Anjali Purohit

Anjali Purohit was born in Bombay in the year 1957. She held her first exhibition ‘The People and their Places’ in the year 1995. Her next showing ‘All things Must Pass’ was held at the Bajaj Art Gallery in July 1995. At the AIFACS competition in the year 1997, ’50 years of Art in Independent India’, her painting ‘Early Morning at the Irani’ won the first prize for painting for Maharashtra State and is included in the commemorative volume brought out for the occasion. She has regularly exhibited at the annual shows at Artist Centre, Mumbai. Her recent exhibition ‘ERASURES’ was held in October 2008 at the Nehru Centre Art Gallery and was themed around the obliterations that occur as a metropolis attempts to transform itself. Five of her works were included in the ‘Women and Water Rights’ exhibition held at the Katherine Nash Gallery, Minneapolis in May 2009. Two of her works will be exhibited at the annual CPAA charity show to be held in June 2009, at Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai. Anjali has completed the foundation course of the J J School of art and has also been deeply interested in academics. She holds a PhD in Philosophy from Bombay University and is a published author. Her art therefore reflects not just her reactions to the outside world but also an understanding of ideas and constructs that interpret the human experience. Anjali is a reclusive artist who has been articulating her sensibility with paper, paint and canvas.She believes that art, like language or music, is a medium of communication whereby the artist attempts to express her reaction to the world – nature, people, events, emotions, memories and situations. Something in each of these experiences strikes the artist as significant, poignant, moving, curious or in some way worthy of note or observation. She interprets such an aspect of reality or phenomenon and presents it through a medium or form that will best convey that significance to the viewer. If this dialogue happens, then the creation is complete. She paints in an impressionist, modern realist style. Her works offer understated comment, tongue in cheek observations, nostalgic ruminations or then, sometimes, quirky, ironic asides. She explores an aesthetic that interprets personal expression in its social context and presents a perspective that suggests such a construction. She has been a witness to the sad history of Mumbai metropolis for the past thirty five years and most of her paintings reflect her exploration of this relation with her land and its people.The artist lives and works in Mumbai.