Podcast

In our podcast series 'A Life In Art', we speak to some of the artists we work with, as well as collectors, curators and interesting figures in the industry.

You can access this on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and a number of other providers. Please subscribe, rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. Happy listening...

Angeli Sowani

Contemporary visual artist Angeli Sowani speaks with Grosvenor Gallery director Charles Moore about her early life and career, as well as her recent research into some of the fascinating, forgotten stories of Commonwealth men and women who served in the two World Wars. Angeli has shown several times with Grosvenor Gallery and her current exhibition ‘Together’ runs from 15 – 30 September 2022.

Angeli Sowani’s website

www.angelisowani.com

The Spy Princess, the story of Noor Inayat Khan
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Rithika Pandey

Rithika Pandey is a visual artist from Mumbai. Her paintings draw on the personal, mythological and scientific to navigate the mystical spaces within our culture and technological environments. In her complex and deeply personal paintings, she deals with issues such as hybridity, displacement and femininity. In this episode, we talk about her inspiration, travel and how music is integral to her work.

Her exhibition, 'Only What Is, Never Another' runs at Grosvenor Gallery in London from 7- 29 April 2022.

We're also showing a selection of Rithika's works on paper in an online viewing room, which will run alongside the exhibition. Everything, including the paper works, are at the gallery.

Link to Rithika's exhibition: 'Only What Is, Never Another'
Link to the online Viewing Room of Rithika's works on paper (live from 1 April 2022)

Related Links:
'Hawala' at Paradise Row (curated by Shezad Dawood)
'Body en Thrall' (curated by Marcelle Joseph and Sarah Holdaway)
'Bloomdido', Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie
Rithika's website
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Steve McCurry & William Dalrymple

We are very excited to announce a special bonus episode of A Life in Art, in which William Dalrymple is interviewed by the legendary photographer Steve McCurry. The pair discuss a wide range of subjects, from their first visits India, how they met, to their work in Afghanistan and the photography of Julia Margaret Cameron. Steve also selects and his favourite images from William's exhibition, which is on display at the gallery until the 30th July 2021.

Throughout his career, McCurry has produced some of the most iconic and recognisable photographs of recent times. His work spans conflicts, vanishing cultures, ancient traditions and contemporary culture alike - yet always retains the human element that made his celebrated photograph of the Afghan Girl, such a powerful image. In 2004, McCurry founded ImagineAsia, a non-profit organisation to help provide educational resources and opportunities to children and young adults in Afghanistan. Image of McCurry taken by Bruno Barbey.

The Traveller's Eye: Photographs by William Dalrymple, runs at the gallery from the 1st - 30th July 2021. To purchase works from the show please visit the exhibition page above, or contact us at the gallery: art@grosvenorgallery.com.
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William Dalrymple

In this episode we talk to William Dalrymple about his love of photography and his upcoming exhibition at Grosvenor Gallery, The Traveller’s Eye, taking place from the 1st to the 30th July 2021. We discuss his artistic heroes, his technique as well as experiences from his recent research trips.

The Traveller’s Eye is a visual diary of black and white photographs, shot over the last couple of years by William during his travels and research trips for his 2019 book The Anarchy and his forthcoming book The Golden Road. William has followed the footsteps of the central characters in his books which has led him to travel extensively throughout the Indian subcontinent, modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
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Mark Shields

Mark Shields is a contemporary painter from Northern Ireland whose work is mystical and enigmatic. Mark has been working with Grosvenor Gallery since 1997, and his monumental 2011 painting 'A Great Gulf Fixed' is the subject of a special exhibition at the Gallery running from 19 March - 12 April 2021. In this episode we speak to Mark about the painting, with contributions from independent curator Feargal O'Malley.

We discuss Mark's artistic process, as well as the treasure trove of references he makes in his paintings. For details of his previous shows with the gallery see his entry of artist's page of our website.
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Zimbiri

Zimbiri is a visual artist, born and raised in Bhutan. She currently works with traditional Bhutanese materials; ‘sa-tschen’ (earth paint) and ‘rhay-shing’ (hand-woven canvas). Her first exhibition ‘Faces', was held in 2015 and was the first female solo-exhibition ever held in Bhutan. The paintings in that show were variations of the three eyed ‘Mahayana Mask’, illustrating the metaphoric masks we wear and how we use them as a means of protection. Her recent work is a series of paintings that explore traditional Bhutanese techniques and imagery.

Zimbiri’s first solo-show at Grosvenor Gallery runs from the 30 October - 20 November 2020. The exhibition features work from her ‘Tiger’ series, which she elaborates on in this episode. The show coincides with the East Asian element of Asian Art in London, which runs from 30 October – 6 November 2020.

You can follow the artist on Instagram, @zimbiri91, as well as follow @asianartinlondon.
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Olivia Fraser is a contemporary British artist, who for the last 30 years has lived in India. Olivia has immersed herself in Indian culture, seeking not just to paint Indian scenes, but to fully understand and appreciate the myriad of ways of seeing in this vast country, creating a hybrid aesthetic of East and West. In 2005 she studied traditional miniature painting in Jaipur, which transformed the way she worked and looked at the world around her.

In this episode we talk about her inspirations, as well as the lasting impression the work of her ancestor, James Bailley Fraser, has left on her. Olivia shares the range of sources she draws on in her work, and also ‘decodes’ one of her paintings for us, helping to reveal its secrets.

In 2019 Harper Collins published a book on her work, titled ‘A Journey Within’. This features nearly all the works painted by Olivia in the last thirty years. Copies of this are available from the gallery.

An exhibition of Olivia’s paintings will take place at Grosvenor Gallery in August 2020. Please check our website, or email art@grosvenorgallery.com to receive details.
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In this episode we speak to the internationally renowned artist Faiza Butt. We discuss the influences behind her stunningly detailed works, as well as issues that have been thrown up by the Coronavirus crisis. We talk about her ceramic work, a medium Faiza has a strong affiliation with, as well as the techniques used in her paintings, and how her experiences at the Slade School of Fine Art changed her practice. We also discuss how life in London and the experiences of her children, bleed into her work.

Faiza also decodes the visuals used in her new works, which are partly based on childhood memories of bucolic gardens and fruit farms in Pakistan. These works are on display at Grosvenor Gallery as part of 'Form & Figure: Bodies of Art' from 11 - 26 June 2020, and can also be seen on our website.
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British painter Elisabeth Deane's love of Indian miniature painting was born from a trip to Shantiniketan in West Bengal in 2011. Inspired by the work of polymath Rabindranath Tagore, she went on to study under Rajasthani masters, and later at the Prince's School of Traditional Arts in London. Her work is a mix of rigid geometry and flowing figurative work, drawing from sources as varied as Persian and Indian miniatures and folklore to Islamic geometry. Her first solo-show, 'Rhythmic Measures', was held at Grosvenor Gallery in December 2019.
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Wardha Shabbir is a visual artist based in Lahore, Pakistan. A graduate of the National College of Art in Lahore, Wardha employs traditional miniature painting techniques, producing paintings and sculpture in a style she describes as 'Organic Geometry'.

In October 2019 we held her first UK solo-show at the gallery, 'In A Free State', and recently displayed new work by her in our exhibition 'Aspects of Geometry'. Images of the installation at the Jameel Art Centre, Dubai, can been seen by following the link.

In this episode we speak about how she started her career, her experiences with the 2018 Jameel Prize, and how becoming a mother has changed her practice - amongst other things..!