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Akshay Raj Singh Rathore is an artist whose creations span a near-bewildering spectrum of media. Archival prints, sculptural installations, paintings and video installations all find a place in his artistic vision wit...
Akshay Raj Singh Rathore is an artist whose creations span a near-bewildering spectrum of media. Archival prints, sculptural installations, paintings and video installations all find a place in his artistic vision with each form possessing its own unique and distinct character. He has even ventured into the nascent field of video games as art with The Encyclopedia of Modern Conflicts for the Of Games residency at KHOJ. This work engages with history, specifically the Bengal Famine, in a manner that is characteristic of many of Akshay's works. It also focuses on the plight of farmers and the need for sustainable modes of agricultural production, a theme that is close to the artist's heart as a natural consequence of his own agricultural background. This finds expression in Akshay's extensive use of clay and mud whereas other installations use barbed wire and steel to talk about violence, isolation and confinement. Works like Murmur on the other hand have a spiritual character as does the site-specific interactive performance Palayan which approaches the realm of social experiment. His series of watercolours Introspection: A perspective into fooling feature caricature-like self-portraits of the artist with various whimsical hairstyles.
BIODATA
Akshay Raj Singh Rathore is an artist whose creations span a near-bewildering spectrum of media. Archival prints, sculptural installations, paintings and video installations all find a place in his artistic vision with each form possessing its own unique and distinct character. He has even ventured into the nascent field of video games as art with The Encyclopedia of Modern Conflicts for the Of Games residency at KHOJ. This work engages with history, specifically the Bengal Famine, in a manner that is characteristic of many of Akshay's works. It also focuses on the plight of farmers and the need for sustainable modes of agricultural production, a theme that is close to the artist's heart as a natural consequence of his own agricultural background. This finds expression in Akshay's extensive use of clay and mud whereas other installations use barbed wire and steel to talk about violence, isolation and confinement. Works like Murmur on the other hand have a spiritual character as does the site-specific interactive performance Palayan which approaches the realm of social experiment. His series of watercolours Introspection: A perspective into fooling feature caricature-like self-portraits of the artist with various whimsical hairstyles.
2001-2004 Post Graduate Diploma in Animation Film Design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
1997-2001 Bachelors in Fine Arts (sp. Applied arts) from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, Gujarat, India.
Group Exhibitions
2014 Recent Drawings: Introspective Series, les Maisons du Voyage, Paris
2014 Experiments with Truth and Time, Institute of Conflict Studies, Ahmedabad
2013 Rooting: Regional Networks, Global Concerns, Sullivan Galleries, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA
2013 Of Games, Khoj Studios, New Delhi
2013 Ideas of the Sublime, curated by Gayatri Sinha, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2013 SPACE / FORM / TRANSFORM, Apparao Galleries, New Delhi
2013 Open House at W113, curated by Anne Maniglier, New Delhi
2012 Beyond Pressure, International Performance Arts Festival, Yangon, Myanmar
2012 Sarai 09, curated by Raqs Media Collective, Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon
2012 Abstract Reality, Negotiating Routes: Ecologies of the Byways, KHOJ project at Aulinjaa village, Madhya Pradesh
2012 Maati, Sanskriti Kendra, New Delhi
2011 Generation in Transition: New Art from India, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland and Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania
2011 Beauty and the Beast, curated by Anne Maniglier, Matthieu Foss Gallery, Mumbai
2011 Tolstoy Farm: Archive of Utopia, curated by Gayatri Sinha, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2011 To be continued..., Gallery Volte, Mumbai
2011 What Rules?, curated by Deeksha Nath, Nature Morte, Berlin, Germany
2010 Scratch, Sakshi Gallery, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2010 Art Makers circa 2010, Exhibit 320 Gallery, New Delhi
2010 When she is away, Gallery Seven Art Limited, New Delhi
Workshops
2013 Of Games, Khoj Gaming residency, Khoj Studios, New Delhi
2012 Culture, IAAB Studios, Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council residency, Basel, Switzerland
2012 Maati, Sanskriti foundation residency, New Delhi
2012 Abstract Reality, Negotiating Routes: Ecologies of the Byways, KHOJ project, Aulinjaa village, Madhya Pradesh
2011 Breaking Stereotypes, Haryana Arts Council, Kurukshetra
2011 Hybrid Arts Projects residency, La Libertad, El Salvador
2010 Urban Typhoon workshop, Khoj Studios, New Delhi
2010 Sandarbh International Artist Residency, Partapur, Rajasthan
2009 SOILBITE, Khoj Bihar, Khoj International Artist workshop, Patna