Celebrating 60 Years Of A Master Of Modern Indian Art, Rekha Rodwittiya

Known for her powerful work such as “Songs From The Blood Of The Weary”, iconic artist Rekha Rodwittiya is back with a bang on her 60th birthday with “Rekha@Sixty - Transient Worlds of Belonging”. The exhibition celebrates six decades of the artist’s growth and evolution and also contains some previously unseen multimedia work.

Geetha Mehra, the founder of Sakshi Gallery has known the artist since the 1960’s when both of them had just started out in the art industry, and since then has seen her grow into the enigmatic artist she is today. She tells us “Rekha’s work is and has always been a very strong statement of her own feminist stance. It celebrates the woman and all that surrounds her. They are in command of their space and all that it encompasses. She is a colourist and her sweeping brush strokes are born of an energy and a force that marks its territory.” Foregrounding the woman and their concerns, Mehra believes makes Rodwittiya’s work quite relevant in today.

Rodwittiya had previously held a solo exhibition on the account of her 50th birthday in 2008. Crossing another decade, she believes that this showing represents her reflection of the social and political changes in India and elsewhere, that shape the discourses that embrace our existence. She tells us, “ Though my territory of interest remains the same, it is the interventions of approach to it that are constantly changing. The archived photographic image becomes part of the palimpsest that situates memory and belonging.”

When asked on how she would like the audience to engage with her work, she simply asks for all to keep an open mind. “Human experience becomes the dictionary that forges empathy and comprehension to all situations. What is imperative at all times is that we can be open to discourses and hold curiosities that widen our perceptions.” She wishes for her art to invite an engaged and informed viewership and for discourses to originate that may open more doors of enquiry.

You can catch the exhibition from 1-30th November 2018, with the preview on the 31st of October, at Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai from 11 am to 6 pm.