I have written an article for Archivoz: International Archives Magazine about Indian matchboxes. The article discusses the visual and social significance of these objects as well as my personal journey through collecting, archiving and digitising over 750 labels.
Read my article here.
Archivoz is an informative digital journal in blog format relating to archives and records management.
A new 48 x 24 inch print I created for the NH7 Periphery Art Project on the theme ‘Utopia’.
Commissioned and curated by Bombay Duck Designs, this traveling exhibition features visual art that is screenprinted on the periphery cloth surrounding the area of each stage at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender music festival. The exhibition will visit Shillong, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, Puducherry, Mysore, Nagpur and Jaipur.
On a never-ending journey in search of an ideal place, we find joy and meaning along the way.
Happy to be a part of a fantastic lineup of artists for the NH7 Periphery Art Project.
This traveling exhibition features curated visual art that is screenprinted on the periphery cloth surrounding the area of each stage at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender music festival. The exhibition will visit Shillong, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, Puducherry, Mysore, Nagpur and Jaipur.
Curated by Bombay Duck Designs.
The Bangalore Hunt, 2016
Smriti Mehra, Matt Lee
Through photography, audio and text, this project shows the physical and mental journey of newly released laboratory rescue beagles and documents the search for suitable homes for them. The project offers a perspective on the use of these hounds in the present day context of Bangalore.
The series of photographs depict the arrival of the beagles at the rescue centre as they are let out of cages for the first time.
The audio piece is a conversation between a CUPA volunteer and a potential ‘pet parent’. It explains the process for adoption as well as the various problems these beagles face in adapting to their new home.
The text displayed on screen is an email sent to unsuitable candidates, which lists the reasons for their rejection.
THE BANGALORE HUNT
10th -12th June, 2016
Venkatappa Art Gallery, Bangalore
The exhibits of The Bangalore Hunt included new creative work by artists who work at the Srishti Institute of Art, design and Technology, Bangalore. The art work is based on a small private archive of photographs, newspaper cuttings, annotations, letters and postcards that belonged to Stephen Simon Simmons, who was posted in Bangalore in the 1930’s. Mostly a document of the Bangalore Hunt, this collection reflects a leisure time activity for the British, who were once stationed in Bangalore’s Cantonment.
The participant artists included Raghavendra Rao, Suresh Kumar, Amitabh Kumar, Abhishek Hazra, Arnab Basu, Yashas Shetty, Alison Byrnes, Leslie Johnson, Smriti Mehra, Matt Lee, Rakhi Peswani, Pooja Kaul, Aditi Banerjee, Ayisha Abraham. The artists responded with their own images, performance, audio and video, to bring alive a collection that can at best be described historically as a strange moment in time. The new work addressed themes found in the images, such as the shift from hunting on the pastoral rural landscape, toward land-as-real estate, in today’s time, among others.
The exhibition was curated by Alison Byrnes and Ayisha Abraham.
Deccan Herald
Bangalore Mirror
10th -12th June, 2016
Venkatappa Art Gallery, Kasturba Road, Bangalore
Timings: 10am to 5pm
Opening: 10th June, 5pm to 7pm
The exhibits of The Bangalore Hunt include new creative work by artists who work at the Srishti Institute of Art, design and Technology, Bangalore. The art work is based on a small private archive of photographs, newspaper cuttings, annotations, letters and postcards that belonged to Stephen Simon Simmons, who was posted in Bangalore in the 1930’s. Mostly a document of the Bangalore Hunt, this collection reflects a leisure time activity for the British, who were once stationed in Bangalore’s Cantonment.
The participant artists are Raghavendra Rao, Suresh Kumar, Amitabh Kumar, Abhishek Hazra, Arnab Basu, Yashas Shetty, Alison Byrnes, Leslie Johnson, Smriti Mehra, Matt Lee, Rakhi Peswani, Pooja Kaul, Aditi Banerjee, Ayisha Abraham. The artists have responded with their own images, performance and video, to bring alive a collection that can at best be described historically as a strange moment in time. The new work addresses themes found in the images, such as the shift from hunting on the pastoral rural landscape, toward land-as-real estate, in today’s time, among others.
An opening reception with live performances will take place on Friday, 10th June, from 5-7pm in the auditorium.
A new print for a group exhibition curated by Jitendra Padam Jain and hosted by Gallery Sree Arts. ‘Tvak’ opens at the Alliance Française in Delhi on the 14th August 2014.
Still Life
2 x 2 Feet
Archival inkjet print on Hahnemühle Canvas FineArt
Edition of 10
SAVAC and the Art Gallery of Mississauga are proud to present Monitor 9: New South Asian Short Film + Video as part of Bollywood Monster Mashup
Curated by Nahed Mansour
24 August 2013
5pm – Reception at the AGM (300 City Centre Dr.)
6pm – Monitor 9 screening at the Noel Ryan Auditorium, Central Library (across Celebration Square from the AGM)
Mississauga
FREE
Featuring works by:
Jude Anogwih (Nigeria), Kuljit Choohan (UK), SoJin Chun (Canada), Ashim Haldar Sagor (Bangladesh), Taiki Sakpisit (Thailand), Smriti Mehra & Matt Lee (India), Nguyen Tan Hoang (USA), Elisha Lim (Canada), Shreyasi Kar (India), Ahmed Faisal Naveed (Pakistan), Pavitra Wickramasinghe (Canada).
I was invited recently to contribute work to the 4th issue of 100% zine.
A project by Sameer Kulavoor (Bombay Duck Design) and Lokesh Karekar (Locopopo Design), 100% is India’s first visual art zine which showcases contemporary designers, illustrators and visual artists doing cutting edge original work. Each issue has 100% focus on one topic. Artists are invited based on theme and approach. The purpose of this exercise is to bring together work of artists from different backgrounds, sensibilities and aesthetics in each issue under one common theme.
The theme for this issue is ‘Local’:
“As artists our locality does leave an impact on our work – Local culture/ Local music/ local people/ local mannerisms/ local traditions. In this age where the world is turning into one big country and boundaries are becoming blurred, we’re interested in how artists behold the local. What would be ‘that one subject’ around you that fascinates you? something that is local and not global? And how does one behold the idea of local in our times? In this issue we invite 12 artists to create an image inspired by their ideas of ‘local’.”
Representing Bangalore, I contributed three images from a new project titled ‘Sandown‘. This series of ten images re-appropriates iconography from a collection of Indian matchbox labels and situates them on an isolated beach in the south coast of England. In this project the bringing together of contrasting visual elements creates a tension between culture and context. The common thread through the series is the horizon line, which holds together a fragmented narrative where animals and objects, out of place in this setting, are in an awkward and nonsensical dialogue with each other.
Copies of the zine can be bought here.
There is some really fantastic work showcased in this issue. The contributing artists for 100% Local are:
Rishidev RK – Delhi
Matt Lee – Bengaluru
Hitesh Malaviya – Baroda
Yadnyee Shingre – Pune
Maheswari Janarthanan – Chennai
Ayaz Basrai – Mumbai
Benchalit Sagiamsak – Bangkok
Kuanth – Singapore
Driv – Malaysia
Yeji Yun – Seoul
Hsiao Ron Cheng – Taipei
Mamoru Yamamoto – Yokohama
‘Sandown’ is a new series that re-appropriates iconography from a collection of Indian matchbox labels and situates them on an isolated beach in the south coast of England. The bringing together of these contrasting visual elements creates a tension between culture and context.
The common thread through the series is the horizon line, which holds together a fragmented narrative where animals and objects, out of place in this setting, are in an awkward and nonsensical dialogue with each other.
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