Ranjani Shettar
“OVER THE PAST TWENTY YEARS SHETTAR HAS EVOLVED A DISTINCTIVE, PROCESS-DRIVEN VISUAL LANGUAGE THAT IS ENTIRELY HER OWN. HER SUSPENDED ABSTRACT FORMS TRANSFORM ENDURING MODERNIST PREOCCUPATIONS, THROUGH A PROFOUND SENSITIVITY FOR MATERIALS AND A DEEP EMBODIMENT OF AN ECOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS, ALL EMANATING FROM A LOCAL CONTEXT. IN THEIR ELEGANT QUIETUDE THEY ACHIEVE SOMETHING ASTOUNDING, GENTLY RAISING OUR AWARENESS, TO QUERY HOW IS IT THAT WE ARE CONNECTED SPATIALLY, MATERIALLY, EMOTIONALLY TO THIS WORLD.”
Shanay Jhaveri, Barbican Head of Visual Arts
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Cloud songs on the horizon, the artist’s first major institutional show in Europe, features a series of new, large-scale suspended sculptures across the entirety of the Conservatory’s 23,000 square foot space. A tropical oasis in the heart of London, the Barbican Conservatory is home to a vibrant mix of 1,500 species of plants and trees from across the world. Shettar’s sculptures are each handcrafted by the artist and draw inspiration from the complexity of nature. They employ a range of materials including wood, stainless steel, muslin, lacquer and techniques that have been adapted from traditional Indian crafts.
“RANJANI SHETTAR’S PRACTICE HAS BEEN OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO THE KIRAN NADAR MUSEUM OF ART (KNMA) SINCE WE FIRST ACQUIRED AND INSTALLED HER WORK AT THE MUSEUM IN 2011. WE HAVE BEEN CLOSELY OBSERVING HER ARTISTIC EVOLUTION THAT COMBINES HER RARE SENSITIVITY WITH PATIENT WORKING. THE SITE-INITIATED PROJECT AT THE BARBICAN CONSERVATORY IS WELL ALIGNED WITH OUR COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS AT BRINGING VISIBILITY AND CRITICAL ATTENTION TO THE HUGE TALENT OF INDIAN AND SOUTH ASIAN ARTISTS ACROSS THE GLOBE.”
KIRAN NADAR, FOUNDER - KIRAN NADAR MUSEUM OF ART
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Shettar’s commission, realised in partnership with the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), will be the first public-facing project commissioned by the Barbican’s recently appointed Head of Visual Arts Shanay Jhaveri, initiating an ambitious programme of public art across the Centre’s iconic site which is visited by more than a million visitors each year.
Since taking up his position in October 2022, Jhaveri has focused on bringing his unique vision to the Barbican’s visual arts programme, exploring the interconnections between disciplines, periods, and cultures. Central to this will be inviting contemporary artists from around the world to create new work in response to the Barbican’s unparalleled setting, which is recognised as one of the most significant architectural achievements of the 20th century. Jhaveri’s ambition is to showcase artistic interventions across the Barbican’s public spaces and introduce the most dynamic, invigorating and stimulating art practices to our diverse audiences.
Launching the programme, Shettar’s commission will be free to visit, enhancing public access to the Conservatory with increased visiting hours from September and throughout the installation's run. Special late-night openings every Friday will offer visitors a chance to explore the much-loved tropical oasis after hours and, on a series of forthcoming dates, the space will be open exclusively for community and school groups to enjoy, turning the Conservatory into a living classroom.
Shettar’s commission reflects Jhaveri’s commitment to ensuring the Barbican’s visual arts offer continues to showcase the best artists from around the world, delivering a diverse and international programme across the Barbican Art Gallery, The Curve and beyond.
"My explorations of form, colour and the dynamics between multiple forms within a composition continue here. The Conservatory presentation allowed me to think of scale in a totally different manner and also the relationship between light and surface. As usually my installations have been relatively permeable, to light and sight, here in the new works I have played with large solid surfaces and colour to add a boldness."
Ranjani Shettar
“Ranjani’s installation inaugurates a new Barbican series of site-specific commissions which will allow artists to directly engage with the architecture and public spaces of this modernist icon. With these collaborations, the Barbican is offering itself to the most inspiring artists working today, platforming important, challenging new work for an ever-expanding audience. Their perspective and interventions will not only allow us to continue to grow our own appreciation of our building and legacy but will also crucially guide us in meeting and knowing our present moment – and there could not be a more perfect artist than Ranjani Shettar to start us on our way.”
-Shanay Jhaveri, Barbican Head of Visual Arts
Ranjani Shettar’s works are in many prestigious museum collections and have been the subject of several solo presentations including at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (The MET) (2018), The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC (2019), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia (2011), The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA) (2009), The Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (2008-9) and The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Boston, MA (2008). Ranjani’s works have also been featured in exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), NY; Kiran Nadar Museum, New Delhi; The Art Institute of Chicago, IL; 55th Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, PA; 5th Moscow Biennale; 10th Liverpool Biennial, UK; 9th Lyon Biennial, France; 8th Sharjah Biennial, UAE; 15th Sydney Biennale, Australia; Art Tower Mito, Japan, Artpace, Texas; Cartier Fondation, Paris; Sainsbury Center, UK; Hermes Fondation, Singapore; Wexner Center, OH; The Walker Art Center, MN; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino, Italy and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York. In collaboration with The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York Shettar created a limited-edition project, Varsha and more recently was invited to create a special print for the MET 150, to commemorate The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 150th anniversary.
Ranjani Shettar (b. 1977 Bangalore, India) lives and works in Karnataka, India.
