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Suchitra Mattai: Osmosis: In the face of the sea: KAVI GUPTA | ELIZABETH ST. FL. 2

Past exhibition
15 April - 13 May 2023
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Overview
Suchitra Mattai, quicksand, 2023. Vintage saris, fabric, ghungroo bells, vintage bed posts, and trim, 96 x 102 in.
Suchitra Mattai, quicksand, 2023. Vintage saris, fabric, ghungroo bells, vintage bed posts, and trim, 96 x 102 in.

“Osmosis relates in a way to the flexibility of storytelling. As the exhibition evolves, it uses the story of the fishermen as a starting point, but there’s no ending point. It’s about agency, pushing and pulling, ebbing and flowing, and the curiosity of probing what’s revealed, and unearthing what’s concealed.”

 

-Suchitra Mattai

 

Kavi Gupta presents Osmosis: in the face of the sea, an expanded and extended edition of Suchitra Mattai’s groundbreaking solo exhibition Osmosis.


Thinking about the saltwater ocean migrations that have shaped her family’s heritage, Mattai has both a scientific and a poetic interest in osmosis, a process that involves the migration of water molecules from one region to another. In a manner of speaking, osmosis is about equilibrium, or the transferral of something to achieve a new balance. Salt is an osmotic trigger; throughout the exhibition, Mattai employs salt as both a sculptural medium and a chemical instigator of aesthetic transformation.  


Mattai’s expressions of transference and balance relate to the layering of new stories and cultural traditions atop those that already exist. Conceived as an exhibition that would evolve in order to allow a living examination of its theme, this second manifestation of Osmosis introduces multiple new works, including three new large-scale wall tapestries woven from vintage saris.


intrepid garden, the largest of the three new tapestries, is an abstracted landscape reminiscent of an untamed wilderness. Alcoves cleaved in the matting hold white sculptures aloft in the negative space, like enchanted portals into a hidden world ruled by mysterious icons. Evoking colonial-era, European pastoral figures, some of the sculptures are found objects; others were cast by Mattai; and several are made out of salt.

 

Suchitra Mattai, intrepid garden, 2023. Vintage saris, fabric, vintage objects made of salt, cast objects made of salt, porcelain objects, vintage shelves, 120 x 168 in.

 

“The niches are spaces of fantasy and new folklore, like portals into a past and into a future,” says Mattai. “The garden is a space for rebirth.”


quicksand, a fiery red tapestry suspended between two found wooden bed posts, depicts a liquescent universe where everything is falling into the middle. The central figure is being inundated; devoured; pulled into the hole and amalgamated. This imagery speaks to Mattai’s disorienting experience of living between two cultures, as a Guyana-born woman descended from Indo-Caribbean indentured servants and now living and working as an artist in the United States.


“It’s this disembodied feeling, like the ground between your feet isn’t always stable,” Mattai says.


girl beast suspended in time is perhaps the most intimate of the new works, in scale and subject matter alike. Laser beams shoot from behind the veil of a shadowy figure in the center of the work. Crouched as if in hiding, or maybe about to pounce, this seemingly mystical creature first appeared in Mattai’s girl beast (2022) as an embroidered interloper bounding through a vintage European needlepoint. A stand-in for the “other,” the excluded, or the people who do not fit in, the girl beast’s laser sight is her special power—the acute perspective of someone observing from the margins.

 

 Suchitra Mattai, Osmosis, 2022. Salt, fabric, cords, wood, dimensions variable.

 

As in the original manifestation of the exhibition, the central work in Osmosis: in the face of the sea is a large-scale sculpture of a temple ruin made from salt. The form appears to be emerging from the floor. Its glistening, encrusted form recalls a story of seafarers off the coast of ​​Mahabalipuram who witnessed the appearance of such ruins when the waters temporarily receded from shore prior to a tsunami. When the sea rushed back in, the ruins disappeared. They exist now only in the seafarers’ memories and the stories they tell. Recalling the architecture of a Hindu temple, the temple ruin is positioned in the part of the gallery where the garbha griha, or most sacred space, would be.

