AMITESH SHRIVASTAVA

Landscapes entangled with bodies evoke familiarity and strangeness at once. In a fundamental way, the enigmatic appearances in Amitesh Shrivastava’s (Khairagarh, India, 1975) paintings are fueled by the artist’s upbringing in the heavily forested state of Chhattisgarh in central India; characterized by his immersion in the natural world and close contact with animals, water, plants, and trees. All of these elements carry their own texture, or Fur, as the artist refers to it. These textures create fleeting sensations which Shrivastava transfers to his canvases in the form of layered brushwork, thick applications of paint, and a chromatic palette that combines blue, ochre and flesh tones. What he feels towards this array of stimuli overcomes any kind of forceful attempt to accurately depict the physical world.

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Shrivastava’s work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions internationally: Gratin, New York (2023); Project 88, Mumbai (2022); Project 88, Mumbai (2020); Project 88, Mumbai (2017); Cona Foundation & Mumbai Art Room, Mumbai (2015); Wechselstrom Gallery, Vienna (2014). Earthly Delights at Villa Magdalena is the artist’s first solo presentation in Spain.