A celebrated Indian Artist Takes Center Stage in London

The Serpentine North gallery in London is currently hosting Remembrance,a landmark solo exhibition showcasing the extensive six-decade career of Arpita Singh,a pivotal figure in Indian contemporary art. This exhibition marks Singh’s first major institutional solo show outside of India, offering a extensive look at her artistic evolution.

Early Influences and Artistic Growth

Born in Baranagar in 1937, Arpita Singh emerged onto the art scene in the 1960s, forging a distinctive style that blends surrealism, figurative art, and elements of traditional Indian court painting. While abstraction has also marked periods in her career, Singh consistently integrates diverse elements such as weaving techniques, Indian mythological symbols, urban landscapes, and even newspaper headlines into her work.

Following her graduation from the Delhi Polytechnic Institute of Art in 1959, Singh collaborated with fellow artists like Nilim Sheikh, Nalini Malani, and Madhvi parekh. This collaborative spirit proved crucial, as they supported each other in a male-dominated art world, collectively injecting fresh perspectives into India’s contemporary art landscape.Their joint exhibitions gradually shifted the status quo, paving the way for greater recognition of female artists.

Exploring Themes of Gender, Memory, and Societal Impact

While Singh’s work has been featured in group exhibitions across Europe, the US, and Asia, Remembrance offers an unprecedented prospect to delve into the breadth of her artistic vision. The exhibition features 165 pieces, including large-scale oil paintings, acrylic works, intimate watercolors, ink drawings, and engravings. Singh’s constant experimentation with color and symbolism reflects her deep engagement with emotional responses to social upheavals and humanitarian crises around the globe.

Notably, since the 1990s, Singh has increasingly focused on themes of gender, motherhood, the body, feminine sensuality and vulnerabilities, and the impact of violence and political anxieties in india and beyond. Her art delves into how local, national, and global events shape the psychological and emotional states of women. This focus aligns with a broader trend in contemporary art,where female artists are increasingly using their work to explore and challenge societal norms. For exmaple,the Guerrilla Girls,an anonymous group of female artists,have been using data and visual campaigns as 1985 to expose gender and ethnic bias within the art world.

Recurring Motifs and the Artist’s Outlook

Singh’s paintings often depict the inner lives of women, portraying them in solitude, in conversation, and within urban settings. Recurring motifs such as flowers, turtles, cars, airplanes, and mangoes reveal the cyclical nature of her thought process. These images are interwoven with historical events, observations of daily life, urban scenes, and the complexities of the human experience.

Memory as a Foundation

Singh describes the works in Remembrance as rooted in ancient memories, reflecting the flow of her life. She views memory as both a collective and deeply personal inheritance. Embracing the shifting meanings of things, Singh finds interest in ambiguity and frequently enough incorporates contrasting words and symbols into her art, inviting viewers to interpret her work through their own lenses.

Every work of art grows, and the starting point of its creation falls out, the references become signals that take everyone to the desired place. I no longer remember myself, the frame breaks down, and I stand before my job as anyone else.

Serpentine’s Commitment to Underrecognized Artists

Singh expressed her delight and surprise at having a solo exhibition at the Serpentine, noting that she first came to their attention during the curation of the 2008/2009 Indian Highway exhibition, which showcased the works of various generations of Indian artists.

By combining Bengali folk art with modernist identity research, Arpita Singha creates bright lives and creativity scenes, stories and symbols. Her solo exhibition complements and continues galleries Serpentine A program that highlights innovative artists whose works have not yet gained recognition in the world.
Betina Korek,CEO,and Hans Ulrich Obrist,Artistic Director,serpentine Galleries

The Serpentine Galleries have a history of championing prominent artists who have been previously underrecognized,including Lucita urtado,Faith Ringgold,Hervé Télémaque,James barnor,Kamal Ibrahim Ishag,and Barbara Chase-Riboud.