HAVE I EVER OPPOSED YOU? NEW ART FROM INDIA AND PAKISTAN
18 March – 22 May 2010

Aji V.N. (b.1968, India)


Untitled 2007, charcoal on coloured paper, framed with UV protection glass, 75.5 x 195 cm

In Aji V.N.’s work, angst lies directly beneath the tactile richness of his finely grained multi-layered surface of graphite. Ambiguity is inevitable and the landscapes treacherous – even when they exhibit scrub that has spread across the paper in a decorative pattern, or labyrinthine hedges, or then again a city at night bathed in a phosphorescent haze of lights.

Aji was born in Kerala in 1968, but has been living and working in Rotterdam for the last ten years, exhibiting in both Europe and India. Interestingly, it is the geographical and cultural space that lies in between these two locations that stimulates his interest. The artist’s images have a mythic energy that is timeless in its mixing of mutable subject matter and subversive provocation.

Solo exhibitions include : Nature Morte, New Delhi (2009) ; Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai (2007 & 2009) ; The Foundation for Indian Artists/Galerie Schoo, Amsterdam (1995, 1998 & 2000). He was included in the 3rd Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow, curated by Jean-Hubert Martin (2009), the 13th Art Forum Berlin (2008) and Verloren Paradijs, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Netherlands (2008).


Untitled 2008, charcoal on coloured paper, framed with UV protection glass, 75 x 175 cm


Untitled 2005, charcoal on paper, framed with UV protection glass, 45 x 152 cm