Rina Banerjee
Fury of the fringe, largely restless, faint and fragile at every start, it's first breath, jumpy and punctured as you see to let it be by way of watching fires grow, keep the wildness of our heart.. 2015 Mixed media 109,7 x 45,7 x 70 cm
Rina Banerjee was born in Calcutta, and studied at the Yale School of Art, graduating from the institution with Master’s degree in painting and printmaking in 1995. Before turning to art, Banerjee received her Bachelor’s degree in polymer engineering at the Case Institute of Technology, Case Western Reserve University, in 1993. Banerjee’s multicultural environs are reflected in her art, which is based on, and critiques a variety of influences. Nostalgia for her home country is evident in the artist’s work, with symbols from India, like the Taj Mahal being used at frequent junctures.
Moving with ease between drawing, installation art and sculpture, the artist still chooses to keep the core of her artistic practice the same. Banerjee uses everyday mundane objects, cleverly transforming them into objects of art with the introduction of decorative elements. Her large installations are replete with multiple layers of meaning; while their varied components have different connotations of their own, together, they give rise to an entirely different set of allusions. Plastic sheets, feathers, wires and ribbons are frequently used in her work. Using decoration as a means of alienation, the artist invokes surprise and interest in her viewers. Banerjee’s use of objects from different cultures also offers her work a global appeal.
Some of Banerjee’s solo exhibitions include ‘Dhiel & Project’ at Roger Hass Gallery, Moscow; ‘Project Look Book’ in London; and as show at Thomas Gibson Fine Art Ltd, London, all in 2009; ‘Allure’ at Gallery Espace, New Delhi, in 2008; and ‘Foreign Fruit’ at Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris, in 2006. Banerjee’s work has also been a part of several group exhibitions including ‘Anomalies’ at Rossi & Rossi, London; ‘Wonderland’ at Kade Amersfoort, the Netherlands; ‘Pretty Is As Pretty Does’ at Site Santa Fe Museum Contemporary, all in 2009. She has also participated in ‘Mythologies’ at Haunch of Venison, London, in 2009; and ‘Dessins de la Collection Florence et Daniel Guerlain’ at the Embassy of France, New York, in 2008.
The artist lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Indian, b. 1963, Kolkata, India, based in New York, New York courtesy of nathalieobadia.com, saffronart.com