 

“Osmosis relates in a way to the flexibility of storytelling,” Mattai says. “As the exhibition evolves, it uses the story of the fishermen as a starting point, but there’s no ending point. It’s about agency, pushing and pulling, ebbing and flowing, and the curiosity of probing what’s revealed, and unearthing what’s concealed.”

 


Recent exhibitions featuring Mattai include Forecast Form, MCA Chicago, IL, USA; In the Adjacent Possible, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI, USA; Reorient, Wing Luke Museum, Seattle, WA, USA; Suchitra Mattai: Breathing Room, Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID, USA; State of the Art 2020, Crystal Bridges Museum/the Momentary, Bentonville, AR, USA; Sharjah Biennial 14, Sharjah, UAE; and Realms of Refuge, Kavi Gupta, Chicago, IL, USA. Mattai has additionally shown at the Green Foundation, Miami, FL, USA; Colorado Fine Arts Center, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, USA; Center for Visual Arts, Metropolitan State University of Denver, CO, USA; and San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX, USA. Her work is in the collections of Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, Bentonville, AR, USA; Jorge Pérez; Olivia Walton; Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, USA; Kiran Nader Museum of Art, Delhi, India; Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL, USA; TIA Collection, Santa Fe, NM, USA; and Taylor Art Collection, Denver, CO, USA; among many others. She has been reviewed in publications such as Hyperallergic, The Boston Globe, Widewalls, and Wallpaper Magazine. Mattai received an MFA in painting and drawing and an MA in South Asian art from the University of Pennsylvania, PA.

 

