We are pleased to present 20+, an exhibition of painting, sculpture, photography and installations representing more than two decades of gallery history. The exhibition features work by more than 20 gallery artists—some who have been with the us since we opened and others we have partnered with more recently.
When we opened our doors in SoHo 2000, it was with a mission to show that some of the best, most meaningful art was being created by artists deeply engaged in cross-cultural explorations. Founder Sundaram Tagore was committed to carving out a new cultural space that would become home to a global community of artists. It was a natural outgrowth of living in the West but having come from the East. The inter-mingling of cultures became the premise of our programming.
As we settle into our new 7,000-sq.-ft. space on 26th Street in Chelsea and contemplate our next 20 years, we remain firmly committed to diversity in all forms, intercultural dialogue and bringing people together through art.
THE 20+ ARTISTS
Anila Quayyum Agha, Ghiora Aharoni, Miya Ando, Osi Audu, Golnaz Fathi, Denise Green, Karen Knorr, Jane Lee, Tayeba Lipi, Zheng Lu, Hassan Massoudy, Ricardo Mazal, Steve McCurry, Judith Murray, Udo Nöger, Sohan Qadri, Sebastião Salgado, Hiroshi Senju, Neha Vedpathak, Joan Vennum, Lee Waisler, Susan Weil, Robert Yasuda, Chun Kwang Young
EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS
The gallery has a long history of championing women artists, particularly underrepresented and underappreciated women who came of age in the post-war years. The exhibition includes early work by Susan Weil, a key female figure who pushed the boundaries of Abstract Expressionism, whose work is currently on view at Malmö Konstmuseum in Sweden and New York’s Center for Book Arts. Judith Murray, who exhibited early in her career at the historic Betty Parsons Gallery and the Clocktower, New York; PS 1/MoMA, presents new oils on canvas in her signature palette of red, white, yellow and black that she masterfully coaxes into a spectrum of hues. And from Joan Vennum (1930–1921), a talented colorist who produced lush abstracts on canvas evoking atmospheric phenomena, works from 2010.
Among the next generations of women, Anila Quayyum Agha, known for award-winning, large-scale light installations inspired by the ornamented religious paces of her childhood in Lahore, debuts a new wall-mounted light installation. A similar work is on view now at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Detroit-based Indian artist Neha Vedpathak, whose work was the subject of two solo museum shows in 2021, presents a new textured, abstract composition made from plucked Japanese paper. Tehran-based painter Golnaz Fathi presents new canvases incorporating her long practice of reinterpreting Persian calligraphy. From Tayeba Lipi, whose work is in the permanent collection of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, we present arresting sculptures made from razor blades referring to the violence facing women in her native Bangladesh. From American artist Miya Ando, who works across multiple mediums including glass, wood, fabric and paper, we present works on metal. Her glass sculpture is currently on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C.
Another pillar of the gallery’s programming is work by artists who cross cultural and national boundaries, synthesizing Western visual language with forms, techniques and philosophies from Asia, the Subcontinent and the Middle East. Although these artists work in a multitude of mediums, they share a reverence for history, literature and spiritual themes.
Israeli-born American artist Ghiora Aharoni, whose work is on view now at The Textile Museum in Washington D.C., presents elaborate sculptural installations incorporating antiquities and religious artefacts. Nigerian artist Osi Audu, who focuses on the dualism of the tangible and intangible, presents large-scale, mixed-media paintings from a body of work that is part of an ongoing exhibition at the Newark Museum of Art. Beijing artist Zheng Lu, known for his gravity-defying sculptures evoking splashes of water suspended in mid-air, which are in public spaces throughout China, shows a monumental metal wave composed of thousands of interlocked Chinese characters drawn from literary texts. Iraqi artist Hassan Massoudy, whose work was recently on display at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, presents calligraphic works on paper inspired by religious and philosophical texts.
In recent years, the gallery developed a roust photography program representing artists whose deeply held values we share. This exhibition includes works by Magnum photographer Steve McCurry who has travelled the globe chronicling every aspect of humanity in loving detail; Sebastião Salgado, who has just completed a six-year odyssey documenting the unparalleled beauty of the Amazon and its people; and Karen Knorr, whose sumptuous imagery of animals digitally fused into opulent architectural settings considers issues of power and hierarchy rooted in cultural heritage.
ABOUT SUNDARAM TAGORE GALLERY
Sundaram Tagore Gallery has been representing established and emerging artists from around the world since 2000. We chamption 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. The gallery also has a robust photography program that includes some of the world’s most noted photographers. We have locations in Chelsea, on Madison Ave., Singapore and London’s Cromwell Place.
In 2015, the gallery began a program of partnering with museums and cultural organizations to mount exhibitions that further our mission of intercultural dialogue. Projects include Frontiers Reimagined at the Venice Biennale, an exhibition of global art, produced with the Museo Palazzo Grimani and the Italian Ministry of Culture; the photography exhibition The World We Live In at the Ayala Museum in Manila; Sebastiao Salgado: The World Through His Eyes at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre; and Jane Lee: Red States at the Hong Kong Arts Centre.
