Ranjani Shettar

Ranjani Shettar (born 1977) is a visual artist from Bangalore, India known for her large-scale sculptural installations.^[1] Her work has been displayed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA), among others.^[2][3][4]

Ranjani Shettar
Born	1977 (age 45–46) Bangalore, India
Nationality	Indian
Known for	Large-scale sculptural installations using combination of natural and industrial materials

Personal life and education

Shettar received her Bachelors of Fine Arts (Sculpture) in 1998 and her Masters of Fine Arts (Sculpture) in 2000, from the College of Fine Art Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath and the Institute of Advanced Studies Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in Bangalore respectively.^{[citation needed]}

Shettar currently lives and works in Karnataka, India.

Career

Shettar’s first exhibition took place in 2004 at Talwar Gallery, New York.^[5] Since then, her works been featured in museums worldwide and she continues to be exclusively represented by Talwar Gallery.^[6]

Shettar's works have been the subject of various publications from National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne^[7] and galleries like Talwar Gallery^[8] and Marian Goodman Gallery.^[9] Shettar has also been awarded with the Hebbar Foundation award in 1999 and 2003, as well as the Charles Wallace Trust Award in 2004, the Sanskriti award in 2008, and the Aditya Vikram Birla Kalakiran Puraskar in 2011 for her works.^{[citation needed]}

In 2023, Shettar’s first major institutional show in Europe is commissioned by the Barbican Centre in London. Titled "Cloud songs on the horizon," the project will feature a series of expansive suspended sculptures spanning the Conservatory's vast space.^[10]

Work

In her work, Shettar combines natural and industrial materials, including beeswax, wood, organic dyes, vegetal pastes, lacquer, steel, and cloth, to create large-scale installations.^[11] Shettar draws inspiration from India's rich heritage of craft traditions, incorporating many of their time-honored techniques into her creative process.^[12]

 

Ranjani Shettar, Honeysuckle and Mercury in a Thick Midnight Plot (2016)

Shettar's wood sculptures are hand-carved.^[13] In these sculptures, she deliberately preserves the natural texture of the material, such as cracks and knots.^[14]

 

Ranjani Shettar, Touch Me Not (2006-2007), from the collection of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art

Shettar’s wooden artworks also take the form of wall-mounted compositions. One example is Touch Me Not (2006-2007), now a permanent part of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art's collection.^[15]

 

Ranjani Shettar, Seven ponds and a few raindrops (2017), from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Shettar has created an immersive installations, such as Seven Ponds and a Few Rain Drops (2017),^[16] which entered the permanent collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2018. elegantly spirals from the ground towards the ceiling, Other examples include Sing Along (2008-2009), now in the collection of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art.^[17]

Shettar has also created works connecting hand-molded wax beads with cotton thread.^[18] In her work Just a bit more (2005-2006),^[19] which is now in the permanent collection of MoMA New York, the artist really relied on the lightweight and translucent quality of the material to create an intricate web of threads.^[20]

 

Ranjani Shettar, Me, no, not me, buy me, eat me, wear me, have me, me, no, not me, (2006-2007), from the collection of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

In addition to organic mediums, Shettar also uses industrial materials. One such piece, Me, No, Not Me, Buy Me, Eat Me, Wear Me, Have Me, Me, No, Not Me (2006-2007)^[21] was featured at the inaugural exhibition of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s sculptural garden.^[22]

Shettar's projects are mostly sculptural, however she has experimented in other forms as well. One such project is Varsha, an artist's book in collaboration with The Museum of Modern Art (New York). In 2021, Shettar was invited to create a special print titled Alae alae to commemorate The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 150th anniversary.^[23]

References

1. "Ranjani Shettar: Earth Songs for a Night Sky". The Phillips Collection. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
2. "New Work: Ranjani Shettar · SFMOMA". www.sfmoma.org. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
3. "Ranjani Shettar | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
4. "Ranjani Shettar: Seven ponds and a few raindrops". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
5. "RANJANI SHETTAR: The Indian Spring". Talwar Gallery. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
6. "Ranjani Shettar". Talwar Gallert. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
7. Baker, Alex; Shettar, Ranjani (2011). Ranjani Shettar: Dewdrops and Sunshine. National Gallery of Victoria. ISBN 978-0-7241-0349-2.
8. "Ranjani Shettar – Between the sky and earth « TALWAR GALLERY". Retrieved 5 December 2019.
9. "Freeing the Line". Marian Goodman. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
10. "Press room, Ranjani Shettar: Cloud songs on the horizon". Barbican Centre. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
11. "Seven ponds and a few raindrops". the MET. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
12. "Press release, Ranjani Shettar: Seven ponds and a few raindrops". The MET. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
13. "RANJANI SHETTAR: Summer garden and rain clouds". Talwar Gallery. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
14. Singh, Devika. "Ranjani Shettar: Fire in the Belly". Art Asia Pacific. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
15. "Touch Me Not". Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
16. "Seven ponds and a few raindrops". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
17. "Sing Along". Kiran Nadar Museum of Art on Google Arts&Culture. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
18. Menezes, Meera. "Ranjani Shettar". Artforum. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
19. "Just a bit more". MOMA. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
20. "Behind the Scenes: On Line: Ranjani Shettar" (video). youtube.com. The Museum of Modern Art. 23 November 2010.
21. "Me, no, not me, buy me, eat me, wear me, have me, me, no, not me". SFMOMA. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
22. "SFMOMA TO OPEN ROOFTOP SCULPTURE GARDEN". SFMOMA. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
23. "RANJANI SHETTAR". Talwar Gallery. Retrieved 27 June 2023.

External links

1. Washington City Press, Ranjani Shettar's Earth Songs for a Night Sky, June 2019
2. The New York Times Style Magazine, The South Asian Artists Making Their Mark on the Western Scene, December 2018.
3. Artforum, Ranjani Shettar The Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2018.
4. Mint, Ranjani Shettar: Making Waves with Wood, July 2017.
5. The New York Times, Ranjani Shettar: Night Skies and Daydreams, September 2014.