home, a temporary place

2014 - Installation (Installation)

101 x 75 x 3 cm

Mithu Sen


home, a temporary place by Mithu Sen is part of a project called AºVOID. In this fragmented mental map, the landscape is fleeting, embossed, and ethereal; there are moments of recognition and also a near-violent sudden emptying of memory. Bodies are skeletal, nature is in entropy, context is removed. Color is sparse, as if the world of vibrance is slowly being extracted, with only its shadows remaining. Composed of watercolor and graphite on paper, encased in hand-etched plexi-glass, this work plays with light, seeking shadows to disturb the surface of each work, in a challenge of an artwork’s materiality and the presence of the observer on the eventual image that is perceived. The concept of ‘home’ is in flight and barren; faith and security aflame. The bounty of new life, the ‘womb’ of nature, its flora and fauna in an extinguishing spiral where humans fight for their right to ‘reproduce’, beyond the nurture/nature debates of gender. Here the myths of human survival, the paradigms of social life and its assumptions of identity, of morality, of value, are under scrutiny. The artist refers to the works in this series as “shadow drawings”, spaces where “phantom limbs” linger, where pain is felt but not tangibly located. This work is Sen’s attempt to demythologize the self, to defy the idea that time is linear and thus mappable; playing with the farcity of certainty, of language, of sight.


Mithu Sen’s writing is central to her practice, as a poet from West Bengal, a region of great Indian literary history, poetic and visual tropes giving ground to her challenge of semiotics. Sen considers her tangible artworks, which range from drawing, installation, poetry, moving image, sculpture, and sound, as by-products of her gestural artistic practice. She believes that performance enables a radical hospitality in ethos and action that embrace all animate and inanimate life. Sen’s artist world is populated by the mythical, the fantastical and the absurd; her studio full of fictional, religious, spiritual, folk-loric characters, materials, and narratives that both challenge and alleviate her frustrations and conundrums in navigating the hegemony of capitalism and its insistence on categorizing, cataloguing, and valuing human labor (under historically destructive extractive, exploitative, often racist means). Her desire to conjure a world that resists assumptions of value according to use, visibility, and its tangible outputs demonstrates a deep empathic awareness of human experience and the limits imposed by exclusively valuing visual evidence, as matter that can be easily circulated, exchanged, and defined. Often incorporating abstracted languages that Sen refers to as “non-languages” or “lingual anarchy”, the artist revels in the undoing of meaning, in the provocation of taboo associated with sexuality, hierarchies of social agency, and presumptions of monolithic identities.


Colors:



Related works sharing similar palette

Meanwhile, someone wants to learn to be a samurai.
© » KADIST

The curator and writer Juana Berrío will follow the process of «room for us» in order to identify particular concepts addressed during the discursive events and series of workshops...

Dragoș Bădiță – Light Falls
© » THE RE:ART

Dragoș Bădiță - Light Falls - The re:art Dragoș Bădiță – Light Falls From February 3rd to March 17th, 2017, Anca Poterașu Gallery presented the solo show Light Falls by Cluj-Napoca based artist Dragoș Bădiță, who is also co-coordinator of Lateral ArtSpace ...

Guy Leclercq — Épures et couleurs
© » SLASH PARIS

Guy Leclercq — Épures et couleurs — Dutko / Quai Voltaire Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris Login Newsletter Twitter Facebook Guy Leclercq — Épures et couleurs — Dutko / Quai Voltaire Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris English Français Home Events Artists Venues Magazine Videos Back Guy Leclercq — Épures et couleurs Exhibition Painting View of the artist’s studio Guy Leclercq Épures et couleurs Ends in 27 days: December 7, 2023 → January 13, 2024 Dutko Gallery is pleased to present from December 7th until January 13th a selection of the most recent works by Belgian artist Guy Leclercq...

Studies of Chinese New Villages II
© » KADIST

Gan Chin Lee

2019

In Studies of Chinese New Villages II Gan Chin Lee’s realism appears in the format of a fieldwork notebook; capturing present-day surroundings while unpacking their historical memory...

Untitled (City Limits)
© » KADIST

Allen Ruppersberg

1970

Untitled (City Limits) is a series of five black-and-white photographs of road signs, specifically the signs demarcating city limits of several small towns in California...

Fabienne Verdier — Horizons et Chênes-lièges
© » SLASH PARIS

Fabienne Verdier — Horizons et Chênes-lièges — Lelong & Co Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris Login Newsletter Twitter Facebook Fabienne Verdier — Horizons et Chênes-lièges — Lelong & Co Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris English Français Home Events Artists Venues Magazine Videos Back Previous Next Fabienne Verdier — Horizons et Chênes-lièges Exhibition Painting Fabienne Verdier, Chêne-liège #4, 2023 Pastel gras et pastel sec sur vélin d’Arches teinté — 49 × 28 cm Courtesy de l’artiste et galerie Lelong & Co...

Five Tips for Prospective Art Collectors - via Alex News
© » LARRY'S LIST

Are you looking to start an art collection in 2022? Susie Goodman, Executive Director of South Africa's leading auction house Strauss & Co, offers budding art collectors the following advice:...

