Rekha Rodwittiya

The Rituals of Memory: Personal Folklores & Other Tales Rekha Rodwittiya / The Rituals of Memory: Personal Folklores & Other Tales February 4–27, 2016

2 Title TK, Info TK Cover: Rekha @ 50 (Blue), 2008, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 84 x 60 in. 3 4 Rekha Rodwittiya, (Installation View), 2016, Aicon Gallery, New York 5 The Rituals of Memory: Personal Folklores & Other Tales Sequencing time: A monologue of a personal history pieced together in reverie

Left: Don’t Rock the Boat, 1985, Watercolor and gouache on paper, 15 x 11 in.; Center: The Cloaked Night, 1985, Ink and gouache on paper, 15 x 11 in.; Right: The Acrobat, 1985, Ink, colored pencil, gouache and graphite pencil on paper, 30 x 22 in.

Rekha Rodwittiya Baroda 2016

I hold a universe in my hands. Early years as a chilD My upbringing has been non-conformist Entering art college in 1976 Learning at the faculty of fine The privilege of receiving an education and without a singular ethnic community In tracing my evolution as an artist, I arts, M.S. University of Baroda The maps of these memories in a country where the disempowered being an influencing factor. My parents have always maintained that what has The preparatory foundation course filter journeys that bring to light struggle for basic survival impacted came from backgrounds where western been seminal in shaping my articulation was mandatory and was aimed at new discoveries to behold, itself on me from a very young age as classical music and literature were was the years of study undertaken at providing a holistic overview of art in that lead me closer to the well being something never to be taken studied, and so we grew in the shadow the time I was an art student. I studied which painting, printmaking, sculpture, of my heart. for granted. This, coupled with being of their interests. I also grew up isolated, painting under the principal guidance pottery, applied arts, art history a much-desired girl-child, prompted as I was home-schooled until I was of Jyoti Bhatt and Nasreen Mohamedi and aesthetics was taught. Studio To search for comfort alone will me to distinguish for myself a context seven years old. In those early years of when I was a student at Baroda, and it is practice offered lessons in skills of surely obscure the true nature of accountability. I believe that I have my childhood I lived mostly on remote from them that I learnt about the value of two-dimensional representations, of life’s complexities, carried the legacies of a female history air-force bases with my immediate ethics and the correlation of a personal perspective, three-dimensional forms, and so the doors of myriad with a conscious alertness, which led family as my only social companions. politics offering a deeper insight into design, colour coordination, balance me very early in my personal journey This seclusion led me to find an knowing oneself more astutely. and harmony, and perhaps most experiences are always left ajar, importantly initiated the process of to a space of belonging where the imagination that became my escape It was those initial years of imposed to let the flow of energies come learning how to conceptualize. Teaching bedrock of my feminist beliefs could into a larger world of belonging. insistence to comply with a structured and go at will. strategies emphasized communication take root. Though we are all individuals, From the age of five I knew I wanted methodology of imbibing the rudimentary as a means to provoke enquiry, and Fertile and fecund, I bear the we nonetheless belong within larger to be an artist. I remained with this basics of art, which provided me a without the gizmos of new technology collective responsibilities of existence. fervent desire throughout my childhood rock-solid plinth from which to craft fruits of my mother’s garden and the world of internet connectivity, This dual space we inhabit, of the and teenage years. Perhaps this was my pictorial language, and to take it in the pride of a female the methods of discovering information personal and the collective, becomes because I spent many hours drawing through different ideational explorations ancestry. were through independent research important to examine when seeking to and painting and it became a space of over the years. However irksome these and reading. The library and the archives understand what conjoins and what great solace and release for me where conventional procedures sometimes became places where answers were separates them, and whether both I could give form to the realm of the appeared, they helped provide me with sought and more questions arose; these territories can hold the imprint imagined. I lived in different cities a fluency in areas of observation and and this perpetuated a rhythm of of our purposefulness with equal vigour. of India during the early part of my translation. I was also exposed to the self-motivated learning. childhood till we arrived as a family in powerful combination of imbibing aspects Baroda in 1967, where after a series of art from both the traditional as well as In those days the teaching was more of circumstances this city became my deciphering the challenges of an evolving structured than it appears today, and permanent home and remains so to date. modernity, which then set the stage for perhaps more importantly there was me to engage in examining how to locate no interference of market forces and my personal history within the larger other external commercial influences framework of a cultural context. to sidetrack or confuse the process