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Works
  • Suchitra Mattai quicksand, 2023 vintage saris, fabric, ghungroo bells, vintage bed posts, and trim 96 x 102 in 243.8 x 259.1 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    quicksand, 2023
    vintage saris, fabric, ghungroo bells, vintage bed posts, and trim
    96 x 102 in
    243.8 x 259.1 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai circular thinking, 2022 Vintage saris 97 x 97 in 246.4 x 246.4 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    circular thinking, 2022
    Vintage saris
    97 x 97 in
    246.4 x 246.4 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai intrepid garden, 2023 vintage saris, fabric, vintage objects made of salt, cast objects made of salt, porcelain objects, vintage shelves 120 x 168 in 304.8 x 426.7 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    intrepid garden, 2023
    vintage saris, fabric, vintage objects made of salt, cast objects made of salt, porcelain objects, vintage shelves
    120 x 168 in
    304.8 x 426.7 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai love, labor, and the pursuit of happiness, 2022 Vintage saris, my Mother's sari, ghungroo bells, clothes pins, and fabric 70 x 72 in 177.8 x 182.9 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    love, labor, and the pursuit of happiness, 2022
    Vintage saris, my Mother's sari, ghungroo bells, clothes pins, and fabric
    70 x 72 in
    177.8 x 182.9 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai the flame turned blue, 2022 Vintage saris, jute, fabric, and boas 60 x 42 in 152.4 x 106.7 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    the flame turned blue, 2022
    Vintage saris, jute, fabric, and boas
    60 x 42 in
    152.4 x 106.7 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai alien, 2022 Acrylic, gouache, fabric, beads, trim, appliqués, tassels and fringe 70 x 50 in 177.8 x 127 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    alien, 2022
    Acrylic, gouache, fabric, beads, trim, appliqués, tassels and fringe
    70 x 50 in
    177.8 x 127 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai superpowers, 2022 Embroidery floss, ghungroo bells, acrylic and fringe. 58 x 62 in 147.3 x 157.5 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    superpowers, 2022
    Embroidery floss, ghungroo bells, acrylic and fringe.
    58 x 62 in
    147.3 x 157.5 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai a ballad for her, 2022 Embroidery floss, a family heirloom sari, fringe, trim, bedposts, and a 3D printed yakshi sculpture 80 x 60 in 203.2 x 152.4 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    a ballad for her, 2022
    Embroidery floss, a family heirloom sari, fringe, trim, bedposts, and a 3D printed yakshi sculpture
    80 x 60 in
    203.2 x 152.4 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai kala pani (black water), 2023 gouache, book pages, faux gems, trim, and vintage needlepoint 12 x 12 in 30.5 x 30.5 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    kala pani (black water), 2023
    gouache, book pages, faux gems, trim, and vintage needlepoint
    12 x 12 in
    30.5 x 30.5 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai girl beast, 2022 Embroidery floss on vintage needlepoint 20 x 16 in 50.8 x 40.6 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    girl beast, 2022
    Embroidery floss on vintage needlepoint
    20 x 16 in
    50.8 x 40.6 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai bus stop, 2023 gouache and book pages 12 x 12 in 30.5 x 30.5 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    bus stop, 2023
    gouache and book pages
    12 x 12 in
    30.5 x 30.5 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai, a shadow, a kiss, 2022
    Suchitra Mattai, a shadow, a kiss, 2022
  • Suchitra Mattai a shadow, a doubt, 2022 Gouache and vintage book pages on wood cradle board 16 x 16 in 40.6 x 40.6 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    a shadow, a doubt, 2022
    Gouache and vintage book pages on wood cradle board
    16 x 16 in
    40.6 x 40.6 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai Untitled (Site Specific Installation), 2022
    Suchitra Mattai
    Untitled (Site Specific Installation), 2022
  • Suchitra Mattai Untitled, 2022 Gouache and vintage book pages on wood cradle board 16 x 16 in 40.6 x 40.6 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    Untitled, 2022
    Gouache and vintage book pages on wood cradle board
    16 x 16 in
    40.6 x 40.6 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai artist at rest, 2022 Gouache, water color, and book page from Owen Jones' "The Grammar of Ornament" 12 x 16 in 30.5 x 40.6 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    artist at rest, 2022
    Gouache, water color, and book page from Owen Jones' "The Grammar of Ornament"
    12 x 16 in
    30.5 x 40.6 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai a story, a heart ache, 2022 Gouache and a book page from the "Grammar of Ornament" on wood cradleboard 16 x 16 in 40.6 x 40.6 cm
    Suchitra Mattai
    a story, a heart ache, 2022
    Gouache and a book page from the "Grammar of Ornament" on wood cradleboard
    16 x 16 in
    40.6 x 40.6 cm
  • Suchitra Mattai Osmosis, 2022 Salt, fabric, cords, wood Dimensions variable
    Suchitra Mattai
    Osmosis, 2022
    Salt, fabric, cords, wood
    Dimensions variable
Installation Views
  • Image 20230414 131723 279
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  • Image 20230414 131721 534
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  • Image 20230414 131722 925
  • Image 20230414 131722 351
  • Image 20230414 131725 460
  • Image 20230414 131724 082
  • Image 20230414 131724 469
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Press
  • Image courtesy of the artist and Kavi Gupta.

    Suchitra Mattai in EXPO CHICAGO 2023: Build Community, Celebrate Diversity

    Jan Garden Castro, White Hot Magazine , April 24, 2023
  • Esmaa Mohamoud, A Seat Above the Table (Warren Moon), 2019, found rattan peacock chair, rattan, paint, tape, plastic, adhesive, nails, 290 × 66 × 66 cm. Courtesy of the artist.

    Kavi Gupta: The Best Shows to See in Chicago Right Now

    Lisa Yin Zhang, FRIEZE, April 13, 2023
Events
  • EXPO Chicago 2023

    EXPO Chicago 2023

    13 - 16 Apr 2023
    VIP : Thursday, April 13 | 12 PM–9 PM PUBLIC : Friday, April 14 | 11 AM–7 PM Saturday, April 15 | 11 AM–7 PM Sunday, April 16 | 11 AM–6 PM Kavi Gupta welcomes the return of EXPO CHICAGO. A pivotal international platform for contemporary art, EXPO CHICAGO is crucial to our gallery’s mission to amplify voices of diverse and underrepresented artists to expand the canon of art history. Our 2023 presentation will include works from James Little, the breakout star of the 2022 Whitney Biennial. With more than...
    Read more
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