeded to receive training in the etching technique at the Garhi Studios in New Delhi, completing it in 1982.[3]

In an interview with Yashodhara Dalmia, when asked if she called herself a 'feminist', Caur immediately replied with a resounding 'no' because the themes she incorporates or is curious about, go beyond gender and ones that every human is faced with.[4]

Career

Influences and style

Arpana Caur's paintings were shaped by the events and situations around her. Her works very much focus on social issues that highlight the victimized. In addition, there is a clear influence of existing traditions in her works, namely drawing from the Gond, Gondna, Madhubani, miniature and folk art forms.[5] Her mother's strong influence on her extended into her works; where the 'woman' often occupies a central focus. Her works are also inspired by Pahari miniatures (hill-paintings), Punjabi literature, and Indian folk art.[6]

One will notice that Caur's works encompass paintings with watercolour, gauche and sculptures that are layered with motifs, myths and stories that the artist purposefully references. It is important to point out that she used the 'scissors' motif so often that it earned her the pet name kainchi.[7]

'Spirituality', and 'Time' are recurring themes in her works. In conduction with that, she is also intrigued by the themes of 'Life' and 'Death'. Nature and figures play a vital role in the stories she tells through her works.[4]

In the 1990s, Caur created a series of collaborations with Indian folk artists from the indigenous ethnic groups of Warli and Godna, who lived in the Madhubani region of the Indian state of Bihar.[8] She is one of the first contemporary artists to have collaborated with folk artisans.

In 1995, she was commissioned to do a large work 'Tears from Hiroshima' by the Hiroshima Museum of Modern Art to create a mural to mark the 50th anniversary of the bombings.[6] This work was also shown at the Documenta at Kassel. Interestingly, the artist was afraid of the temporary aspect of this installation and decided to add in pots brimming with water signifying tears within the context of the man-made tragedy.[9]

Solo exhibitions
YEAR EXHIBITION DETAILS
2009 Mural on Tiles for outer wall of SAARC Secretariat, Kathmandu[10]
2007 Indigo Blue Gallery, Singapore
2005 Mahua Gallery, Bangalore
2004 Galerie Mueller & Plate, Munich
2003 Academy of Fine Arts and Literature, New Delhi
October Gallery, London[10]
2002 Cymroza Gallery, Mumbai
2001 Academy of Fine Arts and Literature, New Delhi
1999 CIMA Gallery, Kolkata[10]
1998 Fine Art Resources, Berlin
Foundation for Indian Artists Galerie, Amsterdam
Cymroza Gallery, Mumbai
1997 Arks Gallery, London[10]
1996 Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai and Bangalore
1994 Cymroza Gallery, Mumbai
1993 Rabindra Bhawan Gallery, New Delhi
1991 Collins Gallery, Glasgow[10]
1988 Art Heritage New Delhi
1987 October Gallery, London
1985 Art Heritage, New Delhi[10]
Cymroza Gallery, Mumbai
1984 Ethnographic Museum, Stockholm
National Museum, Copenhagen
Jehangir Gallery, Mumbai
1982 Chapter Gallery, Cardiff
Jehangir Gallery, Mumbai
October Gallery, London [10]
1981 City hall Gallery, Ottawa
1980 Jehangir Gallery, Mumbai[10]
1979 Rabindra Bhawan Gallery, New Delhi
Gallery Arts 38, London
1975 Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi

Group exhibitions

1995 Inside Out: Contemporary Women Artists of India, Middlesbrough Art Gallery[11]

1992 Crossing Black Waters[11]

1988 Graven Images[11]

1988 Numaish Lait Kala[11]

1984 First Indo- Greek Cultural Symposium and group shows, Athens and Delphi

1981 Executed two large murals for India International Trade Fair, New Delhi[12]

Reviews, articles texts

Eddie Chambers, 'Inside Out: Contemporary Women Artists of India', Art Monthly no193, (February1996) 35-37.[11] Besides this, her work has been covered extensively in newspapers, magazines, art books and International Herald Tribune, Arts Review London, Citizen Ottawa, Die Welt and Dagens Nhyter Stockholm.[13]

Caur has also been cinematically covered with numerous films and biopics by BBC London, Sidharth Tagore, Chandermani, Doordarshan and Raqs Media.[13]

