黑料不打烊

Experimenter presents Artists for Artists, four solo projects across both gallery spaces in Kolkata. Each practitioner has been selected by an artist from the gallery鈥檚 program. The exhibition attempts to establish how artists, whether through long-form conversations in each other鈥檚 studios or outside of the confines of their workplaces, can yield generous and productive ground for experimentation and sustained dialogue. Artists for Artists marks Experimenter鈥檚 16th anniversary and is rooted in the gallery鈥檚 commitment to amplifying diverse practices, a value that has been pivotal to its programming over the years. 

Sathish Kumar鈥檚 foray into photography began in his youth when he spent his school holidays in his uncle鈥檚 photography studio in Bengaluru. He photographed everyday moments and scenes, like school picnics, cricket grounds, and his friends, with a point-and-shoot camera that his uncle gifted him. Kumar continues to capture seemingly ordinary things through his practice, which is best summarised in his own words as 鈥渁 record of his everyday existence, all encounters and journeys, and an expression of himself, his life, and the world around him.鈥� Sunlight is an ongoing body of work that Kumar began during the COVID-19 pandemic as a response to the unease and anxiety that he experienced in confinement. Hope took the form of sunlight, gently easing out the darkness from his mind. Kumar鈥檚 photographs from this period are symbolic of his gradual journey from the stillness of lockdown to the post-pandemic years. His subjects are varied鈥攍oved ones, sites in Hampi, Kanchipuram, and Chennai, as well as light in its various forms. This body of work has helped Kumar find balance amidst his contrasting feelings of hope and anxiety, where each image is connected by a moment in time.