Amita Bhatt

"Untitled, " Fiberglass - Figurative Sculpture

2019

This character is from A Fantastic Collision of The Three Worlds XXVIII. Amita Bhatt received her BFA from the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, India and her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland. Bhatt’s work has been exhibited at noteworthy venues such as the Bluestar Contemporary Art Center, Walters Art Museum, The Station Museum of Contemporary Art, and The Project Row Houses, all in the United States as well as Museo Pedro de Osma in Peru. She has also been the recipient of several prestigious awards and recently served as a Grant Panelist on the National Endowment for the Arts. Her works are included in many important private and public collections. Bhatt digs deep into world philosophies and mythologies to answer questions pertaining to our political as well as personal belief systems. Unafraid to explore uncomfortable territories, the artist mines from a range of sources to create hybrid creatures that are often symbolic of man’s psychological condition in an angst-ridden zeitgeist. In exploring issues of identity and violence, Bhatt’s research led her to the beginnings of mankind. Most ancient creation...

This minimalist painting on paper is part of a series, which references a mantra of Bhatt’s, “life is a circus.” Floating in space, the characters portrayed in this work play out their roles, while remaining unaware of the full scope of their surroundings. Amita Bhatt received her BFA from the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, India and her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland. Bhatt’s work has been exhibited at noteworthy venues such as the Bluestar Contemporary Art Center, Walters Art Museum, The Station Museum of Contemporary Art, and The Project Row Houses, all in the United States as well as Museo Pedro de Osma in Peru. She has also been the recipient of several prestigious awards and recently served as a Grant Panelist on the National Endowment for the Arts. Her works are included in many important private and public collections. Bhatt digs deep into world philosophies and mythologies to answer questions pertaining to our political as well as personal belief systems. Unafraid to explore uncomfortable territories, the artist mines from a range of sources to create hybrid creatures that are often symbolic of man’s psychological condition in an angst-ridden zeitgeist. In exploring issues of identity and violence, Bhatt’s research led her to the beginnings of mankind. Most ancient creation...

The artist says of her work... Arrested Symphony is an exhibition incorporating sculptures, reliefs, drawings and hanging works that explore the theme of injustice that is at the roots of the predatory gem and mineral excavation industry. While at a residency in Knoxville, Tennessee, I discovered that Oakridge was only 30 miles away. Oakridge played a key role in the development of the Atom Bomb and the Manhattan Project. I began an exploration and comparison of Uranium and Emeralds. These minerals look very much alike, beautiful but dangerous on their effect on civil conflict. Colombia my birthplace, has the finest Emeralds in the world. The mining of Emeralds was an important element in the continued colonization of the region. Emeralds have helped to fund the more than 60-year conflict which has taken over 450,000 lives and displaced about 5.7 million people. Uranium has brought destruction to a level which altered the future of warfare. The developments made during the Manhattan Project led to the death of about 700,000 people and its effects are still felt around the world. I use Colombia as an example, however this situation is repeating itself in many parts of the world. Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo are all involved in brutal civil conflicts fueled by Blood Diamonds. This project will make visual the human cost extracted with these minerals, once exposed to the light of day they can never be unearthed. My practice is an ongoing object-based exploration through which I create artworks which are organic and improvisational constructions that are infused with hope and renewal. The hand-crafted artworks are poetically and intricately crafted, creating an intimate repository for the individual and collective memory and implement the human body as a symbol and expression of nature, vulnerability and power. The work encourages viewers to reconsider social and historical narratives especially when dealing with the aftermath of Colonialism and raises critical questions about the politics of erasure and exclusion. ESPERANZA CORTÉS is a Colombian born contemporary multidisciplinary artist based in New York City. Cortés has exhibited in the United States in solo and group exhibitions in venues including Smack Mellon Gallery, Neuberger Museum of Art, Bronx Museum of Art, Queens Museum, El Museo Del Barrio, MoMA PS1, Socrates Sculpture Park and White-box Gallery in New York City. Nationally Cortes exhibitions include Cleveland Art Museum, OH, CSU Galleries at Cleveland University, OH, Helen Day Art Center, VT and The Lorenzo Homar...

medium: hand-cut road map Nikki Rosato earned her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2013. Prior to studying at SMFA, Rosato received a Bachelor of Arts deg...