Curator: Shruti Ramlingaiah

An echo is a soundwave that is reflected off a distant surface, resonating between  different places and times; of divergent outlooks and with generational affiliations,  three artists, each setting their distinct approaches to visual language and individual  sensibilities come in dialogue and opposition in this exhibition. From personal  experiences, everyday instances of life, and encounters all three artists’ works dwell  deeper in the dense articulations and permeability of their offerings. Their visuals  display unpredictable and unsettling expressions, imaginative but familiar landscapes,  and realistic impressions; that invite us to review the inner world and impressions of  culture and nature of the present times.  

Pallav’s paintings on canvas and paper use thick paints that explore subjective  expressions. Made in contrasting layers of colours he combines a multiplicity of  symbols, patterns, faces, and writing; that creates an inexhaustible drama; whilst  flamboyantly eventful, they narrate an animated play with human and  anthropomorphic forms always disfigured they are evocative of responses. Pavan  incorporates gouache painting techniques on paper that situate between fiction and  imagination; drawing from miniature traditions, combining references from everyday  instances of the urban and remote landscape majorly drawing from his native land and  migratory experiences. Life and living are visible though sparse in human presence  and more in suggestive traces- creating a fictitious landscape for viewers to make  many meanings.

Dhiraj’s drawings on paper display photographic singular imagery  with historical and natural reference that confluences perception as well as metaphors.  In charcoal, each rendition foregrounded on empty land points to the decay and life  span of an entity. Each composition reveals a biographical story of the past but more so a keen satire of loosely held present and human behaviour. This curatorial re examines the concept of landscape to explore how our lives form a landscape in  differing individual contexts and with changing perspectives of individuals and  society in relation to our orientation or beliefs. It asks us to contemplate if life is part  of a landscape or does life always appears landscape-like to rethink the relationship  between humans, nature, and our lives alongside the natural world. Echoes ask the  viewer to analyze what goes around us to reflect on our times, as a cue to the future.

- Text by Shruti Ramlingaiah 

Dhiraj Pednekar was born in 1990 in Mangalwad, Karnataka, India is a visual artist and educator. He studied MFA in Sculpture from Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication,  University of Hyderabad (2014) and a BFA in Painting from the Goa College of Art, Goa  (2012). Dhiraj has participated in several group shows including - Time, Space, Memory: Decoding contemporary video, 2022, Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the arts, Goa; Yuva Sumbhava, 2022, Raza Foundation, Visual Art Gallery, Habitat Centre, New Delhi; Surface: The online edit, 2020, Art Buzz studios, New Delhi; Liberty of Expression, 2016, Balgandharva Art Gallery, Pune, Maharashtra; Vatavaran, 2013, Hamilton Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland, America. Dhiraj's recent achievements include State Art Award for Painting at the 45th  state art exhibition, Kala Academy Goa (2019-20). Finalist, Fundação Oriente Visual Art award, Goa (2020). Artist in residence, HH Arts Spaces, Goa (2017).  

He is a multidisciplinary visual artist wherein his works critically intervene with natural resources, ecology interlacing them with a social consciousness to reflect interactions between humans and the natural world. 

"Conflict between nature and culture is always settled with the victory of the former" - Dhiraj Pednekar. 

Pallav Chander is a visual artist, actor, and director who was born in 1990 and is based in New Delhi. Pallav completed his BFA in Painting from Birmingham City University (BCU), UK. He received the Junior Fellowship (2018-19) from the ministry of culture India. Apart from solo he has participated in various group exhibitions across India and displayed works with eminent galleries like Art heritage gallery, Art Centrix, and Dhoomimal gallery including -  An Organization of Chaos, 2021, APRE Art House, Mumbai;  Decoding a Dyslexic Mind, 2014, Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Center, New Delhi; A moveable feast, 2022, Bikaner House, New Delhi; Surface 07, 2022, Art Buzz, New Delhi; 53 Degrees, 2012, The New School House Gallery, New York; Final Degree, 2012, Art College, Birmingham City University, England; Photophobia / Kalenik, 2011, Birmingham City university, England. His works are in the collection of various museums and galleries across India & Abroad.

Pallav’s paintings use thick paints that display contrasting layers of colours and combine a  multiplicity of imageries and information to create a visual narrative that encompasses not expected vision for the viewer. He creates an animated play that alters the human and animal worlds to transform and disfigure which are evocative of responses. 

"Art is nothing but a manipulation of the eye" - Pallav Chander. 

Pavan Kavitkar was born in 1990 and completed his BFA from the Sir J. J. School of Arts, Mumbai in 2014 and his MFA in Painting from Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan  West Bengal in 2017, currently lives and works in Nasik, Maharashtra. His recent group exhibition includes - Every Finite is an Infinite, 2022,  Pavilion of Tibetan Culture, Auroville, Pondicherry; All that is life, 2022, Space118, Mumbai; Goa Affordable Art Fest, 2020, Museum Of Goa, Goa; Parikrama, 2018, Lalit Kala Akademi, Regional Centre, Chennai; Group Exhibition Birla Academy of Art & Culture, 2017, Kolkata. He is a recipient of awards, the Golden Brush Award,  Artild Gallery, Bangalore (2021), Khoj Support Grant (2020), and CIMA Awards Show, Kolkata 2019.

His practice draws from everyday experiences, observations, and stories often combining references from urban and remote landscapes of his native land and majorly his migratory experiences. He incorporates miniature techniques and urban structural frameworks that situate between fiction and imagination- that focus on shifts in the natural and urban spaces. 

“Nature is an unlimited source of  Knowledge which I Carry with my Practice” - Pavan Kavitkar.