Finding Noir

There are stories we often hide in canisters located in the corners of our mind, incredible tales of love, life and heartbreak. Often these tales escape into pieces of art and heart, finding a place to survive in moulded words, paper and drama. Narratives of survival, hope and magic paint sheets of fabric and papyrus, helping its creator to open memoirs and paint imaginary and often real messages.

Twenty-Two established and emerging Indian Artists exhibit pieces of art as part of the Noir (a word for Black in French) Group Show by The Art Exchange Project, at The Stainless Gallery in New Delhi. From pen and ink, to charcoal, acrylic and graphite, these artists explore black as a colour through portraits, cityscapes and abstracts.

Noir- The mystery unfolds, is an art exhibit bringing together diverse art pieces and ideas, curated by Aarti Uppal Singla, an artist and the mind behind two popular art communities – The Art Exchange Project and Delhi Pencil Jammers.

The few of many pieces at the exhibit includes, Gossip Gossip- art on pebbles by Sushil Bhasin, a series of paintings representing the wrongs done to nature by mankind by Abid Zaidi, one of which is titled the Desperate World of Vulture I, Sonal Ramnath’s thematic pieces, abstract architectural illustrations, titled Short Cities by Sarah Ahmad, art pieces inspired by the love for travel, nature and cities by Reena Chopra, portraits of a classy-modern woman by Hazel Kamath, works of digital art by Khushroo Kalyanwala, art pieces asking and answering questions about our existence by Mahima Dhawan, and depiction of love and loss by Shivam Sehgal.

The show is an amalgamation of self-taught artists, like Astha Saini, Gautam Bose, Priya Ramachandran, Mariyappa, Dr Balesh Jindal and Tarun Sharma, to name a few, and trained artists and designers like Megha Madan, Niraj Gupta, Paul, Mansi Verma, Inku Kumar, Winnie Singh, among many others.

The curator of the show, Aarti Uppal Singla also brings together her artworks which echo a unique poetic vein through the many multi-layered images, Genesis is one of her many pieces being exhibited at the show. Aarti opines, “black is fascinating and powerful. When intense it can make all others its own.” “The aim of this show is to bring black in all its expressing glory,” she further adds. Black or Noir in French becomes the dominant shade in a collection of many perceptions, at this show.

The Art Show also brings forth five art workshops conducted by participating artists- Experiments in Ink with Aarti Uppal Singla, Zendoodles with Hazel Kamath, Art Calligraphy with Inku Kumar, Curves and Wit with Sushil Bhasin, and Painting Emotions with Tarun Sharma.

From art as a tool to disperse information or just as a piece to be visited in art galleries, art is constantly making the mundane-extraordinary, bringing together varied dialogues into a room, thus, giving way to more conversation; art becoming an incredible power influencing society, culture, cities and socio-political life.

Black is more than a colour at this exhibition- it is a unique thought, an understanding and an account of that notion into trickles, drizzles and fluid eccentricities.

Art Exhibition:

Noir- The Mystery Unfolds by The Art Exchange Project- At the Stainless Gallery (Mira Corporate Suites, Mathura Rd, Ishwar Nagar, New Friends Colony, New Delhi), from 23rd September to 28th September 2017