| THE ŠKODA PRIZE 2011 LONGLIST | |||
| Sr No | Name of Artist | Title of the Exhibition | Venue of the Exhibition |
| 1 | Ashish Avikunthak | Vakratunda Swaha | Chatterjee & Lal, Mumbai |
| 2 | Vishal K Dar | BROWNation | Gallery Espace, New Delhi |
| 3 | Arunkumar H. G. | Tract | Nature Morte, New Delhi |
| 4 | Pooja Iranna | In the Waves and Underneath | Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi |
| 5 | Jitish Kallat | Fieldnotes: Tomorrow was here Yesterday | Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai |
| 6 | Manjunath Kamath | Collective Nouns | Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai |
| 7 | Srikanth Kolari | thereafter… Journeys in Jharia, Kashmir and the Tsunami Coast (Tamil Nadu) | Institute of Contemporary Indian Art, Mumbai |
| 8 | L. N. Tallur | Chromatophobia: The Fear of Money | Nature Morte, New Delhi |
| 9 | Dhruv Malhotra | Noida Soliloquy | Photoink, New Delhi |
| 10 | Madhuban Mitra and Manas Bhattacharya | Through A Lens, Darkly | Photoink, New Delhi |
| 11 | Manish Nai | Extramural | Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai |
| 12 | Prashant Pandey | Shelf-Life | Gallery Maskara, Mumbai |
| 13 | Sumedh Rajendran | Dual Liquid | Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi |
| 14 | RAQS Media Collective (Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula, Shuddhabrata Sengupta) | Capital of Accumulation | Project 88, Mumbai |
| 15 | Sujith S N | Map Is Not the Territory | Latitude 28, New Delhi |
| 16 | Reena Saini Kallat | Labyrinth of Absences | Nature Morte, New Delhi |
| 17 | Paula Sengupta | Rivers of Blood | Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai |
| 18 | Aditi Singh | Let it be a Heaven of Blackred Roses | Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai |
| 19 | Anjali Srinivasan | Of Shifting Natures | Shridharani Art Gallery, New Delhi |
| 20 | Navin Thomas | From the Town’s End… | GALLERYSKE, Bangalore |
New Delhi, 21st September 2011: The ŠKODA Prize for Indian Contemporary Art announced the list of the Top Twenty Best Solo Exhibitions to be held in the country in the last one year. Out of 128 entries received from all across the country, the jury declared the top twenty finalists after much deliberation. The Longlist comprises of 20 contemporary Indian artists at various points of success in their career as well as working in a wide variety of media. It comprises of artists from all across the country; and ranges from artists who have been exhibiting for more than a decade to those who have only just had their debut solo exhibitions. The ŠKODA Prize Top Twenty 2011 catalogue will showcase the best of Indian contemporary art in the year 2010-2011 and will act as a leveler wherein artists who are yet to be famous will share space with India’s most celebrated artists.
With solo shows in London, Berlin, Chicago in 2010 Jitish Kallat, one of India’s most successful artists finds his way into The ŠKODA Prize 2011 Longlist with his solo show “Fieldnotes: Tomorrow was here yesterday” that is currently showing at Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Mumbai. At the same time 27 year old Prashant Pandey‘s debut solo show “Shelf-Life” at Gallery Maskara has found a spot in India’s best twenty. Pandey works with eclectic media: expired chocolate, urine, sweat, sugar, discarded cigarette buds. Navin Thomas who showed at Gallery SKE in Bangalore mixes science and art and 25 year old Dhruv Malhotra who had his debut solo at Photoink in New Delhi experiments with photography by shooting at night with long exposure to arrive at surreal landscapes of Noida. Ashish Avikunthak is the only artist on the list to work solely with film and video, although a number of others use video as part of a cross-media practice. Other celebrated names include L. N. Tallur, Reena Saini Kallat, Arunkumar H. G., RAQS Media Collective, Manjunath Kamath, Vishal K Dar, Sujith S. N, and Sumedh Rajendran. Pooja Iranna who was included in the longlist last year is back this year as well, with another solo show in New Delhi. Manish Nai, a young artist who in particularly interested in textures makes his way into the longlist with “Extramural” at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke in Mumbai. Aditi Singh and Paula Sengupta who has solo shows at Chemould Prescott Road in Mumbai are a part of India’s best twenty shows too. Making up the rest of the list are shows by Anjali Srinivasan and Srikanth Kolari and a collaborative photo project by Madhuban Mitra and Manas Bhattacharya.
The jury panel for the award is chaired by one of India’s most prominent philanthropist and art curator Kiran Nadar. Other Jury members include Pooja Sood, Director of KHOJ International Artists’ Association, Vivan Sundaran a renowned India contemporary artist. In addition to the eminent Indian jury members, renowned curator and director of the Migros Museum in Zurich.
Heike Munder from Switzerland will be a part of the final judging process.
Apart from the Jury Panel, there is also an advisory committee headed by renowned art critic, Girish Shahane. An Independent Writer based out of Mumbai, his articles on art, film and cultural politics have been published in leading newspapers and journals in India and abroad. He writes a fortnightly column for Yahoo! India.
Top 20 shortlisted artists will be featured in the ŠKODA Prize Catalogue and the artworks of the final three artists will be exhibited. The ŠKODA Prize patron Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council will offer a four-week residency each in Switzerland to the two runners-up of the The ŠKODA Prize 2011.
The final winner will be announced in January 2012 and shall be awarded Rs.10,00,000/- apart from earning the prestigious title of The ŠKODA Prize winner for the year 2011-2012.
About The ŠKODA Prize
The ŠKODA Prize is the largest and most prestigious award on the Indian visual arts scene. It recognises cutting-edge work demonstrating vision, innovation, and a mature understanding of material and form. The Prize brings to public notice exciting trends in contemporary art, highlighting the output of established mid-career artists as well as new voices. It is backed by jurors of impeccable credentials, renowned patron institutions, a dedicated group of advisors, and a management team of proven capability. The ŠKODA Prize is Seventy EMG’s Arts Initiative.
To view the entries that made it to the Longlist, fighting tough competition, Click Here.
