Pushpamala N, Indian photo-, video- and installation-performance artist, writer and curator, will discuss recent photographic projects, ‘Avega: The Passion’ and ‘Return of Phantom Lady’, followed by a screening of ‘Paris Autumn’ (35 mins).
The evening will be chaired by Rosie Thomas, Director of CREAM and Co-Director of the India Media Centre.
From 1996 to 1998 Pushpamala created Phantom Lady or Kismet, the artist’s first “photo-performance” work comprised of 25 black-and-white prints. Billed as a Photo Romance and shot in the film noir style, the thriller starred Pushpamala as not only the Phantom Lady but also her doppelganger, the lost twin sister The Vamp. The work acquired a cult status and has been exhibited all over the world, prompting the artist to create its sequel. In The Return of the Phantom Lady (Sinful City), a set of 21 colour photographs, The Phantom Lady gets caught again in a dark web of murder, intrigue and foul play in contemporary Mumbai. Shot in seductively rich colours in various cinematic sites of the city, the work has been exhibited at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore and elsewhere.
Pushpamala N. (born 1956 in Bangalore) is one of India’s most acclaimed contemporary artists and lives and works in Bangalore and Delhi. She uses women’s stories and women’s material as a device to explore history, memory and contemporary society. Her work has been shown at numerous international exhibitions, museums and biennials, including Photo-Espana (2012), Centre Pompidou (2011), Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (2010), Tate Modern London ( 2006), Saatchi and Saatchi, London (2010), National Portrait Gallery, Canberra (2011), Mori Art Museum Tokyo (2008), USA, China and Brazil. Her work is part of major collections in UK, USA, France, Australia and India.