Lines of Thought Exhibit Featuring Hemali Bhuta

The exhibition Lines of Thought explores the work of 15 contemporary artists, whose practice has focused in particular on using line in creatively challenging ways. With works representing different generations, it is remarkable to observe how the meaning and use of line varies from one artist to another.

Simply the running on of a point, line is paradoxically one of the most powerful means of expression. Continuous or broken, curved or straight, free-floating or geometric, lines can define boundaries, divide spaces, create light and shade, or be used for communication. Throughout the history of art, line as a basic element of artistic expression has been used by many artists to explore and express a wealth of feelings, thoughts and ideas.

The Indian artist Hemali Bhuta’s often site-specific installations function both as ephemeral objects and documentation in ways that can seem contradictory. Her dramatic and impressive installation Stepping Down, 2010, includes several thousand stalactites that simulate candles and engender a cave-like experience.

About the Artist

Hemali Bhuta views her works as an exercise that starts with the dilemma between ‘to be’ and ‘to become’, thus taking an anarchic position of questioning the quest for existence. As a multi-media artist her works exist in two forms- as the object and as the documentation/archive. Her choice of materials itself is a contradiction; they are perishable, impermanent and ephemeral, thus requiring another medium to document and archive the materiality of the work. This allows Bhuta to lay emphasis on the pre and post phases of the work; on the process of production (leading up to the work) and the archival evidence (an after life to the work) which is integral to her practice.

Bhuta (b. 1978) has completed her MVA in Painting from the M.S.University of Baroda and her GD Art from the L.S.Raheja School of Art, Mumbai. She was the recipient of the Nasreen Mohamedi 2008-2009 scholarship from the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, CA.

About the Gallery

Founded in December 2004, Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art is an educational charity registered in England and Wales. It operates purely for the public benefit. Central to the Parasol unit philosophy is a total commitment to artists and their creative endeavours, an attitude which leads to a singular relationship developing between each exhibiting artist and the foundation.

Every year the foundation organises four challenging and thought-provoking exhibitions in a variety of media and also sets up other artistic projects. Each gallery exhibition is accompanied by a publication and related educational events. The foundation does not bear the founder’s name, and its exhibitions are not derived from the founder’s own collection. Admission to all exhibitions is free of charge.

Parasol unit operates like publicly funded institutions in London. Currently, about 60% of its funding is provided by the founder and 40% through a combination of charitable organisations, private donations, the sale of merchandise, and Gift Aid. The exhibition space is put at the disposal of the foundation free of charge by the founder. Thanks to this new model between private funding and public support one of London’s most vibrant contemporary art spaces has come to exist. We thank you for your visit and support.

Image credit: Stepping Down, 2010. Dimension: Variable, wax sticks of various lengths and cotton threads.
Copyright the artist and Project 88.

Artist information courtesy: Parasol unit and Montalvo Arts Center