Bonhams introduces 'The Trailblazers'
Co-led by Priya Singh, Specialist in Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art, and Shreya Ajmani, Editorial Contributor at Art She Says, Mash, and Communications & Social Media Manager at Mumbai Gallery Weekend.
Bonhams
New Bond Street, London
'The Trailblazers' aims to be an ongoing collaboration that brings together contemporary artists alongside household names.
The objective is to give artists access to the global art market by often presenting them with their inaugural auction appearances and simultaneously offering collectors the opportunity to discover contemporary art they may not have previously encountered within the auction sphere. Through personalized interviews and essays, the initiative strives to provide each participating artist with the ability to weave a cohesive narrative of their distinct perspective and practise.
The inaugural edition featured Namrata Arjun and Sanié Bokhari.
Edition one of 'The Trailblazers' took place from February 20 - March 6, 2023.
Namrata Arjun
Namrata Arjun is an artist based in Chennai, India. Her work breaks through the conventional bounds of oil painting and transcends traditional paradigms. Arjun's academic acuity informs her practice as she challenges the historical norms of composition and strives to upend the logic of her forebears. Drawing inspiration from her resistance to painting, she reflects on the ontological systems deeply ingrained in our everyday decision-making. Arjun's practice integrates a counterpoint in her documentation of memories. Her approach entrusts her subjects with autonomy, thus preventing their subsumption to a singular viewpoint. In '(un)making (liquid) memory,' she delves into the idea of the body as a somatic field through oil painting, deconstructing and augmenting its very nature.
Sanié Bokhari
Sanié Bokhari is an artist based in New York City. Her work is a testament to the intricate melding of her multifaceted identity, coalescing the concealed and articulated aspects of her being. While initially drawn to realism, Bokhari's artistic instincts soon led her to infuse surreal elements into her practice. Her predilection lies with palettes that convey symbolic weight using a finite range of pigments. Bokhari exhibited artistic virtuosity from a young age and pursued a Master of Fine Arts at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Through her work, 'the cough bomber's return,' Bokhari provides viewers with the agency to survey the world as she sees and hears it.
February 20, 2023
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