40 ans du Frac ! — Gunaikeîon
© » SLASH PARIS

40 ans du Frac ! — Gunaikeîon — Frac île-de-france, les Réserves — Exposition — Slash Paris Connexion Newsletter Twitter Facebook 40 ans du Frac ! — Gunaikeîon — Frac île-de-france, les Réserves — Exposition — Slash Paris Français English Accueil Événements Artistes Lieux Magazine Vidéos Retour 40 ans du Frac ! — Gunaikeîon Exposition Techniques mixtes Vue de l’exposition 40 ans du Frac ! — Gunaikeîon au Frac île-de-france, les Réserves, Romainville © Frac Île-de-France 40 ans du Frac ! Gunaikeîon Encore 2 mois : 15 octobre 2023 → 24 février 2024 Pour les 40 ans des Frac, il s’agit à la fois de repenser l’histoire de l’institution, écrite notamment par le biais de sa collection, et de tendre vers des futurs communs et désirables...

Jesse Darling Wins 2023 Turner Prize
© » ARTFORUM

Jesse Darling Wins 2023 Turner Prize – Artforum Read Next: THE WHITNEY’S JANE PANETTA DECAMPS FOR THE MET Subscribe Search Icon Search Icon Search for: Search Icon Search for: Follow Us facebook twitter instagram youtube Alerts & Newsletters Email address to subscribe to newsletter...

Dorian, a cinematic perfume
© » KADIST

Michelle Handelman

2009

In Dorian, a cinematic perfume, video is used as a community gatherer, a tool to speak about particular subcultures, in this case the trans-gender drag queen New York community, past and present...

Adaptando la Carta #1, #2, #3, #4, #5
© » KADIST

Fabiola Torres-Alzaga

2013

Fabiola Torres-Alzaga plays with magic, illusion, and sleight-of-hand, fabricating installations, drawings, and films that toy with our perceptions...

Baby Shoes, Never Worn
© » KADIST

John Houck

2013

Baby Shoes, Never Worn is part of photographer John Houck’s series of restrained still-life photographs capturing objects from his childhood...

Release/Benefit: Banksy – ‘Fragile/Agile’
© » ARRESTED MOTION

Release/Benefit: Banksy – ‘Fragile/Agile’ « Arrested Motion Continuing his support for humanitarian causes around the globe, Banksy is releasing a new screen print in partnership with Giles Duley ’s Legacy of War Foundation ...

Title, Theme Announced for Sixth Aichi Triennale
© » ARTFORUM

Title, Theme Announced for Sixth Aichi Triennale – Artforum Read Next: ART BASEL REVEALS EXHIBITOR LIST FOR 2024 SWISS FAIR Subscribe Search Icon Search Icon Search for: Search Icon Search for: Follow Us facebook twitter instagram youtube Alerts & Newsletters Email address to subscribe to newsletter...

Larkstone
© » KADIST

Daniel Boccato

2017

Birdstones is a series of flat concrete slabs made from moldings of different shapes, each with two small holes...

Studies of Chinese New Villages II
© » KADIST

Gan Chin Lee

In Studies of Chinese New Villages II Gan Chin Lee’s realism appears in the format of a fieldwork notebook; capturing present-day surroundings while unpacking their historical memory...

Now on show in New York City: BJP’s Female in Focus winners
© » 1854 PHOTOGRAPHY

Now on show in New York City: BJP's Female in Focus winners - 1854 Photography Subscribe latest Agenda Bookshelf Projects Industry Insights magazine Explore ANY ANSWERS FINE ART IN THE STUDIO PARENTHOOD ART & ACTIVISM FOR THE RECORD LANDSCAPE PICTURE THIS CREATIVE BRIEF GENDER & SEXUALITY MIXED MEDIA POWER & EMPOWERMENT DOCUMENTARY HOME & BELONGING ON LOCATION PORTRAITURE DECADE OF CHANGE HUMANITY & TECHNOLOGY OPINION THEN & NOW Explore Stories latest agenda bookshelf projects theme in focus industry insights magazine ANY ANSWERS FINE ART IN THE STUDIO PARENTHOOD ART & ACTIVISM FOR THE RECORD LANDSCAPE PICTURE THIS CREATIVE BRIEF GENDER & SEXUALITY MIXED MEDIA POWER & EMPOWERMENT DOCUMENTARY HOME & BELONGING ON LOCATION PORTRAITURE DECADE OF CHANGE HUMANITY & TECHNOLOGY OPINION THEN & NOW © Minxu Li, Female in Focus 2022 single image winner BJP’s new exhibition takes place in a converted Brooklyn townhouse, reflecting the award’s domestic focus The winners of BJP ’s Female in Focus 2022 include two series and 20 single images which demonstrate the sheer power of photography by women...

Guy Leclercq — Épures et couleurs
© » SLASH PARIS

Guy Leclercq — Épures et couleurs — Galerie Dutko / Quai Voltaire — Exposition — Slash Paris Connexion Newsletter Twitter Facebook Guy Leclercq — Épures et couleurs — Galerie Dutko / Quai Voltaire — Exposition — Slash Paris Français English Accueil Événements Artistes Lieux Magazine Vidéos Retour Guy Leclercq — Épures et couleurs Exposition Peinture L’atelier de l’artiste Guy Leclercq Épures et couleurs Encore 27 jours : 7 décembre 2023 → 13 janvier 2024 La Galerie Dutko présente du 7 décembre 2023 au 13 janvier 2024 les œuvres récentes de l’artiste belge Guy Leclercq...

49/23 — Considering Technology, AI and Photography
© » LENS CULTURE

49/23 — Considering Technology, AI and Photography - Photographs by Gregory Eddi Jones | Interview by Liz Sales | LensCulture Feature 49/23 — Considering Technology, AI and Photography In his new thought-provoking series “49/23,” Gregory Eddi Jones considers the implications of rapidly advancing technology by intertwining vintage photography and AI-generated images...