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Sharmistha Rays canvases feature abstracts and bold colours
NEW FOCUS

PHOTO: KAINAZ AMARIA; STYLIST: SHARON CRAWFORD; HAIR AND MAKE UP: DILSHAD UKAJI; LOCATION: GALERIE MIRCHANDANI STEINRUECKE. ON SHARMISTHA: BLOUSE, HER OWN. TROUSERS, MANGO. NECKLACE, RIDDHIKA JESRANI AT BOMBAY ELECTRIC

After six years of curating and critiquing, Sharmistha Ray is picking up her paintbrush again.Vogue listens in as the artist and her gallerist Ranjana Mirchandani get together before her rst show
harmistha Ray moved to India from New York in 2006 to paint. Six years later, her dream is coming true with an inaugural solo exhibition, Hidden Geographies, opening at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke. Ray previously put painting on hold to occupy art-world powerhouse positions at places like Bodhi Art and also worked as a critic and curator. But a year ago,

SHOW AND TELL

Ranjana Mirchandani: Weve been colleagues from the market side of the art world for years. Have you found that working on the other side has inuenced your work? Sharmistha Ray: When I was at Bodhi Art discussing work with Atul and Anju Dodiya, Anju once asked me if I was painting. I told them that it was a really bad question. She replied, Youre having a lot of input, and eventually there will be output. I didnt realise >
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her gallerist friends Ranjana and Usha Mirchandani saw Rays gestural abstracts during a business meeting and offered her a show, and for months, Ray daringly dropped her other roles to resume painting. Like the thick layers of paint on her canvases, Rays life is overlaid with her experiences in New York, Kolkata and Mumbai, and the title of the exhibition references these multilayered perspectives that shape her work.

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Rays untitled diptych is part of Hidden Geographies it, but my years in the gallery world were a gestation period. Technique is important, but if the ideas are in place, you will do what you need to get them out. When I came back to painting, I was ready to go. RM: You were denitely ready. Your works are almost sculptural, theyre about construction and process, ideas that are important to us at the gallery. SR: The common perception of the abstract painter is that of the wilful romantic propelled by divine inspiration. While my paintings are atmospheric, I also go through a rigorous process of constructing whats on the surface of the canvas. These paintings evoke mystery and depth, but it has to be carefully construed. RM: There has been a big break in abstraction in India, but your generation is reviving the form in the tradition of artists like Raza. You use a vibrant, almost radical colour palette like Bhupen Khakhar and Philip Guston

COLOUR CODED

did. When I show your work to collectors, they remark at your unique use of colour. Youve also said that colour is pure emotion. Can you elaborate on where these colours come from? SR: Sometimes what is embedded in my subconscious comes out in painting. This became evident when working on A Different Kind Of Blue. There was a very intense, unique blue I kept using and I wondered where the reference came from. When I was on my way to the [Mumbai] airport, I saw blue tarpaulins and realised, Thats the blue! I had been in the city for years, and it nally manifested itself.

RM: As someone whos been both artist and curator, what do you think of the Indian art scene today? SR: Theres a new vigour, with galleries reinventing themselves and really looking at content, ideas and productionadding up to quality. Something interesting is that each gallery creates a space for itself and there is camaraderie. Im excited about the emergence of new young collectors with discriminating taste and hope to be collected by them. As told to Diana Campbell Hidden Geographies is at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai, from January 18-February 18

SWING SISTERS
Ever since Pippa Middleton caught the medias eye in that bridesmaid dress, a line of stars are emerging from the shadow of their older sisters fame
NATALI GERMANOTTA

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Sibling: Lady Gaga Age: 19 USP: Mugler in the making. Studying fashion at Parsons in Manhattan, Natalis wacky costume creations for the show Simon Says will debut o -Broadway this autumn. Theatrics are in the blood.

ALIANA LOHAN

Sibling: Lindsay Lohan Age: 17 USP: LA mega-model. With her owing hair and rangy physique, the littler Lohan recently signed with Next Model Management.

ELIZABETH OLSEN

ELLE FANNING

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WORDS: AIMEE FARRELL

Sibling: Dakota Fanning Age: 13 USP: Scene stealer. Elle started at age two, initially sitting in as younger versions of characters her sister played. Shes been in 30 projects so far.

SOLANGE KNOWLES

Sibling: Beyonc Age: 25 USP: Neo-soul queen. Currently recording with Pharell Williams, Knowles Jrs indie leanings have won fans from Jeremy Scott to Bjrk.

Siblings: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Age: 22 USP: On-screen supernova. The actors debut, the thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene, set for release in India in February, saw the wide-eyed little star crowned the Sundance Film Festival It girl.