(New York, NY – February 27, 2012) The Indo-American Arts Council’s 9th Annual Erasing Borders Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora features work by 41 artists who confront issues like sexuality, terror, disease, the environment and racial politics through various artistic mediums like paintings, prints, installations, video and sculpture. This eclectic mix of artists is chosen by curator Vijay Kumar and is free and open to the public. The resulting works often meld Indian and Western ideas about color, form and subject. The opening reception will take place at Crossing Art Queens on March 17 from 3pm to 6pm.
“I am very pleased that this year’s Erasing Borders exhibition is able to include work by 41 artists working in a wide variety of media,” says curator Vijay Kumar. “We are able to showcase work by established artists, as well as introduce work by new young talent to a wider audience. It has been my great privilege to be part of this ever-widening community of artists from the Diaspora.”
Twenty million people of Indian origin shifted countries in the 20th and 21st centuries. Implicit in the term Diaspora are the concepts of change and adaptation. Cultural dislocation can produce unexpected and powerful results. Subject matter is often drawn from the country of origin, while many of the artistic decisions and political concerns come from the artists’ newfound situations. Many artists went abroad after India’s independence from the British rule. The artists grappled with dual aesthetic concerns and with the complex issue of identity. Artists of the South Asian Diaspora are working to make themselves heard in an art world that is at once more competitive and more receptive to non-Western art than ever before. This exhibition seeks to transcend the borders that confine and control preconceived definitions of Indian and Western art.
The exhibition features work by Debangana Banerjee, Raazia H. Chandoo, Shanthi Chandrasekar, Bivas Chaudhuri, Pritika Chowdhry, Nandini Chrirmar, Delna Dastur, Minakshi De, Uday K. Dhar, Claudia Dias, Anujan Ezhikode, Mustafa Faruki, Ruee V. Gawarikar, Reeta Gidwani Karmarkar, Abhijit Goswami, Shivina Harjani, Mansoora Hassan, Samina Iqbal, Ina Kaur, Kulvinder Kaur Dhew, Reet Kunal Das, Rahul Mehra, Shobha Menon, Rahul Mitra, Jayanthi Moorthy, Alakananda Mukerji, George Oommen, Jigar A. Patel, Avani Patel, Nirmal Raja, Ali Raza, Rasika Reddy, Sangeeta Reddy, Tara Sabharwal, Aparajita Sen, Ela Shah, M. Tasneem Shahzad, Madhvi Subrahmanian, Sarah Suleman, Anu Thadani, MD Tokon
For artist bios as well as more information on the event please visit
/erasing_borders_2012/index.htm
IAAC Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora 2012
Venue: Crossing Art Queens
Dates: March 17 - April 20, 2012
136-17 39th Avenue (at Main Street) Ground Floor
Flushing, NY 11354
Opening Reception: Saturday March 17, 2012 3-6 pm
Venue: Bronx Charter School for the Arts
Dates: April 30-May 30, 2012
Location: 950 Longfellow Ave, Bronx, NY 10474
Phone: 718 893 1042
Opening Reception: Tuesday May 1, 2012
Venue: art6
August 8th, 2012.
Location: 6 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219
Phone: (804) 343-1406
Gallery hours: Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment
About The Indo-American Arts Council:
The Indo-American Arts Council is a registered 501(c)3 not-for-profit, secular service and resource arts organization charged with the mission of promoting and building the awareness, creation, production, exhibition, publication and performance of Indian and cross-cultural art forms in North America. It is passionate about showcasing, celebrating and building an awareness of artists and artistic disciplines of Indian origin in the performing, literary, visual and folk arts. For further information please visit
.