A Room of Her Own by Sundaram Tagore Gallery

A ROOM OF HER OWN

A ROOM OF HER OWN SUNDARAM TAGORE SINGAPORE JANUARY 14 – MARCH 19, 2022

We are pleased to present work by eight pioneering women whose paintings, installations and photography reimagine spaces both real and symbolic. From an immersive large-scale light installation that transforms the surrounding environment to vibrant photographic imagery of staged narratives, this work challenges norms. THE ARTISTS Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha creates immersive large-scale light installations composed of metal lasercut into elaborate patterns. When suspended and lit from within, they cast floor-to-ceiling shadows that allude to the ornamented public spaces Agha was excluded from as a female growing up in Lahore. Agha’s light installations are on view now in the United States at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Texas, and the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Alabama.

The sumptuous, tactile paintings created by Singapore artist Jane Lee are often conceived to engage with the space surrounding them. For Lee, walls are important—not merely as a backdrop or support, but as an activating space carrying subtle energies and possibilities. In 2015, Lee’s work was a highlight of Medium at Large, a yearlong exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum, where her large-scale wall-mounted installation Status was acquired for the museum’s permanent collection. Dhaka-based artist Tayeba Lipi draws inspiration from the artifacts of domestic settings. She re-creates everyday objects typically associated with feminine spaces using stainless-steel razor blades—a reference to a tool commonly used in childbirth and to the violence women often face in Bangladesh. In 2012, Love Bed, an early work from the series, was included in the acclaimed Guggenheim Museum survey of contemporary Southeast Asian art No Country and is now part of the museum’s permanent collection.

During the 2020 lockdown, New York City-based American artist Miya Ando created a calendar of moon drawings based on her observations of the night sky. The drawings inspired a larger body of work, which she produced using the only materials she had on hand: Japanese Kozo paper, pure silver powder and natural indigo. Ando’s work is on view now in the United States at the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C., and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona.

Neha Vedpathak’s tactile paintings made from plucked Japanese paper often emerge from investigations of her physical environment. Growing up in Pune, India, the Detroit-based artist has always been inspired by the natural world, but having lived in several large cities around the U.S. for more than a decade, she has begun to incorporate elements of the urban landscape into her colorful, abstract compositions. Her work is currently in U.S. exhibitions at the Flint Institute of Arts, Michigan, and the National IndoLalla Essaydi is intimately familiar with how Arab women’s American Museum, Chicago. personal histories are interlinked with segregated spaces. Raised in a traditional Muslim household, where men move freely in the One of the most revisited themes throughout American artist public sphere while women are often confined to private realms, Susan Weil’s groundbreaking 70-year career is her exploration the Morocco-born photographer explores how these cultural of space. Weil often fractures the picture plane. She deconstructs constructs inform her views as an artist and as a woman living and reconstructs images, inviting the viewer to contemplate between two worlds. Essaydi’s work is on view now in an exhibition multiple perspectives at once. Her work is in the collections of the at the Hunter Museum of American Art, Tennessee. Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and the J. In her London-based practice, photographer Karen Knorr Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, among others. examines the meaning of place, drawing from ancient myths and allegories to express contemporary ideas. She employs grand A Room of Her Own will be on view during Singapore Art Week, interior spaces of palaces, temples and museums across Asia and Jan 14–23, 2022. Western Europe to frame issues of gender and class structure rooted in cultural heritage. Knorr’s work is on view now at Frac des Pays de la Loire in Carquefou, France, and the Imperial War Museum in London. Left: Tayeba Lipi, Her Stilettos 2, 2019, stainless steel, 9.5 x 7 x 6 inches/24.1 x 17.8 x 15.2 cm 5

MIYA ANDO

Oborozuki Polyptych, 2020, pigment and urethane on aluminum, 48 x 64 inches/122 x 162.6 cm 7

Oborozuki (A Moon Obscured by Clouds) Kakejiku, 2020, pigment and urethane on aluminum, 48 x 16 inches/122 x 40.6 cm 8

2 Full Moon (Jugoya) August 3 2020, 2020, indigo and micronized pure silver on Kozo paper, 39 x 39 inches/99.1 x 99.1 cm 9

6 Tachimachizuki (Stand and Wait for the Moon) August 5 2020, 2020, indigo and micronized pure silver on Kozo paper, 39 x 39 inches/99.1 x 99.1 cm 10

3 Hangetsu (First Quarter) August 25 2020, 2020, indigo and micronized pure silver on Kozo paper, 39 x 39 inches/99.1 x 99.1 cm 11

ANILA QUAYYUM AGHA

Hidden Diamond - Saffron, 2019, laser-cut, lacquered steel, 48 x 48 x 48 inches/122 x 122 x 122 cm 13

Flowers (Mustard Yellow), 2017, mixed media on paper (encaustic mustard yellow flower with gold beading), 30 x 22 inches/76.2 x 55.9 cm 14

