Aji V N
Solo Exhibitions
Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2017.
Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, The Netherland in 2013.
Nature Morte, New Delhi, and Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2009.
Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2007.
Foundation for Indian Artists Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 2000
Foundation for Indian Artists Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 1998.
Galerie Schoo, Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 1995.
Group Exhibitions
"Revisions on the Surface", Gallery Dotwalk, Gurgaon in 2022-23.
India Art Fair, New Delhi, presented by Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke in 2019.
"Nine Painters from Kerala", Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai, India in 2018.
WTC Art Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Curated by Marleen van Wijngaarden in 2016.
10th Anniversary Exhibition, Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India.
Above Reality. Garage, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Curated by Hans van der Ham in 2015.
Reviving the Retinal, OED Gallery, Kochi, India. Curated by Kathleen Wyma in 2015.
Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Kerala, India. Curated by Jitish Kallat in 2014.
Ik hou van Holland in 2013.
Nederlandse kunst na 1945. Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, The Netherlands.
Mumbai Gallery Weekend. Taj Lands End, Mumbai, India. Presentation by Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery in 2012.
Hongkong International Art Fair. Presentation by Mirchandani +Steinrücke Gallery.
Art Summit, New Delhi, India. Presentation by Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery 5th Anniversary Exhibition in 2011.
All About Drawing. 100 Nederlandse kunstenaars. Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, The Netherlands.
Le Salon du Dessin Contemporain. with Galerie Bernard Jordan. Paris, France
Paysage Mental. Le Dessin sans Dessein.
Musee Eugene Leroy, Tourcoing, France.
Contemporary Art from India, World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland. Curated by Tasneem Zakaria Mehta.
Have I ever opposed you? New art from India and Pakistan. Faye Fleming and Partner, Geneva, Switzerland in 2010.
Hommage a l'art du dessin, Institute Néerlandais, Paris, France. Curated by Paul van der Eerden.
Nominees Dolf Henkes Award. TENT. Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
A Thin Line. Galerie Tegenboschvanvreden, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, Russia. The Third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Against Exclusion. Curated by Jean-Hubert Martin in 2009.
Tracing Time - Works on Paper. Bodhi Art Gallery, Mumbai, India.
Affair. 1 x 1 Gallery, Dubai. U.A.E in 2008.
Verloren Paradijs. Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, The Netherlands.
Artforum Berlin, Germany (Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery). With Jyothi Basu and Ratheesh T.
1st Anniversary Exhibition. Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2007.
Drawing Typologies. Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Ten Light years. Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi, India.
Four by four. Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi, India in 2006.
Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin in 2005.
Double Enders. Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay; Vahdehra Art Gallery, New Delhi; Durbar Hall, Kochi and Bangalore, India. Curated by Bose Krishnamachari.
Arte termita contra Elefante Blanco - Comportamientos Actuales del Dibujo Museo ICO, Madrid, Spain in 2004.
With Robert Gober, Mike Kelley, Paul McCarthy, Louise Bourgeois, Tracey Emin, Marlene Dumas and others. Curated by Pablo Llorca.
The Sacrifice. An intimate I. Museum De Beyerd, Breda,The Netherland.
Anticipations. Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay. Curated by The Fine Art Resource.
No I.D. Artists from India and The Netherlands. Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2002.
Bollywood Has Arrived. Passenger Terminal Amsterdam. With Remy Jungerman, Rob Birza in 2001.
Bhupen Kakhar, Juul Kraijer, Dianne Hagen, Berend Strik and others.
Bilkool. RMIT Project Space, Victoria & Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth, Australian in 1998.
Participation in cultural exchange program; 2 month working period in Thiruvananthapuram with Ulay, Remy Jungerman, Anne Marie Spijker, Judith Krebbekx and Juul Kraijer in 1997.
Participation in artist camp by Lalitha Kala Academy, Trissur, India.
In den vreemde. Der Aa-kerk, Groningen. With Cheri Samba, Tiong Ang, Ricardo Brey, Roy Villevoye in 1995.
KunstRAI Amsterdam, presentation by Foundation for Indian Artists.
Kerala State Lalitha Kala Academy Exhibition, Trivandrum, India in 1986.
Aji V.N. is an Indian Asian Modern & Contemporary artist born in 1968 at Kallissery, Kerala. Aji V.N.’s education took him from the art school in Trivandrum, to the Delhi College of Art where he enrolled as a student of painting. In the
Aji V.N. is an Indian Asian Modern & Contemporary artist born in 1968 at Kallissery, Kerala.