6 7 of learning. The expectancies of phenomena. Classroom instructions traditional crafts people, and of course image-making and folk traditions of art designs for these performances. The language that employed episodic narrative the teachers for students to deliver were reinforced through seminars, field the legendary Fine Arts Fair. practice, which came from his personal synergy of activity created a mela devices was used. The figure became the deep interest in archiving performative environment. It was also a learning ground central leitmotif within the discourse on work of quality were unapologetically trips, study tours to monuments, heritage The presence of stalwart artists like rituals and the lifestyles of rural India. where the students were exposed to human predicament, which was recorded stringent. Though intellectual dissent sites and museums visits, making oral Jeram Patel from the 1890 group, who This was very instructive for many the commerce of art, as well as being through the filter of personal was encouraged, the overall climate instructions bring history to life. headed the applied arts department, students, whose naïve ignorance often introduced to lessons of collaboration histories mythologized. of the faculty focused on nurturing The faculty encouraged artists and provided the college an atmosphere led them to imagine contemporary where the role of the individual as the the application of studio practices scholars to visit, and interactions with that was radical and experimental. culture to be represented only by what sole creator becomes altered. Coming of age and creating an engagement with the them often occurred in alternative Gulammohammed Sheikh and Ratan was seen in urban India. It was under I have always been an advocate of study of art history, aesthetics and locations other than only on the college Parimoo, who studied abroad, taught The generation of students fortunate the guidance of Professor Jyoti Bhatt pro-choice and believe that all women art theory without too many other premises. The residency bungalow art history on their return and to have Nasreen Mohamedi as their that I learnt all about photography, as should be economically self-reliant, distractions. Right-wing conservative was one such adda. A rambling old contributed significantly to developing teacher learnt both lessons of art and it was a subject offered as an optional as I see it as imperative to a feminist politics was not seen encroaching colonial style house from the days of the department of art history and life that stayed with them forever. choice in the bachelor’s program at philosophy; and so from the age so blatantly on art college campuses the Gaekwad’s rule, it was segmented aesthetics that attracted reputed Discipline was an important principle that time. I learnt to develop black and of eighteen I have been financially back then, with agendas to propagate into separate areas and served as historians like Karl Khandalawala, for Nasreen, and in her very quiet white film and printing techniques in independent. I did commercial skewered nationalist sentiments, nor living quarters for the teaching staff Mildred Archer, Partha Mitter and but assertive way she demanded that the dark room. I would wander around photography and sold my art works were there attempts to usurp the of the university. It is here, in the many more to attend seminars and every student she taught understood Baroda taking photographs of street- at nominal prices through alternative autonomy of governance of educational right hand corner of this dilapidated deliver lectures. Krishna Chhatpar the value of this. She opened up life, which is perhaps the most obvious venues such as pavement exhibitions art institutions with the desire to infuse building with a small garden patch in taught sculpture to this foundation our observations to challenge our instinct most people have when they organised by students, and through conservative, non-liberal methods front of it, that Gulammohammed course. His method of instruction perceptions and made us alert to the first use a camera. Learning photography architect friends in Baroda who were of teaching art. There was a genuine and Nilima Sheikh lived and worked was to invite you to find your curiosity. politics of choice. Nasreen offered however also provided me the means to purchasing for interior projects they regard for education in India that for many years. And it is here in this His quiet conversations held many simple lessons of learning, and like a economically support myself, which was were doing for clients. I worked part- pre-dated the liberalization of our once regal abode of yesteryear that stories that were often anecdotal and Zen teacher she would then wait to crucial to the choices I was making in my time jobs at the local art gallery and economy. The values of the middle they hosted many an interactive which allowed you to recognize how see when and how the truth of the personal life at that time. at textile and craft exhibitions that class were still noticeably rooted session with cultural luminaries. Film to enter into the world of art from the lesson would permeate. came to the faculty premises. I was in respecting forums of learning as screenings, discussions, slide shows and personalized spaces of experience Part of the curriculum was the keenly aware of the need to structure the route to self-achievement and opportunities to meet with curators, and identification, and to notice the encouragement to travel and see The focus of debate my life in a practical and decisive way therefore the commitment of imparting artists and historians occurred within small things around with more detailed important exhibitions. I remember My reason for elaborating the importance that could focus on raising my son, and imbibing knowledge held greater these informal gatherings. Students who attention. Nasreen Mohamedi was also my first field trip in 1978 was to see of the Baroda art college during the and simultaneously honing my aptitude accountability and desire on either side. were also invited to attend would sit in assigned to the first year preparatory the Indian Triennale hosted by the seventies and the eighties is because it as a painter, all the while consciously awe whilst listening to the rumbustious students for teaching drawing. Hand Central Lalit Kala Akademi in Delhi. created a segment of contemporary art implementing my feminist position The impact of studying art conversations of passionate picked by K.G Subramanyan to teach I grew up with access to art limited to history that I belong to. One is able to see within my lived experiences. The Baroda Fine Arts College attracted engagement, and learnt from these at the faculty, she was one of the books and reproductions. Therefore the influences received from this premier many students from all parts of India interludes that the practice of art was finest teachers the college has ever this sudden bonanza of art from art institution and how movements were My insistence on economic and, with no reservation quota for local a commitment of sustained endeavor had. She approached each student around the world on one’s doorstep, born from its premises that challenged independence was not a result of any students in those days, the selection which demanded rigorous hours of at their respective level and trained to be seen with the leisure of time older canons of aesthetic orders. family discord whatsoever, but was in process for the entrance examination hard work without compromise or their aesthetics away from popular and observe how different mediums How new trends were established and fact a tribute to the upbringing that was solely on merit. The idea was excuse. This focused intensity of an normative taste. Almost ascetic, her produced language and content was alternative conceptual and theoretical had nurtured these ideals of women’s to provide an integrated system of art community investing in its cultural spartan lifestyle and esoteric interests a very impactful experience for me. frameworks of impact became centre empowerment since I was born. I grew different areas of specialised study history was the initiation to art I along with her minimalist art practice stage, thereby making Baroda a very up in post-independence India in an with an emphasis on inter-disciplinary received as a student in the seventies. provided an insight for her students to Alternative teaching practices important and powerful cultural hub for urban nuclear middle-class family. I learning. Most departments had understand the value of questioning Activities like the fine arts fair gave two decades. The seventies and eighties was embraced by liberal attitudes and teachers who were of eminence Factors of instruction & imbibing prevailing trends of influence around students the opportunity to work were the golden decades of a cultural intellectual freedom that supported within their fields, which resulted The figurehead in those years at them more critically. Within the highly outside of classroom pedagogic renaissance in India. Definitive debates informed opinions in a household in discussions of cultural importance the Baroda Fine Arts College was charged environment of an emphatically structures alongside their teachers addressing issues of modernity opened up where we as teenagers were expected as a normative practice within the unequivocally K. G. Subramanayan. As figurative climate, she positioned a in a revised format of apprenticeship. new perceptions by which art was to be to experience life without having to pedagogic space when I was a student. the head of the painting department he valuable polemic of linguistic difference The pendulum of exposure swung viewed. The insistence of the West that conform to conservative protocol. The agenda of teaching was to use was by far the most dynamic personality that dealt with the tension of the between the traditions of past art contemporary Indian art was derivative My parents were encouraging of the the syllabus to create a stimulating on campus during my college years. metaphysical—conceptualizing abstract practices and new ideas bringing folk of Western art practices became an old directions I chose, trusting me to know interpretation of its guidelines, thereby He had close associations with the realms fleshed from the physical. art and craft forms to be introduced cliché that was no longer entertained. myself without apology. Opting to making art education relevant and corridors of cultural power at the Interestingly the artists who were into the repertoire of learning, thereby Instead the local/the vernacular became become a parent at a young age due to contemporary to the issues of the day, center in the capital, and his expertise propounding the Baroda school of providing lessons that found adaptation areas of focus. Intermingling the past medical reasons, offered me invaluable both nationally as well as globally. and knowledge was widely acclaimed figurative narration as the new avant- of differing cultural practices. Jewelry, with the present also brought into play experiences that propelled my energies The college was like a womb that internationally. His scholarship as a garde movement recognized that her toys, artifacts, masks, weaving, pluralistic influences of India’s cultural with more focus than if I had been nurtured. The rigors of the program writer and his experiences with working art could not be ignored. lampshades, bags, enamel work, along practices. Art history offered ancestries absent of such responsibilities. I met with print portfolios, sculptures and for personal appropriation without the challenges of being divorced and a produced a unique environment. The within the handloom industry, along Jyoti Bhatt taught painting to the first paintings all jostled together with equal apology. Seminal to this period is group single parent, and as my son was a much candor of friendships amongst senior with his ingenuity as an artist, provided and second year painting students importance to be exhibited. Puppets of artists from Baroda, Mumbai and desired and planned addition to my life, artists showcased their preoccupations the institution with a leadership that whilst I was studying at the college. were constructed for shows, and theatre Delhi who banded together to create a there was therefore never any quandary as professionals and allowed students has never been replicated to date. He His knowledge of art provided a bridge production brought out writing skills, movement known as the Baroda narrative regarding this lifelong commitment to of that era to witness the changing brought to the classroom a teaching of between the contemporary world of scenario of Indian art as a lived traditions that included workshops by direction and acting, as well as garment school of art, in which a figurative the responsibility of being a parent.

