Our 8 resident artists along with a writer in residency will talk briefly about their ideas and walk you through the photography, painting, sculpture, and site-specific projects in progress. This is a unique opportunity to interact casually with the artists while gaining insight into the working process.
The WhyNot Place summer residency was conceptualized to expand the bouquet of programmes and infrastructure supportive of the arts, and also revitalize CP as a living, learning epicenter of the artistic possibilities inherent in the WHYNOT idea, that has the potential to revitalize any place, anything, anyone…
THEME FOR THE 2011 PROGRAMME:
HERE
NOW
THEN
THERE
and HERE again
The theme of The WhyNot Place residency this year speaks to notions of displacement, location and relocation in both geography (physical space) and history (time). Artists will be asked to negotiate their multiple pasts in reference to the multiple pasts and presents of the city. In a context as richly layered as Delhi there are several points of entry and obstruction/impenetrability located in social hierarchies, castes, economic classes, historic events, political policy and environmental law. The residency will enable interaction with several of these layers, encouraging artists to locate their practices and expand notions of what it means to be here now, given the individual histories of the artists and the cumulative experiences of the city.
Through rigorous one on one dialogue and group critiques, the mentors enable the resident artists to digest and refine their conceptual and material choices including extending their research base. The problem solving and recommending of resources begins through email exchange well before the resident artists arrive, allowing for a smoother transition into creation mode, while allowing flexibility for expanding ideas. The mentors lead/organize field trips to various venues (museums, galleries, historic buildings, cultural sites and contemporary markets), present slide shows featuring renowned and lesser known art projects worldwide: particularly related to the work of the resident artists, recommend chosen readings, organize artist talks, studio visits, open studio days for dialogue with the public and avail of several other resources to enrich the specific practice of each individual artist. The mentoring is conducted with an eye toward expanding the artist's pre-existing practice in the broad context of the residency theme rather than to impose the thematic idea upon the art work. Artists are encouraged to take risks, engage in dialogue and deeply investigate their practice.
Based on their own independent interests and practices, resident artists will be asked to process, critique and digest their impressions of the external and internal landscape in very open ended ways (including optional exercises, dialogues, slideshows, field trips, critiques and studio visits). The work produced in this intense period will be exhibited for a month at our gallery space in Saket, New Delhi.