Aji V.N.’s education took him from the art school in Trivandrum, to the Delhi College of Art where he enrolled as a student of painting. In the capital, he was able to indulge his enthusiasm for classical music as well as trawl the city’s museums in an attempt to compensate for what he perceived to be an insufficient knowledge of his own cultural heritage. At the National Museum he familiarized himself with temple sculpture, miniature painting and Chola bronzes, while at the Crafts Museum he came into contact with tribal, village and temple artifacts from all over India. From Delhi he had moved to Baroda to be part of that city’s artist community, then back to Trivandrum for a brief period teaching in the art school, and then finally to Rotterdam to be with his wife who is Dutch.
Aji V.N.’s works are an investigation into the picture-making possibilities of line, form, tone, dimension, presence, distance, and illusion. In the nature of things as well as their representation, one can find an affinity, a basic repertoire that can be observed and drawn out by the artist. And yet his paintings do retain something of a narrative quality and a sense that something is happening — something perilous and fraught with anxiety. Inevitably moving through an evolutionary process, his drawings and paintings seem to be about an “elsewhere”. The artist believes in a multi-directional evolution in which any moment or place could be a point of departure. Maybe one could describe this view as a post modern idea of multiplicity.
The intensity of the drawings of Aji V.N. arises from his concentrated compositions, and also from the shades he applies with the precision of a miniaturist, despite the large format. This paradoxical combination of scale and nuance evokes the idea of luxurious refinement. Colours and textures serve to season the onlooker, to bring him into a state in which the images can communicate by means of an intense silence. Part of the artist's sporadic propensity to pare away the non-essential, helps create his own magical equivalences. His surfaces breathe and expand, often prompting us to enter their implications, their mathematical demarcations as well as their atmospheres of mist and shadow. The irresistible fascination of these drawings lies somewhere between high imagination and psychological states of being.
Academics
Aji had done BFA in Painting from College of Fine Arts, Trivandrum in 1991 and MFA in Painting from College of Art Delhi in 1995.
Awards
Basisstipendium, Foundation for Visual Arts, Netherlands in 2003.
"Werkbeurs", Foundation for Visual Arts, Netherlands in 2001.
Show less
Aji V.N. is an Indian Asian Modern & Contemporary artist born in 1968 at Kallissery, Kerala. Aji V.N.’s education took him from the art school in Trivandrum, to the Delhi College of Art where he enrolled as a student of painting. In the capital, he was able to indulge his enthusiasm for
Aji V.N. is an Indian Asian Modern & Contemporary artist born in 1968 at Kallissery, Kerala.
Aji V.N.’s education took him from the art school in Trivandrum, to the Delhi College of Art where he enrolled as a student of painting. In the capital, he was able to indulge his enthusiasm for classical music as well as trawl the city’s museums in an attempt to compensate for what he perceived to be an insufficient knowledge of his own cultural heritage. At the National Museum he familiarized himself with temple sculpture, miniature painting and Chola bronzes, while at the Crafts Museum he came into contact with tribal, village and temple artifacts from all over India. From Delhi he had moved to Baroda to be part of that city’s artist community, then back to Trivandrum for a brief period teaching in the art school, and then finally to Rotterdam to be with his wife who is Dutch.
Aji V.N.’s works are an investigation into the picture-making possibilities of line, form, tone, dimension, presence, distance, and illusion. In the nature of things as well as their representation, one can find an affinity, a basic repertoire that can be observed and drawn out by the artist. And yet his paintings do retain something of a narrative quality and a sense that something is happening — something perilous and fraught with anxiety. Inevitably moving through an evolutionary process, his drawings and paintings seem to be about an “elsewhere”. The artist believes in a multi-directional evolution in which any moment or place could be a point of departure. Maybe one could describe this view as a post modern idea of multiplicity.
The intensity of the drawings of Aji V.N. arises from his concentrated compositions, and also from the shades he applies with the precision of a miniaturist, despite the large format. This paradoxical combination of scale and nuance evokes the idea of luxurious refinement. Colours and textures serve to season the onlooker, to bring him into a state in which the images can communicate by means of an intense silence. Part of the artist's sporadic propensity to pare away the non-essential, helps create his own magical equivalences. His surfaces breathe and expand, often prompting us to enter their implications, their mathematical demarcations as well as their atmospheres of mist and shadow. The irresistible fascination of these drawings lies somewhere between high imagination and psychological states of being.