8 9 I live my life undeterred by the dictates seminal of this period dealt with a focused very prominently on feminist of time and the varying stages of the developments. I am acutely aware of a focus to redress this is vital if we are of a patriarchal society, and so the kaleidoscopic and splintered space concerns. Being able to engage with evolution of each of the artists were how important it is for me to be located to define true liberty for all humanity. attitudes of traditional mindsets that which was crammed full of an almost women’s issues as a designated area of documented through the acquisition within these evolving cultural histories Mature art holds radical positions adhere to conservative conformity cartoon like language and were tableaus study offered me experiences through of major works. The Herwitz were that connect me to the new India that that are not about sensationalizing for continuously make a challenging that depicted the under belly of which I could establish the parameters unique collectors because they built I belong within, and which teaches me mere effect alone. Art is a space that backdrop to the realities of my own violence and the hierarchies of power of my own feminist affiliations. Social, up intimate and lasting friendships with about a past that holds my ancestry— strategizes arguments, problematizes existence. In doing so I have had the play, in the world as I saw it. cultural and political histories informed each of the artists whose work they both of which accommodates my as a method of introspection, is my work as well, and these factors were collecting, believing that in doing grafting into its chronicles of time, confrontational, is often used as a opportunities to re-examine and Peter de Francia’s methods of teaching all came together in an analytical so their understanding of the work as a daughter of its soil. subversive tool, and is not a space reformulate life more purposefully were brutally insistent that one should convergence, providing me the territory would be further enhanced. that is designed to entertain the than if this had not been the case. demand an honesty of oneself, leaving of my subject and the discovery of a Elements from life transposed consent of another to validate its Marginalised spaces are always more little or no scope for excuses or collective feminist space that could Baroda my city My work has always dealt with concerns existence. This is what independent fraught with tensions, yet it is this whimsical attitudes to prevail in his accommodate my personal legacies. A fighter pilot in the air force, my that I filter from life around me. Line authorship and artistic autonomy must precise area of conflict that obliges relationship with you. He abhorred father’s posting brought us to Baroda, and colour are prominent elements in mean within a democratic space of one to conjure the ability for greater indifference and superficiality, and The festivals of India brought to the and my education was the reason my my pictorial language. The preliminary a secular nation. The world that we clarity to be achieved. was deeply passionate about holding doorstep of England and Europe the mother and I continued to reside in preparation for any work I make is place ourselves central to becomes a self-accountability and aesthetic coming of age of India’s modernity with this city for many years thereafter. I processed directly in my mind, and I tapestry patterned by incidents and Sequencing time standard to scrutiny. What I learnt as contemporary art exhibitions that were chose then to make it my permanent sort through various permutations of a histories that demand our participation On completing my undergraduate valuable lessons were that the perusal widely acclaimed by the critics and home on my return from London single idea before settling on one that willingly or otherwise. As artists we program in 1981 from Baroda, of excellence comes from the rigors scholars of art. Indian contemporary because it is a city I grew up in and I decide best contains my intention. often become the sutradhars* I realised I wanted to find a post- of hard work, and that there is never art was finally being viewed with the of where I feel most comfortable. It is a The process of elaboration on this graduate course that could engage reason to be apathetical with one’s parity it deserved in the West. Studying larger narratives that hold both the small enough city to navigate easily, and idea continues once I define what it my enquiries with gender politics in engagement with the world. in London at this time allowed me to particularity of our lives as well as has a multi-cultural atmosphere with is I am seeking to evoke—what the an informed manner. In the interim, observe this shifting perception first a wider world of information. I hold The Royal college of Art had some of the university and industry bringing in territory of the idea is, and how direct whilst I applied for scholarships, I hand, and in some strange way it felt as consistent the desire to examine the best British artists as teachers people from all over India and abroad or subverted I may want the readability joined the masters program where I like a personal validation of a truth well the feminine space of survival, the during my time, whose diverse opinions as its residents. With its proximity to be. Strident and insistent, the colour was granted permission by Jyoti Bhatt known, finally coming full circle. spirit of female endurance and the to work separately in a staff studio that made interesting critiques to engage to Mumbai many artists have made palette that feeds my work is informed empowerment of pride and self-dignity with. Ken Kiff, Jennifer Durant, Frank Baroda their home and live and work by cultural traditions and factors of was situated close to the library. This Professional allegiances that centuries of feminist oral histories Whitford, Keith Critchlow and John here. This has lent the city the ethos influence that corroborate the ideas I year was like a sabbatical from formal Stepping out of art school brings with are infused by, as the territory from Golding were on the faculty, and my of being viewed as a cultural centre am pictorially translating. The female instruction and provided me the space it challenges of a different kind and sets which my work takes shape. to reflect upon my pictorial language degree display was presided over by where the artist community can avail of figure, often in isolation, represents the stage for decisions on priorities to I understood that the most liberating with no interference of academic Gillian Aiyers. Though globalisation was the benefits of the interdependency the perpetuity of their life-giving force be established. In order to preserve lesson learnt is that one’s own sense of agendas, and instead to discourse not the buzzword then, there was an of collective engagement as well as that bears witness to the passage of my autonomy as an artist, I kept my belonging is held in multiple histories about my art with selected teachers, opening-up to non-western-centric preserving their individual privacy time unfolding. I view the female form studio as a private space where clients that form the stories of the world, and as equals. I produced a series of small influences. The engagement in discourse when required. Baroda, being an old as being emblematic of energies vital were not entertained. It became a it is the curiosity of wanting to know imaginary portraits in watercolour with varied cultural histories was Gaekwad principality, is already a to sustaining life, and so I place these choice therefore, from the inception about the unfamiliar that invites us which was a radical departure from my prevalent, as many overseas students’ city deeply seeped in a rich cultural iconic figures with a centrality to of my career, to have my art handled by through the doorways of many new oil paintings. I was awarded the first works reflected/dealt with their cultural heritage of the past, and which command their rightful importance as gallery professionals. My association of discoveries. I also learnt the importance Inlaks scholarship for art and chose, out contexts. With the painting department showcased its progressive ideas by forces of Shakti—indestructible and working within the gallery system began that, like any sensible traveller, each of a number of admissions secured in housed in a wing of the Victoria & Albert establishing the Maharaja Sayajirao omnipotent. The unflinching gaze and in 1984 on the eve of my departure of us must always carry along, in our the United State and Britain, to enroll museum, the proximity of access to University, an educational institution of frontal postures of confrontation of from London, when Mr. Ebrahim journeys as artists, the memories of our at the Royal College of Art London. This world art facilitated wider debates of world renown, way back in 1881. Baroda, these female protagonists demand that Alkazi invited me to exhibit at the Art own origins in order to collate without decision was prompted by my interest pluralised thinking. or Vadodara as it is known today, with the viewer is obliged to acknowledge Heritage gallery in Delhi. Art Heritage renouncing what is specific to who we to study under the tutelage of Prof. the old city at its epicentre and the their powerful presence. Stark and The time spent in London not only also established a link-up with Cymroza are when adapting new influences into Peter De Francia whose knowledge of ever-expanding urban planning of fly- arresting in demeanour, these figures nurtured my growth as an artist but Art Gallery in Mumbai which was run by our consciousness. I understood the India, its socio-political cultural history, overs and new roads re-scripting its stand like protective guardians of the was also equally a watershed for me Pheroza Godrej. power of art but equally understood and his awareness of contemporary to decipher my belonging within topography, is a symbol of how ancient universe—spanning all emotions of It was through Art Heritage that my the manipulations of art history and Asian art allowed me to adopt new a feminist history. India with its histories adapt to new appendages human strength and fragility—but never work was acquired by Chester and the power lobbies at play in deeming areas of learning without forsaking my oppressive patriarchy had offered that reconfigure their shape and form. disempowered of the will to survive. Davida Herwitz, the American collectors certain histories as relevant to shaping cultural moorings. little scope for gender discourse, and Amidst the chemical smog that lights My work celebrates all aspects of who lived in the United States of the progress of civilization. Art I often felt smothered as a student up the skies at sunset with magical womanhood and explores the many America and who visited India each documents change, and articulates Studying at the Royal College of by the overriding socialist and Marxist colours of a painter’s palette, I hold avatars that female empowerment year to expand their collection of positions of affiliation or resistance. Art London preoccupations of my colleagues that this lingering image of the Lakshmi embraces. Though gender equality is far Indian Contemporary art. They were These cultural sequences compile new It was in London where I began to re- completely excluded women’s issues Vilas Palace etched as a silhouette of from the norm in India, there are voices committed collectors with a zealous legacies to be conjoined within the examine more exactingly my figuration from consideration when addressing exquisite beauty, looming large at dusk. that stridently call to attention the need passion who set about building one compendium of other histories. The and the narrative techniques that I ideas pertaining to human rights and This talisman of familiarity offers me a to dispel the bigoted stereotype of of the most serious and sizeable feminist history is one of them. was employing. I drew and painted personal liberty. In contrast, Britain strange comfort. I recognise through gender bias, and fight to seek change collections of Contemporary Indian art I am an artist because it is the best tool exhaustively for two years, creating a in the 80’s was fecund with literature, this live postcard image that India holds that we know to be possible and real in the world. It was perhaps the only that facilitates my desire to interpolate vast body of two hundred art works. cinema, theatre, music, performance, its cultural heritage with practised for women. In a world where atrocities collection in which the chronology with an outside world. Primeval and The large watercolours that were theoretical studies and protest that ease as it jostles with the new age of are committed against women in the tested, it allows me to translate and technological progress and scientific name of upholding traditional values, 10 11 transpose both fact and imaginative of these figures are extracted from what it is that one may choose to resist devices of communication, and previous paintings, archived as though when negotiating varied influences. In traces the outer world to the inner from an archaeological site. The holding this consciousness we apply our consciousness and vice versa, thereby montage of images lace together quite knowledge with greater insight to invest making an elaborate tapestry of my literally to become the second skin. The our art practice with conviction. own personal belonging. Art is about painted faces of these figures become transmutations. The configuration the masks to an otherwise intensely My space of belonging of an imaginative play with forms is personal space of deliverance. Tall and My studio has always been within often arrived at from what we desire erect these female figures invoke the my home, and it is the central hub to evoke through them. Art is a space of reflection and memories. from which all things get managed as I multi-task continuously, handling space where the recognizable alters The forms that I create or re-phrase both my professional and personal itself to become the receptacle of becomes a personalized visual lexicon worlds simultaneously. Adaptability new meanings, and where human invested with specific symbology, that, to circumstance is critical for one’s experience then becomes the over time, maps the preoccupations survival and it is in recognizing this that bridge of empathy that allows the and arguments that constitute the I have taught myself to become a much viewer to find their connectivity. ideological premise of my identity. more imaginative person. I work long Nuanced into the characters of each Site specific and project related works, hours with a disciplined regularity and articulated figure are the histories travel and residencies infuse my art life intervenes into this rhythm with of both my cultural self, and the practice with spaces of confrontation practiced deliberation. My studio is a autobiographical that lends voice to that challenge my own vulnerability in precious space of belonging for me. the process of my empowerment and different ways, and which force new I have personal articles of cherished emancipation. Conceiving an idea that devices of approach and resolution memories accumulated over the years gets elaborated via visual articulation to be considered. These spaces that surround me here, and cupboards does not formulate itself without the become alternative playgrounds of full of art books that are like special symbiosis of both the heart and mind notional strategies where displacement friends who know when I need them being in tandem. What gets suggested is intended. These locations are most. My library is my private space of and evoked in the works are the somewhat like ephemeral love affairs mediation into a world of conversations conflicts, polarities, reaffirmations, that are not intended to be conclusive, and ideas. These interventions help me and a host of other nuances of the yet pitch your senses to become from becoming overly insistent on a challenge of living, which blueprints my exquisitely aroused. own existence within a larger universe singular way of perceiving an idea, and The Pinball World, 1985, Watercolor and gouache on paper, 11 x 15 in. of collective histories. Whenever I travel I am always keenly instead provide me a space of distance observant of the peculiarities of to reflect with more objectivity, thereby My work is informed by the personal cultural difference. Perceiving honing my critical faculties so that politics that govern my life and employs these differences reinforces the I purge my mind of any stiltedness. India never will allow me to ferment in the sleep of my own desires; the use of metaphor and allegory ethnographic/anthropologic truth to formulate its content. In many of cultural diversity and teaches us but keeps me ever wakeful to a consciousness that embroiders instances the subject of a work of art to comprehend culture specificity. invokes nuanced experiences from I call attention to such observation patterns that decorate my body and my soul, and anoints me as the the worlds we inhabit. The narratives because in the efforts to homogenize bride of its soil. Born wrapped in the placenta of many cultures, in my works are never direct stories or adapt ourselves we often relinquish but are territories that hold parables those unique differences in order I breathe a life of knowingness uniquely different from those with through which meanings are inferred. to fit in or belong. We lose out in My art often employs myth and legends recognizing how much there is to learn chaste tongues of scriptures and divides. From the gullies and as territories of references from from areas of the unfamiliar that we which the notion of life, viewed as a encounter. Interestingly all societies shanties dark shadows pattern the cities like the fake lace of a bridal journey of assimilation, is explored. that encourage freedom of expression gown, whilst the wail of sirens block out the screams of the innocent The photographic image reappears have contemporary cultural practices after I put down my camera twenty- which have absorbed varied influences whose spilt blood are the only reminders of their vanquished dreams. eight years ago. A series of personal and have created new trajectories from occurrences brought back the ancient traditions, which in turn with Legacies of a past cannot hold the brace of my spine upright, nor connection I had to take photographs time get absorbed into the established once again. The bodies of my female mainstream. What becomes important does the stoop of my weariness find me my bed of comfort. As my protagonists now become the site of as an artist is to know why one places retrieval of personal histories. Traced the space of openness to examine, and body wrinkles and my breasts become heavy with the stories of all like mapped terrains, the contours those I carry close to my heart, I listen wakeful ever, just for the smallness of hope. * The literal meaning of sutradhar is “thread-holder”. This is a central character in Sanskrit theatre and occupies the central place on stage. He was responsible for auspiciously conducting the commencement of the show and to keep the production on the right track. He is analogous to a modern director, stage manager and producer. Some scholars argue that the term originated in the ancient art of puppetry in a very literal sense as “string-puller”.

