Vida Heydari Contemporary is excited to present Terraform, artist M. Pravats new solo exhibition with a series of artworks that have been presented for the first time in New Delhi.
Oil, Canvas, Fired Bricks, Cut Slate, Concrete Board, Metal, LED Light Strip, Teak Wood 127 x 279.5 x 10 cm (50 x 110 x 4 in) Diptych
By bringing together a diverse range of materials-bricks, stone, pigment, dust, paintings, LED lights, and found objects-Pravat presents a body of work that probes into the interrelationships, recesses, and tensions between our built urban environment, and the natural world.
His sculptures and installations, which appear as fragmented reminders of the urban landscape, evoke a sense of being under perpetual construction-a limbo of incomplete transformation that has increasingly become characteristic of all metropolitan cities today. Each artwork, with its detailedly laid out network of materials, serves as a cartographic guide to a world that is now replete with relentless geo-engineering, large-scale development projects, and climate emergency.
M. Pravat’s ‘Terraform’ is an invitation to reflect upon a crisis that also extends into the larger biodiversity on our planet. It is an attempt to recentre our sensibilities, and actions to ensure a sustainable future for us all.
The exhibition will preview on Saturday, 18 January 2025, from 5:30 to 8:30 PM at STIR Gallery, Delhi – 2, North Drive, DLF, Chattarpur Farms. It will run through 25 January 2025. The artist will be present at the exhibition preview.
About The Artist
M. Pravat was born in 1972 in Kolkata, India. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in painting in 2002 and his Master’s in 2004, both granted by the Faculty of Fine Arts at M.S. University, Baroda. M. Pravat’s art practice examines architectural forms and materials through a fractured lens, using sculpture, installations, paintings and photography. He believes that our lives are unquestionably shaped by the built environments we inhabit. Along with images and materials, architecture plays a pivotal role in the formation of our sensibilities, and in shaping our experiences and understanding of space and form. His practice is deeply embedded in the manifestations and imaginations of architectural spaces, where he attempts to shed the representational familiarity associated with our built environments, and in doing so, finds himself appropriating, redistributing, and reconfiguring the relationship between material, architecture and environment.
Over the years, his works have been presented in solo and group exhibitions, biennales and art fairs in Colombo, Delhi, Dubai, Mumbai, New York, Seoul and Zurich. His recent solo exhibitions include “From Debris, We Rise” presented by VHC at Bungalow Eight (2024); “Liquid States” at 1×1 Gallery, Dubai (2017); “From Today, I Have No Future” at Aicon Gallery, New York (2017); and “Blue Print” at Nature Morte, Delhi (2011). He is a member of the Layout collective along with artists Navid Tschopp, Susanta Mondal, and architect S. Boka. Their projects have been exhibited in the Kochi – Muziris Biennale, 2012, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, 2013, INSERT, 2014, the Colombo Biennale, 2014, and in non-institutional sites in Delhi and Zurich. He was a recipient of the Pro Helvetia artist residency in Switzerland.
M. Pravat lives and works in New Delhi, India.
About VHC | Vida Heydari Contemporary
VHC | Vida Heydari Contemporary is an international art gallery in Pune specialising in contemporary art and representing established and emerging artists with diverse backgrounds, across a variety of mediums and genres.
Founded in 2020 with an emphasis on authenticity, quality and innovation, VHC aims to contribute to the cultural fabric of the city. The gallery is committed to fostering the careers of its artists and sharing their work with a global audience, providing a platform for under-represented artists, presenting pioneering museum-quality exhibitions, positive collaborations, price transparency and offering a very hands-on and tailored high-quality experience.
In less than four years from its inception, VHC has mounted significant exhibitions featuring local and international artists. It has also participated in some of the most prestigious art fairs, such as Art Basel Hong Kong, India Art Fair and India Design ID. In addition to the gallery program, VHC hosts talks, performances, workshops and educational programs to create engaging and enriching artistic experiences that capture the essence of life.
VHC – Marvel Alaina, Lane 8, Koregaon Park, Pune, India.
Web: www.vhc.art/
IG: www.instagram.com/vhc.art/
FB: www.facebook.com/vhc.art/
