Gayatri Gamuz
Gayatri Gamuz is an India based artist. She lives on her farm at the foot of the sacred hill of Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai.
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Gayatri’s works, primarily watercolours and oils, draw from the source of oriental abstraction inspired by eastern philosophy as well as from contemporary western minimalism. Her work is based on the philosophical understanding of ‘Oneness’; the ultimate, indivisible reality which manifests in all things. In her words: ‘Through stillness I understand the oneness, and inside this process I paint’. The silence and emptiness in Gayatri’s paintings gently tugs the viewer into the here and the now of the moment.
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About Gayatri
Gayatri Gamuz was born in Spain in 1966.
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In 1989, while still an art student, she travelled for the first time to India.
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In 1992 she started to live and work in India. In the first years she travelled widely and stayed for periods in different places like Dharamshala, Varanasi, Vrindavan, Pushkar, Kerala and Coorg.
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In Kerala, she was involved in the art and cultural movement from the 90’s, a period when the contemporary visual art flourished and Kochi started gaining a place in the art map of the world. She played a key role and took part in the vibrant social and cultural discourse of Kerala: Mayalokam art collective, Kashi Art Cafe, the five annual Tree Festivals and in Encounter, 1st contemporary art festival in Kochi.
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She did a Retrospective of her works in museum ‘Fundación Antonio Perez’ in Cuenca, Spain and a number of solo exhibitions in Kashi Art Gallery in Kochi. She also did solo shows in Embassy of India, Berlin, in Leon Academy, Istanbul, in Centro Civico, Besos Mar, Barcelona, in Stevens Street Gallery, Yandina, Australia and in other galleries in India and abroad.
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Gayatri was in group shows in the London Biennale, in RL Fine Arts, New York, in Nehru Centre and the Noble Sage Gallery in London, in the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, in the Kombank Art Hall in Belgrade and in Mojo Gallery and 1x1 Gallery in Dubai. She participated in a number of curated shows in various galleries in India and was presented in the India Art Summit by Espace Gallery, New Delhi.
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She was a panellist in Art and Ecology discussion in MPCVA, Mumbai. She participated in the “Maestros de la Figuracion’ course in the University of Navarra, Spain, with the maestro Antonio Perez.
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In 2008 Gayatri moved to Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu and started to live together with her family in their organic farm. The new synergy she encountered in her reclusive life close to nature at the foot of the sacred mountain of Arunachala created a pronounced shift in her work. In 2017 her art transited from the figurative to the abstract space of silence.
Solo exhibitions
2023 ‘Oil paintings Exhibition. Kalinka Art Gallery, Pondicherry
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2022 ‘One Breath’ exhibition presented by JM Art Management, Los Angeles
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2020 ‘With my eyes to the sun’ presented at TAP by Threshold Art Gallery, New Delhi
2018 ‘Soy papel’, pencil drawings. Stevens Street Gallery, Yandina, Australia
2014 ‘I am paper’, pencil drawings. Leon Academy, Istanbul
2013 ‘Retrospectiva’, oils on canvas. Museum Fundación Antonio Pérez, Cuenca, Spain
2013 ‘My name is Gayatri Gamuz’, oils on canvas. Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi, India
2012 ‘Bodies and Elements’, oils on canvas. Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi
2009 ‘Of the same matter’, oils on canvas. Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi
2007 ‘In a land without trees’, oils on canvas. Hacienda Gallery, Mumbai
2006 ‘In reverse I tell so you understand me’, oils on Canvas. Centro Cultural CAM, Orihuela, Spain
2004 ‘Tenderness in the middle of the rat race’, acrylic on canvas and ink on paper. Embassy of India, Berlin
