Artist Statement:

The focus of my work to date is the point where classic Indian imagery intersects with a minimalist aesthetic. Constantly, I am collecting and archiving intellectual mental images of the past and now, from landscapes, miniature portraiture, folk traditions and classic Indian cinema, etc. I use these vestiges from my culturally-rich past as a platform for evoking a contemporary dialogue that reinterprets and reinvents Indian creative heritage. The techniques I apply are traditional, a mixture of hand made stencils, silk-screen, wood, collage, painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, installation etc. At the heart of my artistic research has been a blend of India's cultural past with its present. I think of my art as alternating notions of time and space by pairing archaic refinement with modern austerity. 

Artist's Biography:

Pratima Naithani, born June 18th, 1979 in Washington, D.C., came into this world an heir to two distinct and rich cultures. Her mother being from El Salvador and her father from India, Pratima grew up in the suburban town of Princeton, New Jersey. Sitting astride these three cultures, she is an El Salvadorian, Indian, and American artist. As a child, she became more and more familiar with her Indian heritage. Her mother’s country, El Salvador, was at war for most of her young life, preventing prolonged visits and causing her to develop a deeper relationship with her Indian roots. Many of her works draw upon her summers in India and the inspiration Indian music, film, and history encourage. Pratima consistently makes evident her reverence for her heritage.

As a child, Pratima Naithani suffered from an eye condition that went undiagnosed until she was thirteen. Before it was corrected, she expressed herself through the medium she could most easily perceive: music. A passion for the piano led her to play by ear without learning how to read music. Her skills developed rapidly and she quickly became a classical and jazz pianist.

Though Pratima Naithani continued her interest in music, she discovered art by happenstance at school. Her innate abilities and apparent talent eventually led her to the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where graduated in 2003.

Upon her graduation from New York’s School of Visual Arts in 2003, Naithani’s photographs were featured alongside Karl Lagerfeld’s and Baz Luhrmann’s, among others, in Visionaire 41/World Issue. Her work was shown at the Matthieu Foss Gallery at artparis-Abudhabi, in November 2008. Recent group shows include The New Order Beauty, Pallette Art Gallery, New Delhi, India, in January 2010, Engendered at Lincoln Center, New York, NY, in April 2008, Erasing Borders 2008 presented by Indo American Arts Council, New York, NY, and Fatal Love at the Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY, presented by the Asia Society in 2005.  Recent solo shows include the Visual Arts Gallery in New Delhi, India, March 2006, and Galeria Espacio, in San Salvador, El Salvador, in December 2009. The Dances of India Series comprises her most recent grouping of mixed-media works on paper that blend past and present Indian cultural references.

Pratima continues to travel to investigate her heritage, to study cultures, to collect materials for her projects, and particularly works in the spirit of preserving traditions as well as interpreting them in contemporary context for broader audiences.

Education:
Bachelor of Fine Arts, School Of Visual Arts, New York City 2003

Selected Solo Artwork Exhibitions:
March 2010 – The Sweet Shop, SCOPE Art Fair, New York City
December 2009 – Galeria Espacio, San Salvador
November 2008- ArtParis-Abu Dhabi, Matthieu Foss Presents
September 2008 - New York Academy of Art, New York City
December 2006 - Miami Art Basel 2006, Rolls Royce Presents
April 2006 - Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
March 2006 - Visual Arts Gallery, New Delhi

Selected Group Artwork Exhibitions:

October 2011 – SAWCC 5th Annual Auction, Saffron Art Gallery, New York City
August 2011- Ritual, Causey Contemporary Gallery, New York City
November 2010- India Awakens: Under the Banyan Tree, Essl Museum, Vienna
October 2010- Of Filmi And Other Deamons, Asian Arts Institute, Philadelphia
January 2010 - The New Order Beauty, Pallette Art Gallery, New Delhi
April 2008 - Engendered, Frederick P. Rose Hall Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York City
March - October 2008 - Erasing Borders 2008: Passport to Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora, New York
April 2005 - V O R 2005, Chicago
February 2005 - Fatal Love presented by Asia Society, Queens Museum of Art, New York, NY
January 2005 - Spice Auction, New York, NY
November 2004 - Yearning For Yours, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY
September 2004 - Erasing Borders - Passport to Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora, New York, NY
May 2003 - The Mentor Show, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY

Selected Bibliography of Reviews and References:

March 2010 – Wall Street Journal, Armory Arts Week 2010 by Candace Jackson
March 2010 – Art Log, Arts Armory Week
March 2010 – White Wall Magazine, Sweet Shop by Krystal Echeverria Segnini
November 2008 – Elle Magazine, The New Guard by Matthieu Foss
October 2008 – The Statesman, Against All Odds by Mathures Paul
July 2008 - New York Times, A Collection Born of Cultural Dislocation by Benjamin Genocchio
April 2007 - Indian Express US Edition, Blend of Tinsel Glitter and Miniature Art by Juhi Jhunjhunwala
April 2006 - India Today Magazine, Photo Frame by Aditi Pai
April 2006 - Elle, Reel to Reel
April 2006 - DNA Sunday Times, She Adds Timeless Aura to Celluloid Moments by Shivangi Ambani
April 2006 - The Hindustan Times, Reverse Logic by Gitanjali Dang
April 2006 - Bombay Times, Times of India, Images from the Past
March 2006 - Mumbai Mirror, Retake of Vintage Cinema by Georgina Maddox
March 2006 - The Financial Express, Photography as High Art by Suman Tarafdar
March 2006 - Indian Express, Brush with the Lens by Namita Kohli
March 2005 - New York Times, Taking a Magical Flight Through Modern India by Holland Cotter
March 2005 - Wall Street Journal, South Asia as Ethnic Background, Artistic Foreground by Amy Finnerty
March 2005 - ArtNews, Edge of Desire by Barbara Pollack
September 2003 - Visionaire 41/World Issue