Unpacking the myths of mankind, nature, and urbanity
Odisha-born Birendra Pani creates a mythic-poetic splash at his new solo in California
Artist Birendra Pani has traveled a fair bit and his relocations have inspired him to create work that mirrors his changing cultural contexts— from Odisha to Santiniketan, Vadodara to Mumbai then Delhi, and currently to California in the USA. In his solo exhibition at Gallery Fresh Paint, La Jolla, San Diego, California, titled Urban Avatara—A New Mythopoesis, he presents a suite of paintings and drawings. Through these works, Pani portrays his ‘condensed’ experience of his artistic journey of the last thirty years (1990-2020). This exhibition comprises drawing-based paintings; it endeavors to create a critical reflective space with respect to the present consumerist culture and human life in a neoliberalized world.
The works are located within the every day but they talk about larger issues like extensive urbanization that leads to a conflict with our natural resources and impacts human life. Pani uses the metaphor of the real and unreal, through pop and kitsch imagery, sometimes even employing a comical mannerism tempered with the element of satire. The acrylic on canvas works from his Urban Avatara series address the contradictions of consumer culture; and the neglect of local spaces, culture, history, memory, and identity in contemporary times- creating a new ‘mythopoesis’ through visual language.
The drawings in this series of works have sometimes evolved as an unconscious process of art-making and sometimes exudes ‘the magic of life’. Pani believes, “A line can speak a dialogue; in a line, there is no color; but there are deep layers of emotions, feelings, and experiences embedded within it.” Involved in the process is the invisible skill and sensuality, known and unknown methods; sometimes he has control over the ‘motion of the line’ and at other times, the line guides itself and ‘caricatures him’. As he shares, his distinct drawing quality is developed which is being influenced by the lyrical quality of Odisha’s miniature tradition.
Pani‘s painting employs various objects as metaphors for consumerist culture, like the capsule, the syringe, the human heart and brain besides other elements to speak of his experience of urbanity mingled with elements and iconography of Indian mythology. Pani has been working with these elements since his student days in Vadodara in 1997 and it is definitive of this series as well. For him, these are the hybrid image of the local, national and global. His work is known for its bright colors and playful images; however, it has a distinctly serious intent. The juxtaposition of various divine forms with the human, animal, bird, flowers with nature, and mythological figures have inspired him to create a series of new contemporary iconographic drawings, a new image of his contemporary experiences in the paintings.
Alongside his life partner Art Historian and Curator Dr. Rajashree Biswal, Birendra Pani has co-initiated the cultural initiative New Bridge India and presently lives and works in San Diego and Los Angeles, California, USA.
The exhibition is on till July 27th, 2020
Text by Georgina Maddox
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