2004 ‘The other within’, acrylics on canvas. Centro Civico, Besos Mar, Barcelona
2003 ‘Pachamama celebrates 2053’ Installation with writings, terracotta sculptures, found objects, plastic toys, mirrors,
flowers, fire, in collaboration with Ananda Surya. Mayalokam Art Collective, Kochi
1999 ‘Running Water’, oils on canvas. Draavidia Art Gallery, Kochi
Collective projects
2023 ‘True Blue ‘curated by Supriya Menon, Exhibition House, Pondicherry
2021 Participated in Hangar Residency, Lisbon, Portugal
2020 ‘Lokame Tharavadu’ by the Kochi Biennale Foundation curated by
Bose Krishnamachari, Alappuzha
2018 ‘Miles de brotes’ curated by Elizabeth Ross. International Exhibition
2017 ‘Text as Text’, curated by Shubhalakshmi Shukla, Art and Soul Gallery, Mumbai
2017 ‘Rounding the Square’ Draavidia Gallery, Kochi
2016 ‘Melting Pot’, Gallery Beyond, Mumbai. Sublime Galleria, Bangalore
Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi. Serbian Embassy, London. Nehru Centre, London
Kombank Art Hall, Belgrade
2014 ‘Contemporary Contingencies ‘curated by Kathleen Wyma, OED Gallery, Kochi
2012 ‘Small is Big’ curated by Anoop Kamath. Durbar Hall Art Centre, Kochi
2010 ‘The X Must show’. The Loft at Lower Parel, Mumbai
2010 ‘This Location ‘curated by Binu Bhaskar & Ananda Surya. Mojo Gallery, Dubai
2010 ‘6 person show’. 1x1 Gallery, Dubai
2010 Participated in the annual course, Maestros de la figuracion with Antonio Lopez and Jose Maria Mezquita, in the University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
2009 ‘India Art Summit’ presented by Espace Gallery, New Delhi
2009 ‘Gender Genesis Genetics’, Espace Gallery, New Delhi
2008 ‘Trends and Trivia an Indian Story’ curated by Bhavna Kakar. Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, Hong Kong
2008 ‘Millennium Turks Envisaging Contemporary India’ curated by Bhavna Kakar. Trident Hilton Hotel, New Delhi
2008 Panellist in Art and Ecology Discussion at the Mohile Parikh Centre for Visual Arts (MPCVA), Mumbai
2007 ‘Ten Light Years’, Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi
2007 ‘She, India’ curated by Jana Manuel Pillai. The Noble Sage Gallery, London
2007 ‘Vanity Fair’ curated by Bhavna Kakar. Mon Art Gallery, Calcutta
2007 ‘Instilling Life’ curated by Jasmine Shah Varma. Hacienda Gallery, Mumbai
2007 ‘Does Size Matter?’ curated by Bhavna Kakar. Art Konsult, New Delhi
2007 ‘A Slice of Art from India ‘curated by Jasmine Shah Varma. RL Fine Arts, New York
2006 ‘London Biennale’ curated by Jill Rock. Stables Gallery, London
Socio-cultural activities
2014 Participated in artist camp, Uttharayan Art Centre, Baroda
2009 Volunteers art classes in Marudam Farm School in Tiruvannamalai since 2009
2009 Co- initiates “Yeri Karai”, art and deep ecology ashram in Tiruvannamalai
Constructs kiln for ceramics and directs various art workshops for local children
2008 Panelist in Art and Ecology Discussion at the Mohile Parikh Centre for Visual Arts (MPCVA), Mumbai
2005 Creates with children and adults a 30-meter-long body ‘banner Tree’ for
“Kastanjeboom Houdt Zomersoiree” Chestnut Tree Summer Festival in Nijmegen, Holland
2005 Directs the children workshop “Save the River Peryar” in which was painted a
fifteen-meter banner on the theme of the dying river in Mattancherry, Kochi
2003-05 Co-director of the Lila Studio Gallery in the Mayalokam Art Collective in Bazaar Road, Mattancherry, Kochi
2000-03 Leads weekend workshops for local children on art and crafts, theatre, solar cooking, recycled paper etc. in the Lila Centre in Tiruvannamalai
1999-05 Co-founder and art director for the five Annual Tree Festivals in Fort Cochin participating in various exhibitions and art projects in this period
1998 Women for Nature Art Camp in the Periyar Tiger Reserve organized by the Forest Department of Kerala, India
1997 Directs a workshop on sculpture for children invited by Press Club, Kottayam, Kerala
1997 Directs sculpture workshops in terracotta and traditional kiln construction in three schools in Vellore, Tamil Nadu
Education
2010 Participated in the annual course, Maestros de la figuracion, in the University of Navarra Pamplona, Spain with Maestro Antonio Lopez and Jose Maria Mezquita
1989-91 Studied first and second course in the Escuela de Ceramica de Manises, Spain
1986-88 Studied first and second course in the Fine Art School of Alicante (Escuela de Artes y Oficios de Alicante)
1984-85 Studied first and second course in Social Work in the University of Alicante.