Screening of Short Films by Sriram Dalton

Sriram Dalton, an artist, writer, director was invited to screen some of his films at Amdavad ni  Gufa @ 6 pm on 21^st Dec  2013 by Arpit Biloria of ‘Studio Verve’. Sriram honed his film making skills through working in Bollywood and assisting noted cinematographer Ashok Mehta in commercial cinema such as ‘No entry’.  However, his own take on cinema as a means of expression is unique and has a style of his own.

The screening commenced with the short film ‘The lost Behrupiya’ which was inspired by the nostalgia of rich traditions remembered from childhood times but fast disappearing in this busy world. The film’s take on  the tradition of Behrupiya is interesting as it shies away from the overt use of voice over and dialogues; instead using audio-visual means to express the essence and pain of this tradition in a metaphorical, poetic manner. The classical rendition in the background and the evocative use of silence complement the strong visual imagery of the film.

Gayatri Menon addressing the Audience

The next short film screened: ‘OP stop smelling Ur socks’ stars actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the main role long before he became famous. The film portrays black humor and is a take on the inner world of the common man and the psychological dimensions of group dynamics controlled by position and power. Shifting between dream and reality the film attempts to capture hidden dimensions and raises questions rather than attempting to give solutions.

The one minute ad film promotes the serious theme of tree plantation in a light evocative manner. The current film being made by Sriram is based on the 14000 kms road journey he has undergone in the last 3 months with his friend, artist-poet Pramod Kumar. The film is about the journey with a love story connecting the same. The first look of the film was screened: the horse as a metaphor, the road journey and the stunning music creates a curiosity and expectation!

All his films have a poetic approach and a strong style of his own– exploring spaces between reality and inner worlds, strong imagery, using rich sounds as a means of expression rather than relegating them to the background and the use of metaphors. In the interaction session with the film maker, he also acknowledged the contribution of his friend, artist-poet Pramod Kumar in developing the idea of the film and his wife Megha  Sriram Dalton for the sound design and music of his films. 

-Gayatri Menon

Special Thanks to Mr. Anil Relia for allowing us to use the AV Room at 'Amdavad ni Gufa'

"OP" Stop Smelling Ur Socks - Sriram Dalton

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World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic victims

Studio Verve was invited to create a public art installation for the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic victims (WDR) which is observed on the third Sunday of November each year. This day is dedicated to remembering both the victims of road accidents as well as the police, medical professionals etc. who daily deal with road injuries and deaths.

Since many of the accidents could have been prevented, the emphasis is on creating public awareness to road safety norms and the dangers of driving irresponsibly.

The venue to create the public art installation was decided as the Paldi bus stop which is a centrally located area in Ahmedabad with a large number of people driving past the same. Keeping in mind the theme of creating public awareness an installation was conceptualized &  executed  by Mr. Gautam Patel, Arpit Biloria & Lalon (Abhijit Paul) along with artists: Mukund Pate, Lalit Garg, Kautilya Vyas, Rokesh Kumar Singh, Mayank Sharma, Sunil Nimawat & Sachin Dadhich within a short time frame.

The visual impact of crushed vehicles in accidents is enormous and is a reminder to people to drive carefully. Considering this factor, crushed, distorted two wheelers and four wheelers were assembled. These vehicles were composed in an interesting manner using cranes on the bus stop roof space to create better visibility and exaggerate the impact.

The installation was executed at night to create a curiosity and buzz from early morning onwards on the WDR. The use of crushed, distorted vehicles as an indirect reminder of the frailty of human body and the need for road safety was well received.

-Gayatri Menon

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XI Strokes – Eleven Different Colours

The exhibition ‘XI Strokes – eleven different colours’ depicts the work of eleven artists and was inaugurated on 26^th Nov 2013 in ‘The gallery’ , Ahmedabad. Apart from fibre work in 3D, the exhibition consists of paintings in various media. Ajay Mistri’s colourful take on human forms through bold paintings on 3d fibre and Sandeep Suneriya’s  humorous take in his etching work were interesting.  The highly realistic works of Dinesh Shrimali and Suresh Rawal depicting day to day life as well as the surrealistic paintings of Mukund Patel and Kalpesh Patel  are appreciable for the highly skilled detailed depiction. Overall, there is a certain freshness to the work dominated by traditional ways of painting and an underlying tension in trying to break through to new ways of expressions.
-Gayatri Menon

Participating Artists: 

Alay Mistry, Bhavesh Raval, Dinesh Shrimali, Jasvant Parmar, Kamlesh Chavada, Kalpesh Patel, Mukund Patel, Radha Patel, Rakesh Dave, Suresh Raval & Sandeep Suneriya.

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Levitate - A Group Show of Paintings Sculptures & Graphics at Amdavad ni Gufa - Ahmedabad, India

Amdavad ni Gufa - Ahmedabad, India

Eleven contemporary artists displayed their work at the exhibition ‘Levitate’ organized at ‘The gallery’, Ahmedabad from 12th to 18th November, 2013. The display included paintings-oils, acrylic; printmaking-wood cutting, etching; sculptures-stone, metal; and mixed media work.  

Sunil Nimawat's Wood Cut on Display

Sachin Dadhich's Sculpture in Mixed Media

Rokesh Kumar Singh's Stone Sculpture

The works of Rakesh kumar Singh and Sachin Dadichi explore the materials in interesting, unconventional ways. Sunal Nimawat’s ‘portrait’ combines the conceptual element and technique of woodcut beautifully.

Lalit Garg's Paintings in Mixed Media

Arpit Biloria’s abstract expression ‘intersectional void’ is an interesting play of geometric planes and positive-negative spaces. 

Arpit Biloria's Sculptures in Metal

Margee Patel ‘s series of birds and especially ‘the swans ‘has captured the grace, beauty and delicacy of birds in the hard medium of stone. 

Margee Patel's Stone Sculptures

Apart from the diversity of mediums what is remarkable is the diversity of approaches amongst the artists.  It will be interesting to observe these artists through their journey in the art field.

- Gayatri Menon

L to R - Sunil Nimawat, Sachin Dadhich, Mayank Sharma, Lalit Garg, Arpit Biloria, Margee Patel, Riddhi Shah, Jyotika Rathore & Rokesh Kumar Singh

Press Coverage

Divya Bhaskar - Ahmedabad - 13 November 2013

DNA - Ahmedabad - 13 November 2013

Ahmedabad Mirror - 14 November 2013

Sandesh - Ahmedabad 15 November 2013

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