Academics
Aji had done BFA in Painting from College of Fine Arts, Trivandrum in 1991 and MFA in Painting from College of Art Delhi in 1995.
Awards
Basisstipendium, Foundation for Visual Arts, Netherlands in 2003.
"Werkbeurs", Foundation for Visual Arts, Netherlands in 2001.
Solo Exhibitions
Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2017.
Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, The Netherland in 2013.
Nature Morte, New Delhi, and Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2009.
Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2007.
Foundation for Indian Artists Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 2000
Foundation for Indian Artists Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 1998.
Galerie Schoo, Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 1995.
Group Exhibitions
"Revisions on the Surface", Gallery Dotwalk, Gurgaon in 2022-23.
India Art Fair, New Delhi, presented by Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke in 2019.
"Nine Painters from Kerala", Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai, India in 2018.
WTC Art Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Curated by Marleen van Wijngaarden in 2016.
10th Anniversary Exhibition, Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India.
Above Reality. Garage, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Curated by Hans van der Ham in 2015.
Reviving the Retinal, OED Gallery, Kochi, India. Curated by Kathleen Wyma in 2015.
Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Kerala, India. Curated by Jitish Kallat in 2014.
Ik hou van Holland in 2013.
Nederlandse kunst na 1945. Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, The Netherlands.
Mumbai Gallery Weekend. Taj Lands End, Mumbai, India. Presentation by Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery in 2012.
Hongkong International Art Fair. Presentation by Mirchandani +Steinrücke Gallery.
Art Summit, New Delhi, India. Presentation by Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery 5th Anniversary Exhibition in 2011.
All About Drawing. 100 Nederlandse kunstenaars. Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, The Netherlands.
Le Salon du Dessin Contemporain. with Galerie Bernard Jordan. Paris, France
Paysage Mental. Le Dessin sans Dessein.
Musee Eugene Leroy, Tourcoing, France.
Contemporary Art from India, World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland. Curated by Tasneem Zakaria Mehta.
Have I ever opposed you? New art from India and Pakistan. Faye Fleming and Partner, Geneva, Switzerland in 2010.
Hommage a l'art du dessin, Institute Néerlandais, Paris, France. Curated by Paul van der Eerden.
Nominees Dolf Henkes Award. TENT. Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
A Thin Line. Galerie Tegenboschvanvreden, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, Russia. The Third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Against Exclusion. Curated by Jean-Hubert Martin in 2009.
Tracing Time - Works on Paper. Bodhi Art Gallery, Mumbai, India.
Affair. 1 x 1 Gallery, Dubai. U.A.E in 2008.
Verloren Paradijs. Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, The Netherlands.
Artforum Berlin, Germany (Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery). With Jyothi Basu and Ratheesh T.
1st Anniversary Exhibition. Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2007.
Drawing Typologies. Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Ten Light years. Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi, India.
Four by four. Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi, India in 2006.
Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin in 2005.
Double Enders. Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay; Vahdehra Art Gallery, New Delhi; Durbar Hall, Kochi and Bangalore, India. Curated by Bose Krishnamachari.
Arte termita contra Elefante Blanco - Comportamientos Actuales del Dibujo Museo ICO, Madrid, Spain in 2004.
With Robert Gober, Mike Kelley, Paul McCarthy, Louise Bourgeois, Tracey Emin, Marlene Dumas and others. Curated by Pablo Llorca.
The Sacrifice. An intimate I. Museum De Beyerd, Breda,The Netherland.
Anticipations. Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay. Curated by The Fine Art Resource.
No I.D. Artists from India and The Netherlands. Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2002.
Bollywood Has Arrived. Passenger Terminal Amsterdam. With Remy Jungerman, Rob Birza in 2001.
Bhupen Kakhar, Juul Kraijer, Dianne Hagen, Berend Strik and others.
Bilkool. RMIT Project Space, Victoria & Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth, Australian in 1998.
Participation in cultural exchange program; 2 month working period in Thiruvananthapuram with Ulay, Remy Jungerman, Anne Marie Spijker, Judith Krebbekx and Juul Kraijer in 1997.
Participation in artist camp by Lalitha Kala Academy, Trissur, India.
In den vreemde. Der Aa-kerk, Groningen. With Cheri Samba, Tiong Ang, Ricardo Brey, Roy Villevoye in 1995.
