TARQ and Gallery XXL are delighted to announce our upcoming exhibition Ephemeroptera: Time After Time. The show features artists Amitabh Kumar, Daku, Nibha Sikander, Philippe Calia, Sajid Wajid Shaikh, and Vishwa Shroff.
As per the curatorial note, Ephemeroptera is the scientific name for Mayflies - creatures whose lives span anywhere between thirty minutes to twenty-four hours. Early in his career, Sigmund Freud wrote about the evanescence of life and nature enhanced the beauty of it. Seasons, growth, decay and death exist in a periodic cycle, and yet, it is natural that we mourn the loss of it all... In this exhibition, we see works that try to fossilise images, we see attempts at capturing the residues of loss - memorials to lost buildings, species and ways of life. Using wit, humour and history, the present exhibition is a meditation on memory, permanence and transience.
Amitabh Kumar, who has worked across multiple formats on sequential narratives, with this new series, is responding to a moment of transition for the viewer, where the eye adjusts to changing luminous situations. Thinking about relativity of light, Daku's recent works stem from a keen interest in the temporality of time and existence which takes form through the shifting of light and shadow. Here, the artist questions the ascribed value to a particular artist’s signature and the notion of authorship as light is the ultimate force that informs the artworks. Next to this, for the first time, Nibha Sikander displays her work as a site-specific installation. This installation of Negatives, the papers that she uses to cut out her artworks from, plays with light and shadow to create an ever-changing display. Philippe Calia’s photographs of discarded materials in the city examine the transient nature of reality. Viewing the city as a fictional, fleeting object, Calia showcases the sculptural and surreal qualities of Mumbai. Sajid Wajid Shaikh's mixed media works are spontaneous, created through psychic automatism, that confront the artist's innermost fears and anxieties. Through these sketches, Shaikh transmutes his inner struggles into powerful expressions, inviting viewers to explore the depths of the human psyche and embrace the unknown. Vishwa Shroff's architectural drawings reflect on urban forms as symbols of impermanence.
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Click here to view the exhibition catalogue
About this collaboration
TARQ and Gallery XXL have come together for Ephemeroptera: Time After Time, a group show featuring three artists from each gallery. This selection of artists, whose trajectories have seen multiple crossovers, are now presenting works that contemplate the transient nature of being.
The exhibition marks not only a collaboration between two galleries, but with mutual admiration, extends the joint mission of creating inclusive and accessible spaces that exceed conventional norms existing within contemporary art.
About the Curator
Dhwani Gudka is a curator and the founder of Special Projects, an art advisory practice based out of India. Dhwani is a Fulbright-Nehru Fellow (2018-20) with a Masters in Art History and Museum Studies from NYU. She has spent a decade working in various capacities within the South Asian art ecosystem. Recently she curated the exhibition, 'Old Skin for the New Ceremony' for The Eight Foundation, New Delhi.
