Press Release

Experimenter presents Mashrabiya, Praneet Soi’s third solo at the gallery, bringing together an expansive body of work spanning a decade, at Experimenter – Hindustan Road, Kolkata. Mashrabiya, a latticed, ornate- patterned, wooden window found in medieval Islamic architecture, is often used as a metaphor in Soi’s multidimensional and geographically spread practice. Drawing from fraught social, political, economic contexts, historical research, personal encounters, architectural details and a growing archive of media imagery, this exhibition offers a lens into Soi’s experimentation with a range of image-tropes and their representation.

Mashrabiya brings together the varied strands of Soi’s ongoing immersion (since 2014) with craftspeople in the valley city of Srinagar; his engagement with traditional porcelain craftspeople in the Southern Chinese city of Guangzhou (2015); and his own studio-based practice in Amsterdam. Such immersions are important to Soi’s praxis. They become sites where knowledge is gained, experiences shared and friendships are formed, underscoring how his perspective is sutured by the thread of personal experiences and multiplicity of thought.

Through painting, sculpture, and painted papier mache and porcelain tiles, the exhibition investigates the notion of a migration of form through techniques such as collage, fragmentation and deconstruction. The process builds a lexicon of intricate motifs and patterns and a tactile materiality characterised by the primacy of hand. Intervening in and subverting existing hierarchies, this exhibition follows Soi’s interest in constructing a personal framework through which an alternate view of the landscape and its interpretation is possible. Praneet Soi (b. 1971; Kolkata, India) lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

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About the Artist

Since 2008 in Kumartuli, North Kolkata, Praneet Soi’s documentation of small-scale factories and one-room workshops has been an ongoing activity. Kumartuli is historically home to a clan of potters that have worked with religious iconography and sculpture-making and has over time given way to micro-workshops and warehouses. Through the inherent politics of labour and economic transition that manifests itself in a series of works titled Notes on Labor, Soi delves into a pluralistic representation of this complex, historic and yet relevant site, through a series of slide-shows, miniature paintings and video.

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Also Exhibiting at Experimenter

About the Gallery

Experimenter was co-founded by Prateek & Priyanka Raja in 2009. With a multidisciplinary approach, the gallery is an incubator for an ambitious and challenging contemporary practice. The program represents some of the most critical contemporary artists worldwide. Considered to be a ‘pace-setter’ for its region, the program extends from exhibition-making, to knowledge creation, through regular talks, performances, workshops and most importantly, through it’s much acclaimed, annual curatorial intensive, Experimenter Curators’ Hub. In 2016, its artist-book publishing wing, Experimenter Books was launched. Experimenter’s program is rooted in dialogue and dissent. In 2018, the Experimenter Learning Program (ELP) was launched. ELP enables discussion, debate and learning in fields of contemporary and performing arts, curatorship, film, writing, language and social culture. In 2019, Experimenter Outpost an iterative exhibitions program outside the physical gallery where an extension of the program temporarily inhabits disused, characterful spaces was launched. In 2020, Experimenter Labs, an inclusive, experimental, online platform in addition to the onsite gallery programming was launched.

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Address
2/1 Hindusthan Road
Dover Terrace
Ballygunge
Kolkata
India
Opening Hours
10.30 am - 6.30 pm | Tuesday–Saturday
(1)
Kolkata 2/1 Hindusthan Road, Dover Terrace
Experimenter
2/1 Hindusthan Road, Dover Terrace, Ballygunge, Kolkata, India
+91 33 46026457‬
https://experimenter.in

Opening hours
10.30 am - 6.30 pm | Tuesday–Saturday
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