ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
At a time when the need for definition and categorization is so strongly felt, « My Mentor is a Wolf » by Kerala born artist Shine Shivan questions the social constructs and highlights the endless spectrum of gender differences, perceptions of beauty, personal inter-relationships and desires.
From indian mythologies to contemporary realities, through new works and performances stemming from both on-going series merged together: «Glimpse of Thirst» -sculptural works created out of clothes, shells, bones, hairs, skulls, thread – and the never-ending drawing performance – «Language of deceased», the solo-show « My Mentor is a Wolf » is a tribute to life itself.
Shine Shivan, « l’enfant terrible » of the indian art scene, tackles preconceived ideas with curiosity and welcomes the spectator to join him as a muse, an idea, an interruption or a mentor on his 2 weeks on-going performance.
While the mentor can be commonly defined as « a wise guide », the wolf representing not only nature but Shine’s other mentors, could be a cunning animal, once unforgiving and violent, once a protector, once the mother of Romulus and Remus, once Amarak, once the crowd.
As Charles Baudelaire wrote in « The painter of modern life » 1964:
« The crowd is his element, as the air is that of birds and water of fishes. His passion and his profession are to become one flesh with the crowd. For the perfect flâneur, for the passionate spectator, it is an immense joy to set up house in the heart of the multitude, amid the ebb and flow of movement, in the midst of the fugitive and the infinite. To be away from home and yet to feel oneself everywhere at home; to see the world, to be at the centre of the world, and yet to remain hidden from the world—impartial natures which the tongue can but clumsily define. The spectator is a prince who everywhere rejoices in his incognito.(…) Thus the lover of universal life enters into the crowd as though it were an immense reservoir of electrical energy. Or we might liken him to a mirror as vast as the crowd itself; or to a kaleidoscope gifted with consciousness, responding to each one of its movements and reproducing the multiplicity of life and the flickering grace of all the elements of life. »
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Shine Shivan was born in 1981 in Kerala, India. He has a Masters in Visual Arts from Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, Agra, India, and a Bachelor in Fine Arts from the College of Arts, Delhi. He has previously shown at Khoj Studios, Delhi, India and was the recipient of a Lalit Kala Academy Scholarship in 2008. Shine debuted with a solo show, Sperm Weaver, at Gallery Maskara, Mumbai, India in 2009. His video work was shown at Move on Asia 2010, Tate Modern, London, UK following the success of Move on Asia 2010, at Gallery Loop, Seoul, Korea. In November 2010 his work was part of an exhibition at MOCA Taipei, in Taipei, Taiwan. Shine Shivan was one of the artists shortlisted for the SKODA Prize Twenty 2010. In 2011, Shivan’s had a second solo Suck Spit at Gallery Maskara, Mumbai, India. He showed at the India Art Summit 2011, Crossroads: India Escalate at Prague Biennale 5 and (M)other India, Galerie du Jour – Agnès B, Paris, France. In 2012, Shivan participated in group exhibitions at the India Art Fair, New Delhi and the VIP Art Fair (online) as well as How Am I? at the Kastrupgårdsamlingen museum in Copenhagen and The Secret Life of Plants curated by Maya Kovskaya at Exhibit 320 in Delhi. Glimpse of Thirst, Shivan’s third solo show at Gallery Maskara opened in January 2013 at Gallery Maskara followed by a solo presentation at Art Brussels in April of the same year. In October 2013 Shivan participated in Young International Artist Art Fair (YIA Art Fair), Paris, France. In 2014 Shivan was a part of group exhibition at the India Art Fair, New Delhi in January, In March 2014 Shivan participated in an exhibition Drawing Now, Paris, France. In October he was a part of Young International Artist Art Fair (YIA Art Fair), Paris, France and Kaleidoscopic India Maison Guerlain, Paris, France in October-‐November. Shine Shivan in November also had his fourth solo show Language of Deceased at Gallery Maskara, Mumbai, India. The artist lives and works in Faridabad, India.
SELECTED SHOWS:
Selected solo-shows:
2016
My mentor is a wolf , Gallery Felix Frachon, Brussels, Belgium
2014
Language of Deceased | Open Studio, Gallery Maskara, Mumbai, India
2013
Young International Artists Art Fair, Galerie Herve Perdriole, Paris, France
Art Brussels booth 31, Contemporary Art Fair,Gallery Maskara, Brussels, Belgium
Glimpse of Thirst, Gallery Maskara, Mumbai, India
2011
Suck Spit, Gallery Maskara, Mumbai, India
2009
Sperm Weaver, Gallery Maskara, Mumbai, India
The Used Performance, Pratabh Garh Village, Haryana, India
Selected group shows:
2014
YIA Art Fair, Paris, France
Kaleidoscopic India Maison Guerlain, Paris, France
Art Brussels, Belgium
Drawing Now, Paris, France
India Art Fair, New Delhi, India
2013
India Art Fair, New Delhi, India
2012
How Am I? Kastrupgårdsamlingen Museum, Copenhagen, DK
The Secret Life of Plants, Exhibit 320, New Delhi
Mumbai Gallery Weekend, Mumbai, India
VIP Art Fair, Online
India Art Fair, New Delhi, India
2011
India Art Fair, New Delhi, India
(M)other India, Galerie du Jour – Agnès B., Paris, France
Crossroads: India Escalate, Prague Biennale 5, Prague, Czech Republic Group Show
India Art Summit, New Delhi, India
2010
Finding India: Art for the New Century, Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Taiwan
Artissima 17 International Fair of Contemporary Art in Torino, Torino, Italy
Move on Asia 2010, Tate Modern, London, UK Move on Asia 2010, Gallery Loop, Seoul, Korea
2009
Peers 2009, Khoj studios, Delhi, India
2008
50th National Art Exhibition, Lalit Kala Academy Chandigarh, India
On One Sunday morning … collaborative performance with Manish Chaudhary, Khoj studios, Delhi, India
2005-‐2007
49th National Art Exhibition, Lalit Kala Academy, Bhopal, India
Camlin Art Foundation show, Lalit Kala Academy, Delhi, India
All India Fine Arts and Craft Society show, Delhi, India
ICRC and Red Cross Society show, India Habitat Center, Delhi, India
Ravi Jain Annual Fellowship show, Dhoomimal Art Galleries, Delhi, India
Group Show, Gallery Art Junction, Delhi, India
Awards:
2008
Lalit Kala Academy Scholarship
2007-‐2008
all India Camlin Art foundations Euro Art tour
2006-‐2007
all India Fine Arts and Craft Society
2005
Ravi Jain annual Fellowship (Dhoomimal Art Gallery)
2005
Culture and Education Society National level award
SELECTED WORKS