Flowers (Dark Red), 2017, mixed media on paper (encaustic dark red circle with dark red beading in center), 30 x 22 inches/76.2 x 55.9 cm 15

LALLA ESSAYDI

Harem Revisited #32, 2012, chromogenic prints mounted to aluminum with a UV protective laminate, 60 x 96 inches/152.4 x 243.8 cm 17

Harem #7, 2009, chromogenic print mounted to aluminum with a UV protective laminate, 60 x 48 inches/152.4 x 122 cm 18

Les Femmes du Maroc: Reclining Odalisque #2, 2008, chromogenic print mounted to aluminum with a UV protective laminate, 30 x 40 inches/76.2 x 101.6 cm 19

KAREN KNORR

The Opium Smoker, Chitrasala, Bundi, 2017, colour pigment print on Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl Paper, 31.5 x 39.4 inches/80 x 100 cm 21

The Queen’s Room, Zanana, Udaipur City Palace, 2010, colour pigment print on Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl Paper, 56 x 72 inches/146 x 183 cm 22

A Faithful Companion, Samode Palace, 2020, colour pigment print on Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl Paper, 31.5 x 39.4 inches/80 x 100 cm 23

A Place Like Amravati 2, Udaipur City Palace, Udaipur, 2011, colour pigment print on Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl Paper, 31.5 x 39.4 inches/80 x 100 cm 24

The Maharaja’s Apartment, Udaipur City Palace, 2010, colour pigment print on Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl Paper, 31.5 x 39.4 inches/80 x 100 cm 25

JANE LEE

I Don’t Know I, 2021, acrylic paint, mixed acrylic medium on fiberglass, 71.3 x 59.1 x 2.36 inches/181 x 150 x 6 cm 27

I Don’t Know II, 2021, acrylic paint, mixed acrylic medium on fiberglass, 71.3 x 59 x 2.4 inches/181 x 150 x 6 cm

TAYEBA LIPI

My Mother’s Dressing Table, 2013, stainless-steel made razor blades, 37.5 x 18.5 x 39 inches/95.3 x 47 x 99.1 cm 31

Her Stilettos 2, 2019, stainless steel, 9.5 x 7 x 6 inches/24.1 x 17.8 x 15.2 cm

Together, 2018, stainless steel, 43 x 57 x 14 inches/109.2 x 144.8 x 35.6 cm 34

The Rack I Remember, 2019, stainless-steel razor blades and stainless steel, 55 x 60 x 18 inches/139.7 x 152.4 x 45.7 cm 35

NEHA VEDPATHAK

Untitled (unfinished), 2019, plucked Japanese handmade paper, acrylic paint, thread, 58 x 52 inches/147.3 x 132.1 cm 37

So many stars in the sky, some of them and some of me, 2018, plucked Japanese handmade paper, acrylic paint, thread, 80 x 80 inches/203.2 x 203.2 cm 38

Human Needs, 2020, plucked Japanese handmade paper, acrylic paint, thread, 30 x 33 inches/76.2 x 83.8 cm 39

SUSAN WEIL

Leafing Blue, 2019, collaboration with José Betancourt, cyanotype on canvas on wood, 82 x 51.25 x 6.25 inches/208.3 x 130.2 x 15.9 cm 41

Swimmers, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 inches/76.2 x 76.2 cm 42

Sitting in Space, 2020, acrylic, linen and charcoal on canvas, 53 x 33 inches/134.6 x 83.8 cm 43

S U N DARAM TAG O R E GAL L E R I E S We have been representing established and emerging artists from around the world since 2000. We show work that is aesthetically and intellectually rigorous, infused with humanism and art historically significant. We specialize in paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations with a strong emphasis on materiality. Our artists cross cultural and national boundaries, synthesizing Western visual language with forms, techniques and philosophies from Asia, the Subcontinent and the Middle East. We show this work alongside important work by overlooked women from the New York School. The gallery also has a robust photography program that includes some of the world’s most noted photographers.

N EW YOR K Chelsea: 542 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001 • tel 212 677 4520 Madison Avenue: 1100 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10028 • tel 212 288 2889 gallery@sundaramtagore.com

SI NGAPOR E 5 Lock Road 01-05, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108933 • tel 65 6694 3378 singapore@sundaramtagore.com

LON DON 4 Cromwell Place, London, SW7 2JE Opening 2022 President and curator: Sundaram Tagore Senior Director, New York: Susan McCaffrey Director, Singapore: Melanie Taylor Director, New York: Kathryn McSweeney Registrar: Julia Occhiogrosso Designer: Russell Whitehead Editorial support: Kieran Doherty

WWW.SU N DARAMTAGOR E.COM Text © 2022 Sundaram Tagore Gallery Photographs © 2022 Sundaram Tagore Gallery All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover: Hidden Diamond - Saffron, 2019, laser-cut, lacquered steel, 48 x 48 x 48 inches/122 x 122 x 122 cm