German artist Wolfgang Laib’s show Passageway is spread between two gallery venues — Chemould Prescott Road and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke.
Since 2006 Laib has maintained a studio in Madurai, the third largest city in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and strewn the place with brass thalis, mounds of rice and vibhuti (ash).
What hes showing in India this time is a subtle, marvelous artwork called milkstone, a barely perceptible depression in a white marble slab holding milk. Even at eye level its tough to discern the play of surfaces as they meld into an exquisite organic whiteness.
In the other Laib work at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, a sheer film of pollen, like a window of sunshine, skims the floor.
This work, called Pollen from Pine, will be displayed in the atrium of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in 2013. Catch it in Mumbai first.
Wolfgang Laibs Passageway till January 13 2012
Chemould Prescott Road, Queen’s Mansion, 2/F, G. Talwatkar Marg, Fort; +91 (0)22 22 0002 11/2, www.gallerychemould.com
Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, 2 Sunny House, 16/18 Merewether Road, behind the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Colaba; +91 (0)22 2202 3030, www.galeriems.com
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Tags: Artwork