Nandita Raman: On Permanence and Change at Thomas Erben Gallery

Installation view of Rock on Grid, 2012

Archival Inkjet Print mounted behind plexi mirror

On Permanence and Change

July 1 – 25, 2014

Opening reception: Tuesday, July 1, 6-8:30 pm   

Thomas Erben is pleased to present an exhibition of four artists: Barry Gerson, Duy Hoang, Nandita Raman and Giovanna Sarti. Though the practices of these artists are visually and conceptually diverse, the show finds its unity in a selection of works dealing with the relationship between transformation and permanence – how to incorporate continuous change, such as in natural processes, into distinct objects.

Nandita Raman’s photographs are centered around objects – natural and/or man-made – often in a state of slow transformation or accumulation. A mountain face is gradually eroding; a tiny aircraft incrementally makes its way across a vast sky; stacked sheets of paper resemble layers of sediment. Exhibition space and viewer are brought into communication with these brief excerpts of long-term transition through the addition of mirrors, sometimes with images mounted on the back, sometimes placed so as to reflect a photograph into the room. As reflections move and turn, the act of looking is infused into each image, renewing and complicating the subjects at hand.

Nandita Raman (b. 1980, Varanasi, India) received her BA at the University of Delhi in 2008, and her MFA at ICP-Bard in 2012. Her work has been exhibited most notably at the Center for Documentary Studies, NC, and Columbia University. She is a recipient of the Daylight/CDS Project prize (2010) and the Sarai Independent Study Fellowship (2006). Raman's work has been published in Harper’s Magazine, Conveyor Arts and The Sunday Guardian, among others. The artist lives and works in New York and is currently advised by Payal Arts International.

For more information on the show please visit: www.thomaserben.com

To view images by Nandita Raman please visit: http://www.nanditaraman.com