F Tarannum

F. Tarannum’s Profile


It has been well said that one of the sure tests of artistic talent is the evidence of not only continuing, but also ever intensified singularity. I believe that I’m not putting myself at risk by opening that Tarannum seems for the moment to foot this bill. Her work, increasingly so, embodies a fine degree of clarity, precision, and sharp, salient detail. I personally rejoice that during the last few years she has by slow but persistent application in the face of adversity, groomed her work—in line with abstraction –to a near flawless visual, clear –sounding music. The handling of the variegated colours is subtle. She steers clear of muddiness and squalor in the oil medium such as is observed in the compositions of many an art contender. The treatment of the overall work is so judicious, the various hues so well blend that our eyes cannot but dote and linger on the grain and texture of the genre.

- Keshav Malik


Like Mark Rothko, Tarannum will quote Piet Mondrian and Franz Kline, Leger and Gauguin and our very own Gaitonde. In each and every one of these high priests of abstraction, Tarannum finds a reiteration of her feelings as she stands facing a canvas, brush in hand. The multihued palette trails behind as her imagination races ahead, filling her mind's eye with imprints buried deep in her recollection. Fascinating images emerge then, to fill the rectangular theatres of colour. Forceful, confident, vigorous, voluble - the paintings, much like the artist herself, infect you with their eloquent exuberance.
Architecture is not the mainstay of Tarannum's work, but the elements she derives from the discipline instill confidence into her composition. For one, they spell out that there is a design behind the hurly burly of paints. The break up of space is by no means an accident, you can discern. However, the whiff of architecture in the rich tapestry of colours is just one of the influences on Tarannum. Poetry is another, and perhaps a more potent stimulant. Faiz, Rumi, and Shakespeare, "they add to my confidence," she confides, "for, the poets unravel the mystery that is the thoughts of people!"


- Ratnottama Sengupta

Selected Group Exhibitions
2013 Art Biennale, London
2010 Group shows at Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, Chelsea, and New York
2009 Florence Biennale, ITALY
2009 Summer Interlude, Art Heritage Gallery, New Delhi
2006 'Silent Dreams, Bagash Art Gallery, Dubai
2005 'Weaving Legacy V', Indian Art Circle, New Delhi
2005 Taj Blue Diamond, Habiart Foundation, Pune
2004 ‘Emerging Directions 2004', Apparao Galleries, Delhi & Chennai
2004 ‘Spirit of Century’, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi
2004 ‘Revert to the Nucleus Women on Women', Indian Art Circle
2003 Art Folio, Chandigarh
2003 2nd Contemporary Miniature Painting, Garhi, New Delhi
1998 Art camp organised by Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi
1998 Gandhi Kala Mela organised by Gandhi Darshan Samiti, Delhi
1998 Yuva Mohotsav organised by Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi
Participations
2006 'Harvest 2006', Arushi Art Gallery, New Delhi.
2005 ‘10th Harmony Show', Nehru Centre, Mumbai
2004 ‘28th Annual Art Exhibition', Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi
2004 '46th National Exhibition', Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi
2003 ‘27th Annual Art Exhibition', Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi
2002 ‘Second Northern Region Art Exhibition, Camlin Ltd. Professional
2002 74th Annual All India Art Exhibition, Phase-II, All India Fine Arts
& Craft Society (AIFACS), New Delhi
2002 ‘India Festival in Germany', Aorta Association Gallery, Germany
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2008 'Recent Works by F. Tarannum', Gallery, New Delhi
2007 'Explorations', Gallery, New Delhi
2003 'A Rendezvous with Light', India International Centre, New Delhi
2000 'Recent Works by F. Tarannum', Triveni Art Gallery, New Delhi

F Tarannum