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Viraj Mithani is a contemporary artist and an educator. His practice floats between painting, print, drawing and sculpture. They are morphed with dichotomies that include abstraction versus representation, traditional versus progressive, organic versus technological and the epic versus the everyday. His work has been exhibited at numerous venues. Selected exhibitions include: Dalarnas Museum (Falun) in Sweden, Hammond Museum in New York, Sullivan Galleries and Gene Siskel Film Centre in Chicago, Clark House Initiative in Mumbai and Tao Art Gallery in Mumbai. Mithani graduated with a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and currently lives and practices in Mumbai.
Staying true to his original roots, Mithani explores the conventional Indian mythology using unconventional materials such as vinyl and giclee. In conversation with Mithani, we decode his inspiration, practice, palette and much more.
1. We see glimpses of Indian mythology in your works. What has been the ultimate source of inspiration behind your works?
India has a rich cultural history and many different schools of painting. I have explored mythology in different ways. My upbringing involved lot of Jainism and its religious tales. This has always been a subject of fascination for me. I am interested in how mythology functions in contemporary times through the art of story telling and the play of materials.
2. Most of your artworks have a very vibrant color palette with a pop of color swashing through the surface of the canvas. Can you decode your color palette?
I don’t shy away from using colors. In schools and colleges they teach one to be restrictive with your color palette but I have never felt the need to do so. I use color to denote subjects, as a factor of symbolism, a tool for abstraction and a medium for creating a lively atmosphere. Hence it’s used to cover a wide array of subjects. I also use it very initiutively! I use it to factor in hence it’s utilization is as necessary against using it for the hue of the color only.
3. Materials forms an integral hinge in your artworks. Diversifying into the lesser explored materials such as giclee has been your strength. Could you give us an insight as to what fascinates you the most while exploring these materials and techniques behind it?
Giclee means a photographic print by itself. I incorporated this technique in my paintings and printmaking process. I also use other materials such as Vinyl. My artworks aim at exploring the plastic age we live in and the complexities that come with it.
4. On an average, how long do you spend on a single piece of artwork?
It’s a very subjective question! For the past couple of years I have been working on series/ bodies of works. It has taken me anywhere from 3 to 4 months to produce one body of work. However, I have a habit of working at nights and can produce a singular artwork overnight.
5. Can you give us a tour of your studio? OR Run us through what a day in your studio would be like?
My studio is a loft. I use the space above for storage while the space below to create new works. A day in my studio would be me painting with multiple breaks. During my breaks, I like to read short stories and articles. However, there is no fixed routine. I treat each day as it comes. Sometimes I prefer pondering over my archives for days/ weeks and keep revisiting it. It is process oriented and takes time to create a new body of work.
6. Your recent social media activity gave us a glimpse into one of your past group exhibition titled, “Plural Vision” and its relevance to today’s pandemic situation. Would you like to share some insights of your artwork in that exhibit and it’s relevance to today’s time?
Yes, it was a group exhibition curated by Jenyu Wang at Gene Siskel Film Centre in Chicago. The exhibition focused on works with photography, video and new media. It focused on ‘constant flux’, defining our experience of space, time and memory. Quoting from the synopsis,“The rapid speed of digital age keeps our everyday life and perception of reality adaptable to ever shifting demands. As information arrives to us in various channels, what we understand as reality is no longer singular but a set of distorted nd fragmented phenomena.” This show truly resonates with the current scenario of the world lock-down and our consumption of infinite information. 'Plural vision' aimed to take on this strange, ambiguous contemporary scene and explored what it means to exist in intersecting spaces.
7. Your recent exhibition at Tao Art Gallery titled “Boomerang” represented the act of re-appearing or returning from a direction that is opposite. What is that one “boomerang” effect of your life while practicing art that makes you want to visit and re-visit it again and again? (could be an inspiration, book, role model or past artwork, anything)
There are a few things that in timely basis I keep revisiting for inspiration: My grandfather’s collection of photographs, Clement Greenberg’s essay on Modernist painting, T.V. shows such as Spartucus and artists such as Milton Avery. I tend to discover something new every time I revisit them.
8. Your art is very voluminous. What is your take on having negative space in art?
It’s a really interesting question! Negative spaces do exist in my prints and paintings but they function in a complex way. Since I tend to have a lot of layers it’s submerged and broken simultaneously into the background, foreground and middle ground. It functions scattered at multiple levels. It’s not continuous rather a collage in itself.
9. Would like to share something about your new series of artworks that you are currently working on?
I am currently completing a pending commission. There are proverbs – which are storytellers in themselves. I like to explore them visually. They often hold multiple meanings for example my works in Boomerang at Tao Art Gallery explored the Hindu and the Jain mythology. I am currently working on a series, which involves anecdotes from Nichiran Buddhism. I have explored a couple of proverbs so far are – A blue fly clinging on a horse’s tail can travel ten thousand miles and Cherry, Peach, Plum and Damson.
10. What are you currently reading/ watching to draw inspiration in these testing times? Is there any artwork in your present collection that resembles the current situation?
I am currently rejuvenating and watching a lot of different kinds of T.V shows. I extract ideas from them and they play an important role while building my compositions. Also, I like the juxtaposition of the history and the contemporary. In terms of T.V. shows I have watched Money Heist, She, Kingdom and Shooter.
I am currently also reading ‘Turner’s secret sketches’ by Ian Warrel. It’s about Turner’s secret life and his very personal endeavors which even his closest friends and associates were unaware off.
Every artist functions in his/her own personal space and it is captivating to see how the world reacts and tries to decipher once it finds the treasure after the artist dies. It is indeed the undiscovered art of artists!
11. Would like to share more details of your ongoing initiative- #CarpeArteSupports?
Artist welfare has always been a priority for me. A month into the lock-down, I did an Artist Pledge by selling my artist book archives online. This made me wonder what other artists are indulging in during this pandemic? A lot of them come from small towns. That’s how a small idea and a conversation with the Carpe Team led to the birth of our ongoing campaign #CarpeArteSupports . We kick started the campaign by reaching out to all our acquaintances from the artist community and further to their recommendations.
So far, we have successfully sold 75+ artworks. Indeed a win- win situation- the artists are receiving the support they need while collectors take back home some amazing artworks at affordable prices.
I urge all my readers to check out and support #CarpeArteSupports initiative on their Instagram handle- @carpearteofficial. They have some amazing and diverse artworks listed on their platform.
Image Courtesy: Viraj Mithani