KunstRAI Amsterdam, presentation by Foundation for Indian Artists.
Kerala State Lalitha Kala Academy Exhibition, Trivandrum, India in 1986.
Show less
Dotwalk Shows
Solo Exhibitions
Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2017.
Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, The Netherland in 2013.
Nature Morte, New Delhi, and Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2009.
Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2007.
Foundation for Indian Artists Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 2000
Foundation for Indian Artists Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 1998.
Galerie Schoo, Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 1995.
Group Exhibitions
"Revisions on the Surface", Gallery Dotwalk, Gurgaon in 2022-23.
India Art Fair, New Delhi, presented by Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke in 2019.
"Nine Painters from Kerala", Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai, India in 2018.
WTC Art Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Curated by Marleen van Wijngaarden in 2016.
10th Anniversary Exhibition, Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India.
Above Reality. Garage, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Curated by Hans van der Ham in 2015.
Reviving the Retinal, OED Gallery, Kochi, India. Curated by Kathleen Wyma in 2015.
Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Kerala, India. Curated by Jitish Kallat in 2014.
Ik hou van Holland in 2013.
Nederlandse kunst na 1945. Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, The Netherlands.
Mumbai Gallery Weekend. Taj Lands End, Mumbai, India. Presentation by Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery in 2012.
Hongkong International Art Fair. Presentation by Mirchandani +Steinrücke Gallery.
Art Summit, New Delhi, India. Presentation by Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery 5th Anniversary Exhibition in 2011.
All About Drawing. 100 Nederlandse kunstenaars. Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, The Netherlands.
Le Salon du Dessin Contemporain. with Galerie Bernard Jordan. Paris, France
Paysage Mental. Le Dessin sans Dessein.
Musee Eugene Leroy, Tourcoing, France.
Contemporary Art from India, World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland. Curated by Tasneem Zakaria Mehta.
Have I ever opposed you? New art from India and Pakistan. Faye Fleming and Partner, Geneva, Switzerland in 2010.
Hommage a l'art du dessin, Institute Néerlandais, Paris, France. Curated by Paul van der Eerden.
Nominees Dolf Henkes Award. TENT. Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
A Thin Line. Galerie Tegenboschvanvreden, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, Russia. The Third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Against Exclusion. Curated by Jean-Hubert Martin in 2009.
Tracing Time - Works on Paper. Bodhi Art Gallery, Mumbai, India.
Affair. 1 x 1 Gallery, Dubai. U.A.E in 2008.
Verloren Paradijs. Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, The Netherlands.
Artforum Berlin, Germany (Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery). With Jyothi Basu and Ratheesh T.
1st Anniversary Exhibition. Mirchandani+Steinrücke Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2007.
Drawing Typologies. Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Ten Light years. Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi, India.
Four by four. Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi, India in 2006.
Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin in 2005.
Double Enders. Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay; Vahdehra Art Gallery, New Delhi; Durbar Hall, Kochi and Bangalore, India. Curated by Bose Krishnamachari.
Arte termita contra Elefante Blanco - Comportamientos Actuales del Dibujo Museo ICO, Madrid, Spain in 2004.
With Robert Gober, Mike Kelley, Paul McCarthy, Louise Bourgeois, Tracey Emin, Marlene Dumas and others. Curated by Pablo Llorca.
The Sacrifice. An intimate I. Museum De Beyerd, Breda,The Netherland.
Anticipations. Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay. Curated by The Fine Art Resource.
No I.D. Artists from India and The Netherlands. Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India in 2002.
Bollywood Has Arrived. Passenger Terminal Amsterdam. With Remy Jungerman, Rob Birza in 2001.
Bhupen Kakhar, Juul Kraijer, Dianne Hagen, Berend Strik and others.
Bilkool. RMIT Project Space, Victoria & Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth, Australian in 1998.
Participation in cultural exchange program; 2 month working period in Thiruvananthapuram with Ulay, Remy Jungerman, Anne Marie Spijker, Judith Krebbekx and Juul Kraijer in 1997.
Participation in artist camp by Lalitha Kala Academy, Trissur, India.
In den vreemde. Der Aa-kerk, Groningen. With Cheri Samba, Tiong Ang, Ricardo Brey, Roy Villevoye in 1995.
KunstRAI Amsterdam, presentation by Foundation for Indian Artists.
Kerala State Lalitha Kala Academy Exhibition, Trivandrum, India in 1986.