12 13 Works on Paper

14 Title TK, Info TK Rekha Rodwittiya, (Installation View), 2016, Aicon Gallery, New York 15 16 Matters of the Heart (Figure I), 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images Intangible Interlocution: An Anatomy of Recollection, 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images 17 and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 30 x 22 in. and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 22 x 30 in. 18 Matters of the Heart (Figure II), 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images Matters of the Heart (Figure IV), 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images 19 and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 30 x 22 in. and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 84 x 60 in. 20 Matters of the Heart (Figure VII), 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images Matters of the Heart (Figure V), 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images 21 and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 84 x 60 in. and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 84 x 60 in. 22 Matters of the Heart (Figure III), 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images Matters of the Heart (Figure VI), 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images 23 and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 84 x 60 in. and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 84 x 60 in. Interview Daniel Herwitz in conversation with Rekha Rodwittiya

Daniel Herwitz: First, let me just say, how totally delighted I said to the management at Aicon Gallery that no show is ever am to see you after 20 years and the work is more beautiful really complete unless you have a wonderful team of people than ever. And also to thank, I’m sure for both of us, around you who contribute to making the show possible. So Prajit Dutta and Aicon Gallery for putting together these thank you all so very much. It is interesting Danny that you extraordinary exhibitions. I think the quality and character position the question as viewing it as a space of a journey. of the work, especially this exhibition, is a testament to the I think as a painter it is a word that is important to me. As a importance of thinking about contemporary Indian art from student in India in the 70s, it was a very exciting and fecund the perspective of figuration. The importance of figurative time with the height of figuration being reinvented especially traditions becoming distinct to some of the wonderful in Baroda. And I think that my entry of discourse started abstract artists that have been recently featured in museums— within this location. But what I needed to problematize for that has meaning—to think about the role of the figure. I myself was how to locate my context within this evolving certainly want to talk about that. So I thought I’d begin by scenario where the reality of my personal history held asking questions about the show and take it from there. If significance. Interestingly, I come from mixed parentage, and one looks at some of the smaller watercolors from your so things that were taken for granted as the usual norms of earlier period, let’s say 20-30 years ago, those pictures are what could be defined as Indian for others often became full of fragmentary forms, which are quite expressionistic. cumbersome and purposeless for me because my points The female figures in some of those pictures are in a state of of reference were eclectic. For example I didn’t speak a anxiety. They’re predatory spaces in a way, with wolves and vernacular language as English is my mother tongue, and my other animals in them. There is no easy way to locate oneself upbringing was a cosmopolitan/westernized urban one. So in them yet they are beautiful and in their own way quiet and as an art student there was a desire on my part to examine not over-cluttered, which I think is very important. But it’s how I could address these larger narrative histories where I interesting to compare the earlier work and think about the could uphold facets that I deemed as representing my India/ journey to the marvelous work on this side of the gallery. my history/my space of belonging and make this the center The work here is pristine…single figures in their own quiet stage of my discoveries. So my commencement in the art beautiful spaces and I was wondering if you could speak to world from where my journey could be defined as beginning the journey that’s led from the earlier Heads work to these is this umbilical point—this rooting within a contemporaneity new large paintings. of my context. Also there was an overriding conscience Rekha Rodwittiya: Before I start, I would also like to say amongst my generation in the India of that era to engage thank you so much to Aicon Gallery and the team here. As I with socialist and Marxian politics. And although my political

