Avishek Sen, When the afternoon sleeps in peace, 2024.
Watercolour, glitter and japanese ink on paper, 30h x 22.50w in.
Aicon Contemporary is pleased to present Once again I want to love her, a solo exhibition by Avishek Sen. This work epitomizes Sen’s fascination with human desire, particularly preoccupied by the ways that desire serves as an act, a concept, and a state of being all at once. Sen uses natural iconography like animals and fruits, anchoring them against white expanses, to explore how desire transcends the physical realm to become a vehicle for spiritual understanding and transformation.
Once again I want to love her features Sen’s distinguishable style of watercolor and glitter, with the added depth of Japanese ink. The black ink further emphasizes the intensity of this expression; his subjects, in a sharp visual contrast of black and white, engage each other in acts of profound desire.
Sen’s work creates a new lens through which to regard physical desire, urging us to recognize its potential for teaching us about each other—and ourselves.
Avishek Sen, We bleed the same, 2020.
Watercolour, glitter and japanese ink on paper, 14.50h x 11.50w in.
My current series explores love, desire, faith, and self-realization. In my work, nature—through animals, birds, human figures, and fruits—becomes a language for expressing complex emotions and connections.
The juxtaposition of figures painted in black Japanese ink against natural landscapes emphasizes the tension between the rawness of physical desire and the tranquil, harmonious world around us. Sometimes, these characters are suspended in white spaces, suggesting a sense of weightlessness or transcendence.
I blend human and non-human elements to explore the coexistence of multiple desires within a single entity. These hybrid beings embody the complexity of life itself, representing the differing impulses and instincts. They are often depicted in intimate, intense interactions—exploring their desires through the act of love, seeking to understand their own bodies and minds in the process.
The act of desire in my paintings is not just about physicality; it is a force that propels the characters toward embracing their inner selves. The physical bond between the figures represents a transformative moment where desire leads to self-realization. Rather than being separate from us, nature becomes an integral part of the exploration of the self. The natural elements are not mere backdrops; they are active, central characters in the narrative of personal and spiritual awakening.
I approach fruits and vegetables as if they are human bodies. The details of their skins, the shadows that define their contours, reflect my fascination with both the surficial and internal realms of existence. Sometimes I depict them in their whole form, and at other times, I cut them open, delving into their inner complexities—searching for the parallels with our own physical and emotional worlds.
My work serves as a meditation on the interconnectedness of nature, desire, and self-discovery to reflect on the complexity of existence and the deep, often unspoken, bonds between all living beings.
- Avishek Sen
Avishek Sen, I searched for myself and found only you, 2024.
Watercolour, glitter and japanese ink on paper, 30h x 22.50w in.
Avishek Sen (b. 1975, India) has found his niche in his particular handling of watercolor as a medium. Over the years, he’s developed a signature style of glitter-laden watercolor. Sen’s depiction of different animal forms into one body is a gestural display of the multiple identities—sexual or otherwise—that we embody but discover only in the spiritual practice of understanding the self by embracing the complexity of our desire instead of living in denial of its influence. His hybrid, beastly, predatory forms are engaged either in devouring or are eagerly anticipating the moment of feasting. The language of fruits and flowers, traditionally rendered in the form of still life is completely transformed in this elaborate dreamscape.
Sen’s works have been displayed at Gallery Espace, Albion Gallery, London, Apparao Galleries, New Delhi, CIMA gallery, Kolkata to name a few, and this is his second solo exhibition with Aicon Contemporary. Apart from these, Avishek Sen has participated in numerous Art Fairs like; India Art Fair, Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Scope New York and Art Singapore. He has been the recipient of the National Scholarship awarded by the Human Resources Development, Government of India in the year 2000.
The artist lives and works in New Delhi.