exhibition

Other

Artists Riyas Komu, Peter Drake

16.Mar.07 - 15.Apr.07

, 16.Mar.07, 6-9 pm

Aicon Gallery
8 Heddon Street
London W1B 4BU
447884 246838
farah@aicongallery.com
Tube Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, Mayfair / Cork Street

An exhibition of works by Riyas Komu, one of the group of successful young painters from Mumbai called the ‘Bombay Boys’, will be the inaugural show at the new AICON Gallery (Arts India Contemporary) which will open at 8 Heddon Street, London W1 on Friday 16 March 2007.

The show marks the UK debut for artist Riyas Komu, whose work has been exhibited internationally and was recently selected by Robert Storr for the 2007 Venice Biennale exhibition. Painter, installation artist and cultural commentator, Komu is influenced by the politics of gender and religion in his native India and his work has been featured in recent issues of Artforum, Art India and other publications.

Entitled Other, the opening exhibition also features artist Peter Drake (New York) who has collaborated with Komu on previous projects and is best known for his surreal paintings of suburban America. Peter Drake¹s work is represented in the collections of the Whitney Museum and LA MoCA, amongst others.

The two artists conceived this exhibition around their respective cultural habitats and comment via universal themes on the reactions of opposing sides to political wars. The artists chose to juxtapose their work in this show, seeing London as the geographical mid-point between their two countries.

AICON Gallery will focus on the latest developments of contemporary Indian and Asian art. The London gallery is the newest venture of Arts India, which is the pre-eminent gallery for contemporary Indian art outside India with successful galleries in New York and California. Arts India has undertaken many initiatives to increase the audience for Indian art by forming alliances with American national museums and promoting emerging talent as well as established artists.

Future shows at AICON Gallery include solo shows by Jayashree Chakravartry, Anant Joshi, Ashim Purakayastha, Shibu Natesan, Abir Karmakar and group shows featuring Pakistani and Turkish contemporary art.

The Partners of Arts India are Prajit and Projjal Dutta; also associated as partner is Mamta Prakash.

The Director of AICON Gallery London is Farah Rahim Ismail.