Gigi Scaria

The array of media in this exhibition was rather startling: two videos and a photograph, all rather large (each took up a wall of its own); sculptures of bronze and plastic, or bronze alone, most small, often serially arranged; and works on paper, variously sized, sometimes watercolors, sometimes subtly mixing watercolor and automotive paint. 

Buildings can seem tedious and boring, especially in their repetition in a city like New York. But they are an enduring sign of our species’ survivability and perseverance. It was only 12,000 years ago (in an approximate 200,000-year continuum of existing as human beings in our current forms) that the Neolithic Revolution took place and we transitioned from hunting and gathering to become farmers, create settlements, and domesticate our helper animals.

Talk about urbanization to any Indian artist and they will probably get their hackles up. Rapid expansion and accommodation for India’s growing merchant and professional class has led to the wonton demolition of old buildings and historical architecture.

New Delhi-based Gigi Scaria’s All About This Side will be the artist’s first major US solo exhibition debuting at Aicon Gallery, New York. All About This Side is a culmination of a series of intense investigations that brings into sharp relief the “dealing with urban topographies”: modern city structures and the intended and unintended consequences for the people who live amongst them.

Engagement with the environment, urbanisation and migration have dominated Scaria's work for over two decades now, ever since he moved to Delhi from his hometown Kothanalloor, a village in Kerala. With layered works that address the past, present and the distant future, Scaria has consistently reflected on the complexities that we live with.