24 Rekha Rodwittiya, (Installation View), 2016, Aicon Gallery, New York 25 center-staged. And I think my answer to that is I initially RR: I have been economically independent since I was 18 began by talking about situations from reality, pertaining to years old and I am very proud of it. I think as an Asian Indian violence against women and issues regarding oppression woman, I found it very necessary to determine my economics and subjugation faced by women. I then shifted to focus and therefore my independence and my empowerment. Why on the celebration of female empowerment. I think is very I mention this is because it is directly related to the process important to my art and to myself as an individual to look of these works. I earned my living as a young student and as a at and reflect upon the celebration of empowerment and young professional by taking professional photographs. And the courage of resistance that women endorse through then when I got my scholarship to go to London to do my M.A., many areas of their lived life. I perceived it as relevant to I put down my camera. I loved photography but I put down my the feminist discourse. In my figuration I iconize the female camera and I never touched it again. However with the advent figure—to remove the palpable corporality and instead of the smart phone I began taking tons of photographs of diagrammatize her body—so that it does not become a my cat that I dote on. And so, one day my partner Surendran commodity for lustful consumption, but instead is viewed as Nair, who is also an artist, decided to surprise me with a a source of life giving energy. And so therefore to address present—and he gifted me this professional camera expecting your earlier inquiry about the difference between using the me to take more photographs of the cat, which I did for a Rekha Rodwittiya, At Work in Her Studio, 2015 word naked and nude—for me “naked” becomes a metaphor while. However I then found myself looking at photography affiliations were of a similar nature, what I found nonetheless for openness—it positions vulnerability and strength as two as a medium that I needed to reinvent for myself, and that irksome was that there was no place within this politics that sides of the same coin. The female figures as I portray them, happened not with any difficulty but in fact with great ease. So accommodated the issues of gender equality as a pressing are like guardian figures that stand as a testament of female Rekha Rodwittiya, (Installation View), 2016, Aicon Gallery, New York I decided that I would begin using the camera again, however and urgent need that required special attention. Why I stress endurance—having been witness to anguish and pain, yet this time to take photographs whilst I travel. This is important now, whether it has to do with technology or whether it has this point is that in all the discourses that were happening where the spirit to survive with dignity at all cost cannot be to note because I had chosen never to take photographs as a to do with approaches to an affiliation with an ideology. As around that time which focused on the issue of examining the extinguished. And this desire that women have to stand tall, traveller once I had put my camera aside. This was because I an artist you need to change your vocabulary to articulate ideas of identity, in all the paradigms of these explorations, cuts through all castes and creeds, becoming a secular space wanted to cultivate the discipline of memory. As an artist, your concerns in order that they remain alive, because if you gender issues did not merit being ever addressed. So when of resistance. Women have always been at the forefront of I wanted to be able to record in my mind’s eye, things of don’t, then you can sometimes sabotage yourself. I went to London the separation from my country allowed resistance always believing that the space of dissent is an relevance. Whether I was in a museum or whether I was in me to look at India with a critical distance, not only as a entitlement to bring about change and progress. DH: Let’s talk about the process behind the photomontage situations that were significant for me, I wanted to record nation, but also as a socio-political-cultural space. This is DH: Your treatment of time is very interesting because if one pieces. They’re quite extraordinary because they seem set them mentally, to imprint them from the space of memory— because as an artist I was looking at my belonging as being looks at some of these figures, one has the sense first of aside from anything personal, almost abstracted in a kind and it was a discipline that I cultivated and I think a discipline held within my own cultural ethos therefore obliging me to all, that they are completely seeped in tradition. They carry of space slightly distant from any specific person, almost that served me well. So when the camera came back into my examine it more closely. Regarding my pictorial language, I the resonances of huge amounts of time but they seem to anonymous. And yet, if you actually look at their bodies life I then decided that I would make this a project for myself. chose a kaleidoscopic fractured articulation within which be figures that very much exist in their own space, meaning where the color is, you’ve described these colored areas as I began to choose specific destinations in different parts of the the underlying face of violence within life was portrayed. that they’re not subjected to time. Rather they seem to have being highly personal, full of narratives and stories about your world and travel to them with the project as a specific agenda. I created a kind of theatre of events—a spectacle to be the capacity to pass through time with a certain serenity, own experiences. And so the juxtaposition between the initial I take photographs with a seeming randomness, but in fact that witnessed—(within those works from the 80’s), which gets almost like Buddhist sculpture in a certain way. This idea anonymity of the faces of the figures and the very personal actually isn’t the case. Every artist has a certain vocabulary, not carried over into these works, which we see in this exhibition of being able to pass through time (we could move over to nature of their bodies being filled with memories is quite just stylistically but also in what makes up the context of the at Aicon so many years later, in a very different way. The the other side of the gallery), because you said something arresting. To what extent do you think these works do, in fact, work. Objects I use reveal my relationship and my discourse thread that remains within my approach to my work is the very interesting earlier about some of these works involving carry personal stories and narratives and things like that? with the world at large, and in particular. They are possessions frontal centrality that creates this tension of confrontation photomontage. You suggested that the actual figures are RR: I think it’s a bit like a pendulum—a sort of swinging back that I own, and so there is that personalized space through with the viewer. So I don’t know whether that’s the journey almost like a map that seems to refer to earlier figures that in and forth of how you base yourself within your own traditions. which I extract metaphors and formulate a personalized of entry that you refer to. fact you have made. And I’m wondering if we can talk about First of all, I’d have to say that I think for myself, one of the symbolism from these objects that surround me. This is of extreme importance to me. Therefore when I look through DH: Yes very much so. In fact, let’s talk about some of this that process and what it means to you. largest playgrounds is the area of world art history. And the lens of my camera, I am searching for those connections recent work. Early in the conversation you described a sense RR: About 5 or 6 years ago I decided that I wanted to engage maybe from the kind of education that I had, or maybe from of personal identification with objects, especially in museums, of almost a secular aura. My sense of these figures is that in looking at the female figure as I have delineated it in my my own personal interest, I think the desire not to pigeonhole other than merely recording whatever I see randomly. I they are without clothes but their bodies are very much their past works, and to extract the out lines of these figures from myself only into belonging to certain areas of tradition has was raised as a Roman Catholic until I distanced myself own. They are the owners of their own bodies. Even their my works with the intention of looking at them as sites of liberated me early on in my art practice. In my paintings the completely from any religious affiliations when I was 13 proportions are quite beautiful. Someone earlier referenced retrieval. And so those areas then became almost like spaces idea of holding the figure in a space that is almost eternal years old. So there is this residue left behind from this classical ballet, and here is an almost classicist beauty about of excavation for me to renegotiate with. One of the things fascinates me. I don’t ever think of the space that foregrounds association that is stitched within my own identity forever. these. However, even with these beautiful, and to a certain that interests me is the phenomenon of displacement— the figure as a background or as a backdrop. I think what Therefore when I visit a museum, I feel at once drawn and extent erotic proportions, you never doubt for a second that because existing within the continuity of time one tends to one is really talking about is evoking the idea of an infinite comforted by the Christian iconography that I encounter it is the woman who is in control of her own figure, her own sometimes look back because there is a space of comfort or divine space of existence, where the timelessness of the and I pick and thieve and lift and gather with my camera, body; and she has the space to do it too. Which is quite an that one gets from past associations—and yet in the retrieval female spirit speaks both of being a witness of time past and claiming objects from the outside world to become part of extraordinary achievement. And earlier today you used the of anything, you are obliged to renegotiate with it in the prophesizes about the future. I think that all human existence my personal narrative. Their imprint of association allows phrase the nude versus the naked, and I’m wondering if you’d “here and the now” of who you are. I’m 57, and as one grows seeks to find contextualized placement and meaning. these objects to lend themselves to become mythologized want to elaborate on that. older, you place your experiences to pose more questions. Interestingly the personal belongs within the collective— ancestries hold personal stories as well as hold the stories of within my personal visual lexicon. I often take myself into the RR: I’ll come to that in a moment. What I would first like My areas of enquiry still remain specific to women’s issues others—and it is that continuous mediation that allows the unfamiliar to find things for myself. So travel therefore is very to point out is that I moved away from the agitated and but the reinventions that one continuously engages with— personal to find it space in broader histories. important for me within the search to know myself. gestural to adopt a more static theatre of representation, the continuous idea of examining and reexamining ideas of DH: Is there an intention with these pictures for there to be as a method to underline more emphatically the content concern—forces and obliges you to come up with something DH: You mentioned that the photography in these works a constant sense of the suggestion of the story without being and intentions of the work. People often ask me about that is re-structured and doesn’t therefore allow it to remain refer to trips to Thailand and elsewhere. Could you discuss able to read it? In what way is the personal meant to translate how I construct my figuration and why the subject is static. So that’s what I mean by dealing with the here and the significance of travel to your work? itself to the viewer?

