A TRYST WITH DESTINY – a Solo Exhibition by the renowned artist Nayanaa Kanodia will be on show at prestigious Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai from 21 March 2023 till 27 March 2023.
The Preview will be held at Auditorium Hall, Jehangir Art Gallery on 21 March 2023.
“After the trauma, shock and melancholy of the pandemic years, we have now made peace with our tryst with destiny.
We now survive with materiality, joy, sorrow and humor,” says Nayanaa Kanodia, artist of international acclaim.
“My paintings intend to make you feel that you are watching a snapshot of life at maximum preposterousness, exuberant and bursting with energy. The conversation I hope to create in my work is a certain truth of life and on a deeper level, a well thought philosophy. Individuals may interpret my paintings in vastly disparate ways and each view will be equally logical and plausible whereas thoughts will be provoking and intriguing. My work delights the viewer with its whimsy yet contains the most important social messages of our lives.” says Nayanaa Kanodia, the economist turned Painter and brilliant colourist from Mumbai.
Musee International D’Naif Art in Paris permanently displays her paintings and Nayanaa Kanodia is considered to be the pioneer of the genre of L’Art Naif in India.
“I absorb the vast spectrum of our environment with an open minded cognition, comprehension and a humorous approach to my intense perceptions. I picturise the intersection between the illusions of thought and the cognition of foresight and imagination. Considered as the foremost artist of the L’Art Naif genre, my colorful images are a manifestation of the uniqueness of the Indian situation where westernization took place without replacing basic traditional traits of identity which is the root of Indian society,” the artist remarked.
“Through my brightly coloured paintings with figures looking straight out from the canvas, I bring a contemplative mirror effect in the viewer’s mind, in which the duality of observer and observed gradually disappears.
Another chief element of my work is multiple narrations in one frame with vivacious depiction of visual symbols of everyday life, intricate patterns and details where I present a picture within a picture to indicate toward the experiential perplexity rooted in the multiplicity of reality. I believe in constructing fantastic versions of accessible scenes, both rural and urban utopias. A picture of the moment is built in which whole histories and relationships are made visible. My work is all about time and through my paintings, time is movement held still,” says artist Nayanaa Kanodia.
“One can grasp the complexity and nuance of my vision only after abandoning society’s typical notions and then keenly observing the relationships and components at play. The projected images serve as a veneer, behind which an infinite number of experiences and interpretations are possible.
Behind the pedantically accurate and yet often misjudged, the world is so true, naked and ludicrous that we gasp as we recognize it. In spite of the lure of the luxurious comforts of home, man embraces nature. Ideas flow, senses come alive, and we come to terms with our existence and our destiny. I explore this aspect in my visual narrative.
My body of work shows the close bond man has with nature, a union that helps him regain his lost innocence, enjoying a solace that can be derived from the peace and quiet of our environment. Although a number of the paintings are set indoors, trees, foliage and birds are skilfully integrated, the works evoke the light and sensation of wandering in an ornamental garden,” artist Nayanaa Kanodia added.
Renowned artist Nayanaa Kanodia has held innumerable shows in India and abroad. She has a teaching experience of more than two decades. She has been conducting speeches, workshops and presentations on art in various organizations and universities and participated as a judge in various art competitions.
She has attended various Art Camps in India and abroad including in London, Sweden, Italy, Moscow, Greece, Finland, Norway, Bangkok and Cambodia.
Impressed with the social messages being conveyed in her paintings, a consortium of schools in Los Altos, U.S.A. is using her work as a medium of instruction to their students.
She was invited by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to demonstrate her painting techniques and exhibited her paintings.
She is the first Indian whose paintings are part of paintings in United Kingdom’s hospitals.
Nayanaa Kanodia was featured in an international publication ‘Women in Art’ by Reinhard Fuchs and was also chosen from all the artists of The Commonwealth Countries to have a solo show in London. She is the first Indian juror, that too a Senior juror in the panel of the Prisma Art Prize for their Rome Dividere in Europe, a great honour for our nation.
She has been of immense help to many charitable institutions and a part of this Show proceeds will be going to CPAA (Cancer Patients AID Association).
Nayanaa Kanodia’s Paintings are in the collection of major Art Galleries.
She studied Economics from Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi. She is a self-taught artist except for an apprenticeship with the world renowned contemporary artist, Anjolie Menon.
“India’s chief practitioner of Naive Art, Nayanaa’s work delights the viewer with its whimsy, yet contains the most important social messages of our lives,” says Padma Shree Anjolie Ela Menon.
