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until 08.07. | #3880ARTatBerlin | Galerie Kewenig Berlin presents on 29. April 2023 the exhibition „On either Side of“ of the artist Astha Butail.
For the first time, KEWENIG is dedicating a solo exhibition to the Indian artist Astha Butail (b. 1977) at Pied-à-terre. Her works are based on ideas that are shaped by the examination of traditions of sharing and passing on knowledge. It is about myths and philosophies of different cultures, about their history and transmission up to the present day. Butail’s research is the basis for artistic realisation in a remarkable range of different media: drawing, assemblage, object art and sculpture, performance and interactive installations.
It is not unusual for Butail to conceive her works and projects in an interdisciplinary way. Her preferred formal visual language is geometry: it is used to understand how different composite elements of a unit relate to its whole. Wall installations often resemble a network of frames, “like doors and windows connected.” The metaphor of a house, referring to the levels of being enclosed, confined, but also open, forms a frequently recurring basic idea in Butail’s minimalist arrangements.
One of the artist’s ongoing projects is Of Martand. Titled after the Sanskrit name of the Hindu sun god, Butail refers to the principle of the sun, which includes the idea of darkness and is mentioned in ancient traditions of the Rig Veda. From her series of works, she is showing a piece created in 2022 that she calls Diptych: white and black book models that she has set in over 400 wooden frames of different shapes and arranged on the wall. For Butail, these objects are a tribute to ancient wisdom, to stories passed down orally, and recall a tradition of stories within stories, as found in mythologies and literature.
Opening: Saturday, 29. April 2023, from 11:00 noon until 2 pm
Exhibition dates: Saturday, 29. April until Saturday, 8. July 2023
To the Gallery
Image caption: Astha Butail, Usha and Ratri (Dawn and Night), 2022, Copyright the artist, Courtesy of Kewenig, Berlin
Exhibition Astha Butail – Kewenig Berlin | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Ausstellungen Berlin Galerien | ART at Berlin