26 27 one could build new discourses. Because as you very rightly DH: The extraordinary thing about Baroda, and you point out, modern Indian art was being re-energized through mentioned this, but I want to come back to it, was that it was discourses that were initiated by scholars and artists who an environment in which there was tremendous innovation were articulating concerns revolving around new ideas. This steeped in tradition, but everybody was doing something collective space of concern was producing an articulation that was bold. You were doing something bold. And Nalini that was vital as it was inclusive and not a mere monologue. Malani and a lot of other people were at the same time, and These debates on Indian modernity within the contemporary you mentioned that it was really where Indian art criticism, art practices of India were something that I carried with me modern Indian art criticism arose. The first generation Indian when I went as a student to London. I firmly believe that modernists really believed their ideas came from Gandhi, wherever you go, and hopefully without stubborn rigidness, nationalism, decolonization, and some things about what it it is important to know yourself and not give up your identity meant to be a modern artist. The career of these modern merely to fit in. To carry in a way of speaking, some little artists and some debates about Indian nationalism, Gandhi baggage with you, because in doing so it keeps you from versus Savarkar and such, were not particularly theoretical, getting completely lost in the seduction of everything that’s and those involved had very little trouble with that. But it was new and exciting. So what you need to do is to formulate the in Baroda where people were reading Walter Benjamin and essentials that matter to you and keep it clearly in focus. This Geeta Kapur and the interesting question is how that material, was something that paid off for me. For example, I remember that was so much being discussed, contributed to events in the first week of being at the RCA I was told by a professor artistically, that’s something worth thinking about. Rekha Rodwittiya, (Installation View), 2016, Aicon Gallery, New York that I did not know how to draw. I did not react with any anger, RR: Sure, but we would have to give credit to the build however I was equally very clear that since I wasn’t interested up of this discourse on modernism to the time of around RR: I think that’s an interesting question because figuration perfection. I think the most important thing for me in a lot in the British academic style of drawing that I was not going independence in India that bred the climate for modern Indian inherently suggests narrative possibilities. I would even go of my work is how I paint. I do everything myself as I work to draw in that manner just to prove my credentials. And so art to emerge. The ideas about modernism propagated by so far as to say that anything captured as an image possess without assistants by choice. It is important for me to use instead I created an awareness regarding the influences that Tagore and other cultural nationalists set the stage to examine multiple meanings that allows readability through experiential my hand and so the act of making a painting and allowing it shaped my approach to drawing without becoming defensive the effects of colonization on our art practices. In the 50’s planes. However do I tell stories within my work? No. What to have its flaws, is in fact essential to this factor of process about it. I also think that the process of learning should be artists like Souza and Raza were making their departures from I do is I create territories that provoke and prompt you we are talking about. The end result of my paintings appear one where you’re open to the ideas of what is happening at India, choosing the west as their base. In the 70’s and 80’s, we to find something you can identify with, as I want for you as though I know, right from the beginning, exactly what that time in a particular place, but to know what you want see important exhibitions such as Timothy Hymen’s “Place for to then bring your experiences to it, to decipher it. My art the completed image will become. However this isn’t true. to take from it. The 80’s in London were so exciting. It was People” in which issues of identity were discoursed. Indian art is of course invested with personal histories that give shape What is true is that I know the territory that the work is going exciting because there was an entire new wave of the began to also be seen on an international platform through the into my visual vocabulary. For example, one of the recurring to reveal. There are certain things about each individual movement of New Figuration, as you rightly pointed out. But festivals of India, which were being presented on a grand scale. motifs I use is my sister at her first communion, holding my artist’s methodology and process which perhaps holds what this movement was dealing with was different from my There was this new opening up of a cultural awareness in India, hand. It has become a leitmotif that I have used repeatedly, subtle inflictions that cannot be completely described, which own ideational preoccupations. However that didn’t matter to where many things were happening to create a flux for new placing this image on the cusp of doorways or hidden behind becomes what the magic of painting is really all about. me because the excitement lay in being exposed to different situations to manifest. I think that most importantly language things, or meshed within other images. For me this image is DH: So, I’m curious to hear you talk about what you got from types of art practices. The tutors at the RCA approached their and content in Indian art no longer had to validate its self to indicative of many suggestive meanings…. that of innocence contact with the British figurative painters during your time teaching via a communication with the students to engage with find parity within world art. It was a kind of shaking off of the or like a talisman of protection. All images offer us readability in London in the 1980s. And what it meant to come back what the students brought with them as knowledge, as they burden of western centric perceptions on art and aesthetics that lies beyond the original meanings they posses which is to Baroda. In those days Baroda really was revolutionary believed they too could learn from such interludes. So what dictating our placement within the chronicles of art history, what interests me the most. in modern Indian art because the first generation of I perhaps was gifted to receive at the RCA was the space to and I see this as being an important change within the cultural DH: There’s meaning but there’s no narrative key… progressives within the late 1940s and 50s were really learn how to articulate and ideate with absolute abandon, and context of the 70s in India. The historicizing of contemporary RR: Yes…precisely. returning to the Indian past and its mythological traditions most importantly, with no apology whatsoever. I had several Indian art became something that was taken over by Indian as a reference for a way forward as a new nation; Husain’s tutors with diverse approaches to my work to interact with and DH: I mean, there’s nothing you can put on the wall and artists and the critical space and theorizing by intellectuals and subjects from the Mahabharata and so forth. And Baroda I enjoyed the robustness of the program that demanded you say, ‘Oh, that’s what it’s about’. And that may be a relief scholars; and the pedagogic space therefore was something was really breaking with that moment of nationalism and to stand tall. I believe you also have to become the part you for Americans in that there is no sentimentality. There’s no that addressed all of this with great vigor. mythology. The excitement being that there were no rules want to be in your own life. There is a kind of performative gushing NPR story core on a Friday morning where somebody DH: I just have one more question. This is from one of the basically. How to work between figurative work and tradition space in everybody’s life where you take on a role that you talks about going into their daddy’s garage, finding his old interviews where you said something very striking, and I was entirely up to the artists. So I’m wondering what you got decide what you want to be and you sort of enact your beliefs tools and weeping. There’s no American memoir in all of wonder if you’ve said it in passing, or how deep it goes with in London in the light of this and how you brought it back. …and that’s what develops them and brings greater credibility this. In fact, some of it is deliberately ironic. Some of these you and also what it means, you said I’m a feminist but not a to it, for yourself. So I completely swam in the waters of that heads that are filled with the flowers you described are RR: I think the most important thing for me, working in feminist artist. I’m wondering what that means to you. London, was the separation from India. I found it exhilarating time and I did two hundred works in two years whilst I was almost like the flowers of a funeral. When someone has a RR: Yes, I’m not a “feminist” artist as I see that kind of label because it allowed me, like a truant child, to be able to studying at the RCA. And it is personal achievements like heart attack and they’re lying in a hospital bed, there are a as restrictive. I’m an artist. And the world of everything that appreciate where I’d come from and what I’d learned from these that push the boundaries for oneself and which excites hundred thousand lilies in the room and there’s sort of the concerns me that I pay attention to, and that I wish to address, India. However, I was always very clear that I would be you to find yourself. Also, when one is away from the familiar consumerist brain and endless rows of shoes, coats and so is what I paint about. However I’m a feminist by the very DNA returning to India. It has always been my political choice ones alertness is much more heightened. In London I was forth. And so to a certain extent, the narrative element is that makes up my existence, I live and breathe and think from to live and work in India. I have to say that, because there dealing with diverse disciplines as well as a multicultural descriptive without being excessively sentimental. Would you this space of gender affiliation that I perhaps have been gifted were many things that were very seductive about making the environment that demanded me to find my plumb line of like to share your process? by the legacy of where I was born, and the empowerment of the choice to stay abroad, but I chose instead to come back to placement right from day one, which was very challenging. I had RR: The images are not intended to be descriptive as their women that made up my family. I don’t know how else to put it India. To answer your question more pointedly, the rigors left my three and a half year old son behind in India with my meanings get automatically altered through the transposition more emphatically except to reiterate that I live and breathe as a of the Baroda School, which I am eternally grateful to, was parents to do my MA in London, and as a single parent this two that occurs when they are placed within other permutations feminist so therefore that is the prism through which I perceive not just about a studio practice, but also the rigors of a kind year separation was the toughest personal sacrifice I had to of belonging. I would like to talk about the process of my everything around me, and so therefore it would patina my art of pedagogic space of learning art history and a detailed contend with—but at the end of the day I think the journey work by sharing the way I perceive. I am someone who dislikes as well. But the label “feminist artist” seems incongruous to me. imbibing of both Western and Eastern aesthetics. And I think was hard won for me and I think, therefore, precious. Instead I would state—I am a feminist and I am an artist. 28 that this grounding created a relevant plinth upon which 29 Works on Canvas

30 Title TK, Info TK Nayika (Blue), 2009, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 24 x 24 in. 31 32 Nayika (Orange), 2009, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 24 x 24 in Nayika (Red), 2009, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 24 x 24 in. 33 34 Rekha @ 50 (Pink), 2008, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 84 x 60 in. 35 36 Rekha @ 50 (Teal), 2008, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 72 x 48 in. Rekha @ 50 (Orange), 2008, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 72 x 48 in. 37 38 Rekha @ 50 (Blue), 2008, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 84 x 60 in. Nayika/Guddiya (Blue), 2009, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in. 39 40 Nayika/Guddiya (Purple), 2009, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in. Nayika/Guddiya (Red), 2009, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in. 41 42 Second Skin, 2007, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 60 x 84 in. 43 Matters of the Heart

44 Title TK, Info TK Matters of the Heart (Head II), 2013, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images 45 and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 60 x 60 in. 46 Matters of the Heart (Head VI), 2013, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images Matters of the Heart (Head IV), 2013, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images 47 and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 60 x 60 in. and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 60 x 60 in. 48 Matters of the Heart (Head V), 2013, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images Matters of the Heart (Head I), 2013, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images 49 and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 60 x 60 in. and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 60 x 60 in. Works

Cover: Rekha @ 50 (Blue), 2008, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 84 x 60 in. Pgs. 4-5: Rekha Rodwittiya, (Installation View), 2016, Aicon Gallery, New York Page 7 (Left): Don’t Rock the Boat, 1985, Watercolor and gouache on paper, 15 x 11 in. Page 7 (Center): The Cloaked Night, 1985, Ink and gouache on paper, 15 x 11 in. Page 7 (Right): The Acrobat, 1985, Ink, colored pencil, gouache and graphite pencil on paper, 30 x 22 in. Page 12: The Pinball World, 1985, Watercolor and gouache on paper, 11 x 15 in. Page 15: Rekha Rodwittiya, (Installation View), 2016, Aicon Gallery, New York Page 16: Matters of the Heart (Figure I), 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 30 x 22 in. Page 17: Intangible Interlocution: An Anatomy of Recollection, 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 22 x 30 in. Page 18: Matters of the Heart (Figure II), 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 30 x 22 in. Page 19: Matters of the Heart (Figure IV), 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 84 x 60 in. Page 20: Matters of the Heart (Figure VII), 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 84 x 60 in. Page 21: Matters of the Heart (Figure V), 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 84 x 60 in. Page 22: Matters of the Heart (Figure III), 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 84 x 60 in. Page 23: Matters of the Heart (Figure VI), 2014, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 84 x 60 in. Page 24: Rekha Rodwittiya, (Installation View), 2016, Aicon Gallery, New York Page 26: Rekha Rodwittiya, At Work in Her Studio, 2015 Page 27: Rekha Rodwittiya, (Installation View), 2016, Aicon Gallery, New York Page 28: Rekha Rodwittiya, (Installation View), 2016, Aicon Gallery, New York Page 31: Nayika (Blue), 2009, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 24 x 24 in. Page 32: Nayika (Orange), 2009, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 24 x 24 in. Page 33: Nayika (Red), 2009, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 24 x 24 in. Page 34: Rekha @ 50 (Pink), 2008, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 84 x 60 in. Page 36: Rekha @ 50 (Teal), 2008, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 72 x 48 in. Page 37: Rekha @ 50 (Orange), 2008, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 72 x 48 in. Page 38: Rekha @ 50 (Blue), 2008, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 84 x 60 in. Page 39: Nayika/Guddiya (Blue), 2009, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in. Page 40: Nayika/Guddiya (Purple), 2009, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in. Page 41: Nayika/Guddiya (Red), 2009, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in. Pgs. 42-43: Second Skin, 2007, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 60 x 84 in. Page 45: Matters of the Heart (Head II), 2013, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 60 x 60 in. Page 46: Matters of the Heart (Head VI), 2013, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 60 x 60 in. Page 47: Matters of the Heart (Head IV), 2013, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 60 x 60 in. Page 48: Matters of the Heart (Head V), 2013, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 60 x 60 in. Page 49: Matters of the Heart (Head I), 2013, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 60 x 60 in. Page 50: Matters of the Heart (Head III), 2013, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 60 x 60 in. Back Cover: Rekha @ 50 (Pink), 2008, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 84 x 60 in.

