Manik Raj Nakra
WILDLIFE March 13 – May 1, 2021
“Nature is taking back Venice.” “The Himalayas are visible from India for the first time in 30 years.” “In Thailand, tourist-free beaches have lured record numbers of rare turtles to breed.”
Inspired by stories of nature regenerating and reclaiming space during the Covid19 pandemic, W I L D L I F E examines what happens when humanity removes itself from the natural world. The exhibition also introduces a new material for the artist—the ceremonial bindi, worn for centuries on the forehead in Indian culture for spiritual, traditional, and fashion reasons. It can be seen as a third eye creating an opening to infinity or as a symbol of femininity. For the natural world depicted in the paintings, the renewed and rejuvenated flora and fauna are anthropomorphized with hundreds of bindis as wildlife reincarnated with third eyes. The twinkling of the jeweled bindis carry remnants of memory. The severed animal heads from which the new nature grows are depicted upside down to represent self-sabotage and the mistakes of the past. Influenced by the architecture of ancient forts and palaces of Indian Mughals, Iran, Oman, and Pakistan, the paintings are installed in window frames handmade by the artist. The pieces look out onto a world from isolation with new wonder, new honesty, and new beauty. At first, the viewer encounters these windows from the “inside looking out” but with bindis all over functioning as eyes, they equally become the “outside looking in” giving the paintings an existential feel to reflect on these uncertain times and space. Manik Raj Nakra’s work has been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Texas and San Francisco, a member of the 2019 Crit Group program with The Contemporary in Austin, TX, The LINE Residency with Big Medium in 2020, and a client list that includes Converse, The Oxford American, The LINE Hotel, Facebook, Urban Outfitters, amongst others.
Big Medium
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a. A G R A 2020, Oil paint, spray paint, ceremonial bindis on canvas and wood, 86 x 79 in. $6,500
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b. S H I V A 2021, Oil paint, acrylic paint, spray paint, metallic pigment, burlap, glitter, ceremonial bindis on canvas and wood, 74 x 53 in. $5,500
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c. C H O S E N 2020, Oil paint and ceremonial bindis on canvas and wood, 98 x 67 in. $6,500
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d. M O T H 2020, Oil paint, ceremonial bindis, collage on canvas and wood, 98 x 67 in. $6,500 e. D R E A M 2020, Oil paint, acrylic paint, patina-ed gold leaf, ceremonial bindis, collage on canvas and wood, 83 x 71 in. $6,500 f. K I N G O F D E L H I 2021, Watercolor on paper, combination of charcoal, graphite, chalk, oil pastel, gouache on vintage Japanese rice paper, approximately 11.5 x 16 ft. (dimensions variable, see following page fore expanded materials) $350 each
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1-9. Charcoal, chalk
26. Graphite, charcoal, chalk
10. Watercolor on paper
27. Charcoal, graphite, colored pencil
11. Chalk, colored pencil, graphite, charcoal
28. Graphite, gouache
12. Charcoal, graphite, chalk
29. Charcoal, graphite, colored pencil, gouache
13. Graphite, chalk, watercolor 14. Charcoal 15. Watercolor on paper 16. Chalk, graphite, copper leaf, charcol 17. Watercolor on paper 18. Gold leaf, charcoal, graphite, chalk, oil pastel
30. Watercolor on paper 31. Graphite, colored pencil 32. Charcoal, graphite,oil pastel 33. Watercolor on paper 34. Charcoal, graphite, chalk, pigment 35. Charcoal, chalk, graphite, gouache
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36. Watercolor on paper
20. Watercolor, charcoal
37. Graphite
21. Watercolor on paper
38. Watercolor on paper
22. Charcoal, graphite, chalk, xerox
39. Charcoal, graphite, chalk, gouache
23. Charcoal, chalk, ceremonial bindis
40. Graphite, charcoal, gouache
24. Charcoal, ceremonial bindis
41. Graphite, Charcoal, colored pencil
25. Watercolor on paper
Drawings outlined with a solid line are on vintage Japanese rice paper.
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The paintings, drawings, and installations of Manik Raj Nakra take on the possibility of addressing the ancient world as his own. A world of teeming jungles where four headed leopards perch on old world ruins and silver teethed monkeys pray for our salvation. Nakra’s work applies a contemporary lens onto Indian iconography, colonial anachronisms, artifacts from early civilizations, and mythologies of ancient cultures to explore themes such as power, lust, ceremony, and self-sabotage. These themes, handled with wild colors, striking graphics, aged materials, pattern, and stark compositions, illuminate the historically rooted, but contemporarily relevant narratives on the beauty, paranoia, devotion, and revelation of his time and place. His work has been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Texas and San Francisco, a member of the 2019 Crit Group program with The Contemporary in Austin, TX, The LINE Residency with Big Medium in 2020, and a client list that includes Converse, The Oxford American, The LINE Hotel, Facebook, Urban Outfitters, amongst others. manikrajnakra.com
Big Medium
Who We Are Big Medium is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting artists and building community through the arts in Austin and across Texas. We provide opportunities for artists to create, exhibit, and discuss their work and connect to an engaged and diverse audience. We strive to make art a part of everyday life. What We Do Big Medium produces the Austin Studio Tour, EAST and WEST, the Texas Biennial, Creative Standard, and the Big Medium Gallery. We provide additional opportunities for artists through the Tito’s Prize, The LINE Residency, and Thirsty Planet Artist Series. We also provide studio space to artists at Canopy and provide administrative and financial support for loval artists, organizagtions, and projects that align with Big Medium’s mission through our Sponsored Projects program. Join Us Support our local arts community by becoming a member of Big Medium. With memberships starting at just $4.17 a month, or $50 annually, you can help make our 2021 programs possible while enjoying access to exhibition member previews, receive a copy of our 2021 Austin Studio Tour catalog, and more. Visit bigmedium.org/membership to become a member today.
Big Medium is funded in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department. Big Medium is also supported by the Texas Commission on the Arts and by generous contributions from private donors. Further information is available at bigmedium.org or email info@bigmedium.org. 916 Springdale Rd, Bldg 2, #101 Austin, Texas 78702
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