Shadows of empire
Jit Chowdhury and Kaushal Parikh
Two Artists. Three Empires. One Quiet Village in Bombay.
This show has evolved differently from most others: it started with a love of the amalgamation of crafts (shola, indigo) in Jit’s art. It then grew into a conversation with another artist, KP (Kaushal), whose work spans photography, watercolours, oils, acrylics, and digital expressions.
Eventually, it became a shared reaction to a place so special and dear to us: the village we are in, Khotachi Wadi.
In shared conversations we realised how differently our lives are shaped by the remnants of Empires we didn’t even know, and how we are privileged to take from that history things we want to - not have to. So much of it is to do with design.
What we loved was the crossed shadows of different Empires, each influencing our everydays in different ways.
And so this show was born : Jit from Calcutta, a city born from the Raj, and KP from Bombay, the pride of the Marathas and a British Powerhouse, both looking at a little village that sometimes feels like Portugal.
Jit Chowdhury is an artist, illustrator and visual storyteller based in Kolkata, India. In addition to paintings, his work includes book illustrations for publishers such as Penguin, wall graffiti as well as graphic design. Since 2019 he has been experimenting and exploring natural materials intrinsic to Bengal. His constantly evolving practice involves collaging, weaving and sculpting with natural indigo and shola-pith to express his way of looking at his surroundings, stitching stories from everyday life and everyday people.
Kaushal Parikh is an ex-banker, who became a successful photographer before adding painting to his repertoire. He is versatile and paints in many mediums, ranging from water colours to oils to mixed media. His sharp eye for detail, his study of people and his wicked sense of humour find expression in his art, and he is unafraid to explore eye catching colours and controversial themes.