50 Matters of the Heart (Head III), 2013, Digital inkjet print with auto-biographic photo images 51 and hand-painted watercolor on paper, 60 x 60 in. Rekha Rodwittiya 1999 The Tale of Six Cities, Lakeeren Art Gallery, Bombay 1980 All India Photography Exhibition, Mysore Pacaembu, curated by Phiippe Mouillon for the 1979 Shaishav, photography exhibition, Baroda Laboratoire, Sao Paulo, Brazil 1978 Opening Exhibition of Urja Art Gallery, Baroda Participated in the “Benefit Event for the Elephanta Education Project” organized by Tasneem Mehta for Residencies/Projects Contemporary , presented by Sakshi Gallery at The Park, INTACH, Bombay 1982-84 MA (Painting) Royal College of Art, London, UK. 2016 One month residency supported by Sakshi Gallery & hosted Chennai Imagined Spaces, a one year touring exhibition with Awarded a distinction for my thesis “A Painful Journey”. by Linika & Sanjay Kumar, Kodaikanal, Tamilnadu Looking Back, Looking Forward, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai Surendran Nair at major art centers in Australia. This Received The Unilever Painting Prize at the degree show. 2010 Invited for a one month residency at Montalvo Art Centre, USA Daya/ On Kindness: An Australia India cultural exchange, exhibition was toured by the Noosa Regional Art Gallery 1982-83 Studied Film & Video at the Fulham Institute, London, UK 2004 Invited for a three month residency to the Fukuoka Asian Art RMIT Gallery, Melbourne Australia under the directorship of Kevin Wilson. 1982 Awarded Inlaks Scholarship to study at the Royal College Museum, Fukuoka, Japan Narratives of the Self, Gallery Espace, New Delhi 1998-99 Lines of Desire, curated by Jagjit Chuchun, Alnoor Mitha of Art London, U.K 2003 Painted on Bombay Suburban train as part of the celebration 2011-12 Back to School: Baroda 1979-89, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai & Kim Merrington. A Liverpool Art School & Oldham Art 1978 Studied & practiced photography under the guidance of of the World Social Forum that was conducted in January 2011 Anecdotes, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai Gallery & Museum touring exhibition. Prof Jyoti Bhatt 2004. This project was organized by Open Circle, Bombay Daya/On Kindness: An Australia India cultural exchange, 1998 Indian Spring, Apparao Galleries & Gallerie Martini, USA 1976 BFA Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University, Baroda, 2000 Transcultural Drawing Residency (CAIR Fellowship) at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi 1997-98 The Edge of Awareness, curated by Adelina Von India Liverpool Art College, John Moores University, UK Review, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai Furstenberg (Art for the World) for the 50th 1999 Invited by the Noosa Regional Council for an international Pause: A Collection, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO). Solo Exhibitions residency program. Surendran Nair was also part of this High-Light, presented by Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai at Did an assemblage of three water colors on Maheswari 2016 ‘Love done right can change the World’- To be presented program, Noosa, Australia The Oberoi, Gurgaon Odhanis titled Stories from the Womb, Geneva—Sao Paulo at Vadehra Gallery, Delhi 1995 Worked on site specific location for world art exhibition Back to School: Baroda 1979-89, Palette Art Gallery, —New York—Delhi ‘The Rituals of Memory: Personal Folklores & Other Tales’ “Dialogues of Peace” constructing painted room titled “Songs New Delhi 1997 Nirguna/Saguna, curated by Peter Nagy, Nature Morte, To be presented at Aicon Gallery, New York from the blood of the weary” (duration two months), Geneva, 2010-11 A Collection, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai Delhi 2014 ‘The Guarded Megalopolis of the Feminine Heart’, Sakshi Switzerland 2010 Gallery Collection, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai Women Artists of India - A Celebration of Independence Gallery, Mumbai 1991 International Artist in Residence (duration two months), The Roots , 25th Anniversary Exhibition of Sakshi Art Gallery, - Curated by Mary-Ann Milford-Lutzker, Mills College Art 2013 ‘Matters of the Heart,’ Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai Magasin Centre National D’Art Mumbai at The Park, Chennai. Gallery, California, USA 2011 ‘Intangible Interlocution: An Anthology of Belonging’, Sakshi Contemporain de Grenoble, France Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai Epic Reality- Contemporary Narrative Painting from India, Gallery, Mumbai 1990 Asian Cultural Council Rockefeller Foundation “Starr Dali’s Elephant, Aicon Gallery, London from the Herwitz collection 2008 Rekha@ fifty Sakshi Gallery, Bombay Fellowship” (duration six months), New York, USA International Ceramic Centre Baroda - Exhibition at ABS Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, USA 2007 Second Skin, Air Gallery & Sakshi Gallery, London, UK 1988-89 Artist in residence at the Konstogskolan Art College— Baroda and at Art & Soul Mumbai- 1996 Of Women –icons/stars/feasts, Eicher Gallery, Delhi Second Skin, Maya Gallery & Sakshi Gallery, London, UK invitation by the Svenska Institute—Stockholm, Sweden Wired at the Heart 12 Contemporary Painters - from 1984 to 1996, The Fine Art 2006 Once Upon A Time…, Sakshi Gallery at Shridharani, Delhi Singularities, RL Fine Arts, New York Resource, Bombay 2005 Encrypted Soliloquies, Sakshi Gallery at Art Folio, Singapore Curatorial Projects 1.2.3.4.5...In the Line of Fire, Lemongrasshopper, Ahmedabad Acro da Lapa – curated by Philippe Mouillon for the 2003 Bye-Bye Baby, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay 2009 Inaugural Show, Sakshi Gallery, Taipei Laboratoire, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2015 “Subtextual Documentalists” An exhibition of photographs by Old Fables : New Myths, Sakshi Gallery in collaboration Arco ’09, Sakshi Gallery, Madrid , Spain 1995-96: Inside Out: Women Artists of India - a touring exhibition in Jyoti Bhatt & Manisha Gera with Sarjan Art Gallery, Baroda Gallery Collection, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai England, curated by Alison Lloyd for the Middlesborough Baswani – “The Collective Studio Baroda” in collaboration 2001 Subtexts, Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore ‘Collection of works,’ Sakshi Gallery Mumbai Art Gallery, UK with “SITE art space” hosted by Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai. 1999 Time Zones: Home & Away, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay Zip Files, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai 1995 Art for Cry, Bombay, Delhi “Subtextual Documentalists” An exhibition of photographs by 1998 Evocations, Studio Barbieri, Venice, Italy Finding India, Sakshi Gallery, Seoul, South Korea Portrait Exhibition, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay Jyoti Bhatt, Manisha Gera 1997 My Body – My Land, Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore Long Gone & Living Now, Gallerie Mirchandani & Dialogues of Peace, Curated by Adelina Von Furstenberg Baswani & Noh Suntag from Korea, “The Collective Studio Re-Inscribing Ancestries, Nazar Gallery, Baroda Steinreucke, Mumbai for the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, Geneva, Baroda” in collaboration with “SITE Borders/Territories, Apparao Galleries at Gallery 678 2008 Art Taipei, Sakshi Gallery, Taiwan Switzerland. Constructed a painted room titled Songs art space” hosted by The Korean Cultural Centre ( with New York, USA Gallery Display, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai from the Blood of the Weary, which is part of the Jehangir assistance from Kim Kyoungae & Kim Changhyun), New Delhi. 1996 In Shades of Red, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay 2007 Sakshi moves to Colaba, Inaugural Show, Bombay Nicholson collection 2014 “Residual Remnants” An exhibition of paintings by 1994 Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore Art on the Wing, An exhibition to support VCARE an animal Bombay, An RPG Exhibition, Bombay T.Venkanna, Kim Kyoungae, Abir Karmakar, 1993 Art Heritage, Delhi shelter, Sarjan Gallery, Baroda Contemporary Art- Deutsche Bank Bombay, compiled by Poushali Das, Mitali Shah - “The Collective Studio Baroda” in Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay Invited to exhibit in a show curated by Paternlab, The Fine Art Resource, Bombay collaboration with “SITE artspace”. 1992 Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore The Teardrop Explodes, London, UK Indian Winter, Kapil Jariwala Gallery, London, UK “Subtextual Documentalists” An exhibition of photographs by Seagull For Arts, Calcutta Art Miami, Sakshi Gallery, Miami, USA 1994 An exhibition of Womens Art - Society for promotion of Jyoti Bhatt & Manisha Gera Baswani 1991 Sakshi Gallery, Chennai 2006 Making of Divinity: curated by Ina Puri, Sakshi Gallery, art - Hyderabad “The Collective Studio Baroda” in collaboration with “SITE art 1990 Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay Bombay 1993 Images, Sakshi Gallery, Chennai space.” 1989 Art Heritage, Delhi 2004 Tiranga, rights and responsibilities, curated by Peter Nagy Still Lives, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay “This Side of the Forest” An exhibition by Vasudevan 1988 Gallery Sassi, Stockholm, Sweden for Shallu & Naveen Jindal, Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay Husain ki Sarai , Vadhera Art Gallery, Delhi Akkitham, “The Collective Studio 1987 Art Heritage, Delhi 6 part painting titled A chanced meeting between Nukata Images & Words, A travelling exhibition for communal Baroda” in collaboration with “SITE art space.” 1986 Sarala Art Centre, Chennai No Okimi and a serendipitous yayavar, installed at site in harmony organized by Sahmat - India “Measured Metres”An exhibition of painting & Sculpture by Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum and displayed for six weeks, In small format-Works on paper, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay Indrapramit Roy & Mayur Gupta 1985 Art Heritage, Delhi Fukuoka, Japan 1992 Journeys within Landscapes, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay “The Collective Studio Baroda” in collaboration with “SITE art Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay 2003 Un passage dans la lumiere” curated by Philippe Mouillon A Nest For Sparrow, curated by C.S Laxmi, Bombay space” 1982 Urja Art Gallery, Baroda, India for the Laboratoire in Algiers. 1989 Artists Alert, In Memory of Safdar Hashmi, Delhi “Generations-Notional worlds” An exhibition of art by K. G. The Said & the Unsaid, Apparao Galleries, Bombay 1988 Cry Exhibition, Bombay Subramanyan, Nagji Patel, Selected Group Exhibitions 2002 Cinema Stills, Apparao Galleries, New Delhi Exhibition to Celebrate the Declaration of Human Rights Surendran Nair, Manisha Parekh, Sonatina Mendes & N. Divya, 2015 Sakshi group exhibition at the Park, Chennai The Sheen of Metal”, The Pallette Art Gallery, New Delhi UN, Geneva, Switzerland “The Collective Studio Baroda” in collaboration with “SITE art 2014 In-Between, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai Nav-Nayika , Tao Gallery, Bombay 1987 Second Biennial of Havana, Cuba space.” 2013-14 Forgotten Figures’, Aicon Gallery, New York 2001 Figures in my Mind, Gallery Espace, Delhi Alekhya Darsan - Six Young Contemporaries, Geneva, 2012 ‘Quiet Conversations from the Courtyard’, Ashvita, Chennai 2013 The Sakshi Show’, presented by Sakshi Gallery at The Park, Palette 2001, Delhi Switzerland 2011 ‘Feminine Syntax – Personal Biographies - Chennai Indian Contemporary Fine Art, Saffron Art & Apparao Print exhibition, Centre for Engraving, Geneva, Switzerland Lemongrasshopper Art Gallery- Ahmedabad First Edition, presented by Sakshi Gallery at Taj Krishna, Galleries, Los Angeles, USA Print exhibition, Bristol, UK 2008 “Pernoctation & Early Drawings”, Curated the section of early Hyderabad 2000 Embarkations, The Millennium Show curated by Yashodhara 1986 Sixth International Triennale, Delhi drawing of Surendran Nair for Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai Mapping Gender: Bodies and Sexualities in Contemporary Dalmia, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay 1985 Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art from the Herwitz 1998 “Cross Currents”, Touring Exhibition co-curated with Art across the Global South, Jawaharlal Nehru University, a la nuit tombee, curated by Philippe Mouillon for Berge Collection, New York, Pennsylvania, Jennifer Lloyd, Norway New Delhi 2000, Grenoble, France Woraster & Vermont, USA 1997 “The Printed Image”, Jyoti Bhatt for Cymroza Art Gallery, The Possibility of Being, Exhibit 320, New Delhi Early works, The Fine Art Company, Bombay 1984 Young Contemporaries, Sheffield, UK Bombay In house, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai Timeless Visions: Contemporary Art of India, From the 1983 John Nevil Gallery, Canterbury, UK 1993 “The Drawn Image”, Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay 2012 Diva, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai Herwitz Collection, Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, Rebecca Smith Gallery, London, UK 1992 “Four Young Contemporaries”, Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay, Contemporary, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai USA 1982 British Council Gallery, Bombay Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore Celebration of the Human Image, curated by Yvette Kumar 1981 Young Students Exhibition, Planetarium, Baroda for Gallery 42, Delhi All India Graphic Exhibition, Ahmedabad 52 53 Acknowledgements

