Goutam Ghosh
weight of a Kite
7 October – 16 December 2023
Siegfried Contemporary is thrilled to announce Goutam Ghosh’ first solo show in the UK.
Goutam Ghosh was born in Nabadwip, India in 1979. He lives and works between Jharkhand, Bhuj and Kolkata, India, or wherever he may be in the desert.
His discipline translates influences from geology, mathematics, philosophy, and religion into painting and moving image. His process is invested in both the rational and alchemical, or magical, exchange of material and knowledge, and the transformative possibilities found in non-representational painting.
For the exhibition “weight of a Kite” the artist proposes a multi-disciplinary installation comprising paintings, sculpture, and moving image. The core theme is to celebrate the kite and its material narrative in interaction with the environment.
“The flying kites in the sky will cast the weather reports - This time Meteorology Department at the edge of the cotton field has set its rooftop with no umbrellas and antennas. Instead, young kite flyers from the region have been hired for the job. They had been seen crowding around the office hours and threading kites from the rooftop. The work as a kite operator is not a lot. Nevertheless, if there is sudden turbulence, they hold the thread the entire day, gazing up every now and then, giving directions as per the changing hour wind. Above a few meters distance these thin flowing strings disappear against the sky that has the appearance of a deep blue ocean only to find it back, tied to a shaky dotted spot at the far distance. What is the weight of a kite? You mean the kite alone or the distance travelled by the string tied together?
Then it is the mood of the wind that takes over the thread as it bends and swirls. It makes the thin thread heavy and unbearable, one is supposed to know the point, to cut the wind and pass through. There are no graphs that tell the exit point of the turbulence. All we have is a thin line connecting us to the ‘shaky fate' at a distance. By constantly spooling and unspooling - at some point it appears possible to cross the hazard and ensure smooth sail.
Just before dusk when the kite is brought down to the edge of the horizon bush, it has traded its colours for patches travelling under the burning sun and moisture cloud. These kites, collected from the field and brought to the table have carried different types of marks of their travels; spots and patches and bruises on the plane of it. After a close look and careful measure of the plane, it is possible to assess the events coming up in the sky, like predicting thunderstorms, sunny days, and passing clouds from the marks on it. These rows of events with the passing time have emerged into a new calendar - A calendar that is scribbled and doodled in organic abstract shapes, opening the possibilities for transformation into phonetic notes.
Down on the floor, things look rather arbitrary-there is a big hall where they sit together at a distance, scattered instruments and few tools are on the desk attended by various positions and minds. Some are leaning over the topological markings and patterns, others siting with closed hands making predictions based on lines on the mount. On the right-side corner, the lady with headphones is busy listening to phonetic notes from magnetic resonance. At an auspicious moment of the day these notes, accompanied by instruments become music for broad-casting.”
Goutam Ghosh, August 2023
Pleasure with Angshuman Phukan & Knut Aukland.
Goutam Ghosh has had recent solo exhibitions at Kunsthaus Hamburg; Standard Oslo; and Project 88, Mumbai. His work has been included in notable two-person and group exhibitions at Kunstverein Freiburg, Germany; David Zwirner Gallery, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; The Drawing Room, London; Renaissance Society, Chicago. Ghosh is a current fellow of the Visual Arts at Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart.