Project 5: Anindita Dutta

Bodhgaya Biennale Book forthcoming 2022

This book will be unique within the Minerva project series. Dutta’s contributions as an artist and curator will be framed within the Bodhgaya Biennale

When considering Anindita Dutta’s sculptures or performances, the tension between forces primordial and humanist are palatable. Clay, an allegorically rich material that evokes a wide variety of global creation myths, has provided Dutta the opportunity to manifest and share her particular interpretation of human experience. The artist and the material, the clay, fuse into one being. She feels no separation between her body and the clay. The integration of material and concept is never more acutely felt than in her performances. These works convey her deepening examination of the cycles of life, the experience of profound loss, and the process of making meaning out of chaos.

While her materials are purposefully modest, the scale at which Dutta works approaches the monumental.   Her large-scale sculpture highlights the tension triggered by the interplay of objects in domestic space, for instance furnishings, with historically loaded, mystical spatial formulations, such as the spiral and maze. The mutation of the human skeleton also plays as critical a role in Dutta’s sculpture, as do her alchemical experiments with the dyes she transports between locations in the Americas and Asia.

The fundamental challenge of analyzing and contextualizing Dutta’s two-decade-long practice in theoretically and historically meaningful terms is due in large part to her decision to study and practice in both India and the United States. The syncretic quality of this work begs a focused analysis using a multiplicity of aesthetic, spiritual and historical frameworks.

Anindita Dutta, born in India, completed a BFA at Visva Bharati University, and an MFA at the University of Iowa. Her work has been exhibited widely in the U.S., France, India, Brazil, Chile, and Germany. She has been awarded grants from Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (Japan 2010), The Pollock-Krasner Foundation (2008), Art Omi International Art Center (New York 2006), UNESCO-Aschberg Bursaries Fellowship (2006), KHOJ Kolkata International Workshop (India 2006) CAMAC, Marnay-sur-seine (France 2005).

Her international exhibition record, list of residencies and collections can be found on: http://www.aninditadutta.com/index.html.

Client: HRAG VARTANIAN
Date: September 18, 2017
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The Exit, 2009, fiberglass and hand stitched fabrics. Photo by Arnab Ghosal, courtesy of the artist.
Knitting Memories, 2013, Indiana, USA, performance documentation, digital photograph. Photo by Choni LLC, courtesy of the artist.
A_mazing, 2011, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan, in collaboration with Kyushu Sangyo Fine Art University, performance documentation, single channel video and photograph. Photo courtesy of Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan.
A_mazing, 2011, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan, in collaboration with Kyushu Sangyo Fine Art University, performance documentation, single channel video and photograph. Photo courtesy of Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan.
Wrest in Peace, 2010, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan, in collaboration with Kyushu Sangyo Fine Art University, performance documentation, single channel video and photograph. Photo courtesy of Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan.
Wrest in Peace, 2010, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan, in collaboration with Kyushu Sangyo Fine Art University, performance documentation, single channel video and photograph. Photo courtesy of Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan.
A Matter of a Moment I, 2009. Indiana, USA, performance documentation, three-channel video and photography. Photo by Choni LLC, courtesy of the artist.
A Matter of a Moment II, 2009. Indiana, USA, performance documentation, three-channel video and photography. Photo by Choni LLC, courtesy of the artist.
Matter of a Moment III, 2009. Indiana, USA, performance documentation, three-channel video and photography. Photo by Choni LLC, courtesy of the artist.
Bed and Breakfast II, 2007, Roger Smith Lab Gallery, New York, burlap, wood, cotton, color, chalk, dimensions variable, installation view. Photo by Choni LLC and Amitava Roy, courtesy of the artist.
Flight I, 2015, Sanskriti Kala Kenda, Delhi, performance documentation, digital photograph. Photo by Yogesh Patel, courtesy of the artist.
Limitation I, 2005, CAMAC, Marnay-sur-Seine, France, photograph and single channel video based performance work. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Brick Coffin, 2004, Santiniketan, India, performance documentation. Photo courtesy of the artist.
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