Rekha Rodwittiya I The Rituals of Memory: Personal Folklores & Other Tales Exhibition dates: February 4–27, 2016

Thank you: My thanks and gratitude to Prajit Dutta & Projjal Dutta, the Partners of Aicon Gallery, Exhibitions Coordinator Andrew Shea, Gallery Director Harry Hutchinson, Gallery Manager Amy Distler and all the Aicon Gallery team for presenting my exhibition. My love and appreciation to Susan Sobolewski for the magic of her piano recital at my exhibition at Aicon Gallery. My special thanks to Geetha Mehra Director Sakshi Gallery Mumbai for her sustained engagement with my art over twenty-six years and the Sakshi Gallery office staff for their support in making this exhibition logistically possible. To Sanjay Kumar V former director Synergy Art Foundation for his invaluable friendship. To Surendran my partner, my eternal love for being the soul mate who keeps my imagination alive each day. To Mithun my son, for being the light of my life always & to Samera, my daughter-in-law for her love. To Seema, Kyoungae, Ajith, Divya, Ankush, Sonatina & Malavika my thanks for their friendship and help that is cherished, and to my grandchildren Aditi & Mehran my thanks for the gift of their innocence and love in my life.

Catalog Text by Daniel Herwitz Graphic Design: Christine Navin Exhibition Photography: Bill Orcutt, Rekha Rodwittiya, and Andrew Shea Printer: Puritan Capital 2016 © Aicon Gallery All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the artists, writer and publisher. Published by Aicon Gallery, New York, 2016.

About Aicon

Aicon Gallery’s curatorial vision begins in South Asia but reaches outwards internationally from there. The New York gallery provides a vital platform for Modern and Contemporary artists from South Asia, as well as the Middle East and, finally, diasporic artists, to realize their vision in a global and ever-shifting world. Alongside in-depth, focused solo shows, the gallery presents a program of curated group exhibitions that are international in their scope and ambition. Following recent debates in institutional curating, the program deliberately links together art produced recently with art made in the latter half of the 20th Century. Through this, the gallery hopes to produce unexpected congruencies, shed light on multiple modernisms, make complex the designation “contemporary” and signal a shift away from simple survey exhibitions.

In solo exhibitions, Aicon has shown the work of established artists such as M. F. Husain, F. N. Souza, Rasheed Araeen, Rachid Koraichi, Rekha Rodwittiya, and S. H. Raza. The gallery has also presented ambitious solo shows of younger artists, such as Abdullah M. I. Syed, Abir Karmakar, Salman Toor, Adeela Suleman, Promotesh Das Pulak and G. R. Iranna. Group shows have included Readymade: Contemporary Art from Bangladesh as well as Between Structure and Matter: Other Minimal Futures, curated by Murtaza Vali and Prajit Dutta. The gallery has collaborated with museums such as the Art Institute of Chicago, Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, the Jewish Museum, New York and the Louvre, Abu Dhabi. Exhibitions have been reviewed and the gallery has been profiled by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Hyperallergic, The Times of London, ArtAsiaPacific, ArtForum and the Financial Times.

54 Back Cover: Rekha @ 50 (Pink), 2008, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 84 x 60 in. aicongallery N E W Y O R K L O N D O N Aicon Gallery • 35 Great Jones Street • New York, NY 10012 • 212.725.6092 • [email protected]