EMERGING ARTIST AWARD 2012 | GIPIN VARGHESE

Gipin Varghese was selected as the recipient for EAA 2012 by a distinguished jury that consisted of art critic and curator Gayatri Sinha, artists Mithu Sen and B.V. Suresh, Chandrika Grover of Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council, and Vidya Shivadas director of FICA. The jury found Gipin Varghese’s works conceptually strong and was particularly impressed by his skillful and poignant use of the miniature tradition.

Through his works Varghese tries to study and understand the dynamics of power. His artworks consist of meticulous explorations of how humans oppress fellow human and non-human beings to protect artificially constructed phenomenon such as power and wealth. He takes inspiration from Indian folk mural traditions to depict these ideas which are based on actual events – such as the Indian government supporting the use of the poisonous pesticide Endosulphan owing to pressure from its manufactures, human rights violations using Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir, farmer suicides in Andhra Pradesh etc. Verghese’s works also explore how we impose human systems and institutions on the plant and animal world by controlling the way they are created and raised.

Verghese has completed his BFA in Painting from University of Kerala, his MFA in Painting from University of Hyderabad and his PhD in Fine Arts from M.G. University, Kerala. His first solo show Surveillance on the Other End of the Spectrum was exhibited at Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2012. He has also participated in group shows at the Soorya Festival in Thiruvanathapuram, All Indian Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS) Gallery in New Delhi and at Sakshi Art Gallery. Verghese is also the author of the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi publication “Kerala Kriasthava Devalayangalile Chuvarchitrangalum Altharachitrangalum,” which is based on the mural tradition in churches in Kerala.