Awards and honours
  • 2017 B. C. Sanyal award.[14]
  • 2011 Rotary Club of Delhi: The Lifetime Achievement Award for Vocational Excellence
  • 2010 Sikh Art and Film Foundation, New York: The Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2009 Chief Guest for Conferring B.F.A. degrees, Delhi College of Art Convocation
  • 2007 T.K. Padamini Award, Kerala Govt.
  • 2001 Advisory Committee Member: National Gallery of Modern Art Delhi, Lalit Kala Academy, and Sahitya Kala Parishad
  • 1995–98 Selection Committee member, Republic Day Pageants for Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India
  • 1995 Commissioned by Hiroshima Museum to excite a large work for its permanent collection on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Holocaust
  • 1991–92 Purchase Committee Member, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
  • 1990–2000 Collaborated with Gonna artist Sat Narain Pandey and for the first time in India, co-signed works with him
  • 1990–02 Jury Member, Republic Day Pageants New Delhi Nominated Eminent Artist by Lalit Kala Academy
  • 1989 Jury Member, National Exhibition, New Delhi
  • 1987 VI Triennele Gold Medal for Painting (International exhibition)
  • 1986 Gold Medal at 6th India Triennale (awarded by the Lalit Kala Akademi)[6]
  • 1985 All India Fine Arts Society Award [6]
  • 1984 Research Grant from Lalit Kala Academy for painting in Garhi Studio, New Delhi

Collections

Caur's paintings have been collected extensively in collections, both public and private, which include:

Social consciousness

Arpana Caur has been leading the Academy of Fine Arts & Literature which hosts the South Asian Literature Festival; strengthening bonds between authors from the subcontinent.[18]

She is known to have successfully rallied against the felling of trees in New Delhi's Siri forest area during the construction of food courts / restaurants for the 2010 Commonwealth Games Village.[19]

She supports a leprosy home in Ghaziabad, setup in the memory of her younger sister. The home also offers vocational training for young girls.[20]

Notes
  1. Kaur or Caur (pronunciation kor) is a religious surname worn by all female Sikhs.

References
  1. "India Art Festival is now bigger and better". Millennium Post. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  2. "Artsy". Artsy.
  3. KG Saur. Vol. 17. Munich: General Artist's Encyclopedia. 1997. p. 342.
  4. Dalmia, Yashodhara (2011). Arpana Caur- Abstract Figuration (Conversations). New Delhi: Academy of Fine Arts and Literature. p. 15. ISBN 978-81-88703-15-9.
  5. Dalmia, Yashodhara (2011). Arpana Caur Abstract Figuration. New Delhi: Academy of Fine Arts and Literature. p. 8. ISBN 978-81-88703-15-9.
  6. Mehrotra, Rajiv (2011). The Spirit of the Muse: Conversations on the Journeys of Artists. Hay House, Inc. ISBN 9789381398173.
  7. Arpana Caur- Abstract Figuration. New Delhi: Academy of Fine Arts and Literature. 2011. p. 82. ISBN 978-81-88703-15-9.
  8. Jhaveri, Amrita (2005). A Guide to 101 Modern & Contemporary Indian Artists. Mumbai: India Book House. p. 101. ISBN 81-7508-423-5.
  9. Dalmia, Yashodhara (2011). Arpana Caur- Abstracting Figuration. New Delhi: Academy of Fine Arts and Literature. p. 11. ISBN 978-81-88703-15-9.
  10. Arpana Caur- Abstract Figuration. New Delhi: Academy of Fine Arts and Literature. 2011. p. 213. ISBN 978-81-88703-15-9.
  11. Keen, Melanie. (1996). Recordings : a select bibliography of contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British art. Ward, Elizabeth., Chelsea College of Art and Design., Institute of International Visual Arts. London: Institute of International Visual Arts and Chelsea College of Art and Design. ISBN 1899846069. OCLC 36076932.
  12. Arpana Caur- Abstract Figuration. Academy of Fine Arts and Literature. 2011. p. 214. ISBN 978-81-88703-15-9.
  13. Arpana Caur- Abstract Figuration. New Delhi: Academy of Fine Arts and Literature. 2011. p. 215. ISBN 978-81-88703-15-9.
  14. "Artists honoured with BC Sanyal Award". business-standard. 17 January 2017.
  15. "Threads of Life: Arpana Caur's journey of becoming an artist living through violence". The Indian Express. 13 November 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  16. Arpana Caur- Abstract Figuration. New Delhi: Academy of Fine Arts and Literature. 2011. p. 216. ISBN 978-81-88703-15-9.
  17. "Arpana Caur - JNAF". Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  18. "Ties That Bind". The Indian Express. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  19. Chowdhury, Kavita (23 October 2015). "Lunch with BS: Arpana Caur". Business Standard India. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  20. Madhukar, Jayanthi (12 November 2016). "Artist Arpana Caur talks about her canvasses and what inspired them". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
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