Winner of Emerging Artists of the Year 2015, and a beneficiary of the Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Program
New Delhi, August 19, 2016: Glenfiddich along with the Best College Art has announced the unveiling of Krupa Makhija’s solo show "An Amnesiac's Memory" at Art District XIII in Lado Sarai, New Delhi. From over 500 participants from across India, Krupa Makhija was selected as the winner of Glenfiddich’s Emerging Artist of the Year 2015 award and won a 3 months’ residency at the Glenfiddich Distillery in Scotland.
Krupa Makhija has trained as a painter and her practice also includes printmaking, installations and sculptures. She has always preferred mediums which can best represent her ideas. From burnt canvases to found objects and architectural waste, her work is representative of destruction, nostalgia and is a constant looking back to understand the now.
The exhibition showcases works in different mediums created during and post her three-month stay at the Glenfiddich distillery in the quaint town of Dufftown, Scotland. Her works have been influenced by the local traditional setting she witnessed during her residency.
The global coordinator of Glenfiddich’s AiR programme Andy Fairgrieve said that “India is a very vibrant country and is home of some very exceptional and talented artists. We were lucky to find an artist like Krupa Makhija through our forum Artists in Residence (AiR), who has a very unique approach towards art. Her ‘Symbolic’ representations of her own personal experiences are evident in her works.”
“India can become a world-class centre of excellence for creativity given the diversity and talent it houses. The Indian art market is growing. Globally, the art market is an underestimated economic factor. India is known for its doctors and engineers and scientists. It also produces some of the best artists in the world.”
James Pennefather, General Manager, William Grant & Sons India said, “Glenfiddich has always been a patron and supporter of art programs across the world. Our globally recognized forum Artists in Residence (AiR), launched in 2002, aims at providing artists like Krupa Makhija a unique and inspiring platform to showcase their talent and gain international recognition. Krupa is the forth recipient of the Glenfiddich /Bestcollegart Emerging Indian award and her work is a symbolic representation of Cultural Amnesia.”
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born in Gujarat in 1983, Makhija received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Fine Arts at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda. The most recent exhibitions in which her work has been featured include, ‘The Triumph of Suburbia' at Hirji Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2008; ‘Freshly Squeezed’ at Suchitrra Arts Gallery, Mumbai, in 2008; and ‘See You Again’ at Osmosis Gallery, Mumbai, the same year. In 2009, the artist was honoured with the 51st National Award in Painting from the Lalit Kala Akademi, and in 2008 she won the Harmony Excellence Award for Emerging Artist of the Year.
ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
The Artists in Residence Program has developed into an integral element of Glenfiddich’s tradition. Every year since 2002, some of the world’s most creative minds from around the world have been invited to live and work for a period of three months on site at the Glenfiddich Distillery. The artists have complete freedom to develop projects that are inspired by their surroundings and whisky making crafts. In fact the program has seen many contradictory themes explored due to the dual nature of the surroundings - rich, rural yet at the same time industrial.
The Artists in Residence program in India was instituted with Best College Art for the first time in 2012. The first Indian artist from Best College Art to win the residency in Scotland was Juhikadevi Bhanjdeo in 2012 followed by the very talented Yuvan Bothysathuvar in 2013, Chetnaa Verma in 2014 and Krupa Makhija in 2015.
GLENFIDDICH, INDIA
Glenfiddich is a single malt Whisky owned and produced by William Grant & Sons Distillers Limited. An independent family-owned distiller founded by William Grant in 1886 and still controlled by the fifth generation of the family.
The Company distils some of the world’s leading brands of Scotch whisky, including the world’s favourite single malt Glenfiddich®, the handcrafted range of The Balvenie® single malts and one of the world’s best loved blended Scotches, Grant’s®, as well as selected other spirits, including Hendrick’s® Gin, Sailor Jerry® and, most recently, Tullamore Dew Irish Whisky. Click on www.williamgrant.com for more information on the Company and its brands.
Art District XIII
Art District XIII is India's new dynamic art space located in Lado Sarai, New Delhi. Spread across 2300 square feet, it is an eclectic gallery space. The emergence of Art District XIII resonates with Indian art demanding transparency in dealing both with the artist and the collector. It is a platform for the collector and the artist to meet, learn and grow together.
Art District XIII celebrates and espouses the numeric XIII, considered inauspicious by some but very auspicious by the initiators of the gallery. With an aim to support exceptional artists who show the potential to have a global career, and art, which can be embraced by both established and upcoming collectors, the gallery strives to ensure that collectors get value. While Art District XIII holds back from showing artists who are transactional in their approach, it simultaneously ensures that artists are guided and their work showcased on International platforms. Fundamentally, Art District XIII has been conceptualized to encourage people to embrace art in a gallery space, which is diverse and will show art beyond the ordinary. Art District XIII believes that profit is not the motive but ‘art’ is -both the artist and the collector will stand to gain from a gallery that promises to transform the Indian art landscape.