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Art Exhibition

Michelle Poonawalla’s artworks to be displayed at Monalisa Kalagram, Pune

Michelle Poonawalla is delighted to announce she will be showcasing Cosmos and Water Reflections as a part of Contemporary Signatures at Monalisa Kalagram, launching 19 November. Curated by Sapna Kar and Rajneeta Kewalramani, the Co-Founders of TheCurators.art, the exhibition features a collection of 101 artworks by 50 contemporary Indian artists. Alongside Michelle Poonawalla, the exhibition includes work by Krishen Khanna, Jayasri Burman and Ram Kumar amongst others.

Contemporary Signatures focuses on artists’ signature styles and celebrates artists that are known for recurring features and motifs. Touted as Pune’s largest exhibition after many years Contemporary Signatures will be on display at Monalisa Kalagram, in Koregaon Park from the 19th to 24th November.

Poonawalla is known for her practice which includes her signature motif of a butterfly, intended to be a symbol of freedom, fragility and the metamorphoses of life. This motif has been recurring throughout her career. For the upcoming exhibition Poonawalla will be presenting two mixed media on canvas works including, Cosmos which has been inspired by street art and graffiti. Whilst taking Poonawalla’s traditional motif, the work brings a new urban element incorporating bold colours and flowing patterns as groups of butterflies swarm together. Her second work Water Reflections depicts butterflies dancing over a pool of water. The abstract work features 3D butterflies and offers a poetic but bold image, highlighting the blues and whites of a turbulent body of water. The work creates a dramatic visual language incorporating sculptural features and a sense of dynamism.

“I am delighted to be able to show ‘Cosmos’ and ‘Water Reflections’ alongside leading artists in the country. so for me ‘Contemporary Signatures’ is a great opportunity for as many people of Pune can view my work. It is also great to be showing work in Pune in my hometown after a long time.” Michelle Poonawalla

About the Artist

Michelle Poonawalla is an artist who lives and works between London, UK, and Pune, India. Poonawalla’s works explore universal, socially engaged topics that resonate with a diverse range of audiences, creating powerful memories and moving experiences. Her practice combines cutting-edge technology and traditional artistic mediums in an emotionally charged and poetic form; often utilizing sound, video mapping, projection, motion sensors and other techniques to bring her innovative paintings and installations to life.

Her seminal piece, Introspection (2018), is a striking, immersive experiential artwork which leaves many viewers moved and affected, whilst inspiring them to take action in their own lives. The work has been exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery, London (as part of START, September 2019); Alserkal Avenue, Dubai (Dubai Art Week, March 2019); and as a collateral project at the Kochi Biennale, India (Kochi-Muziris Biennale, 2018).

Poonawalla has begun exploring work with shorter digital format films. Her 3min 36 second film Circle of Life addresses the idea of memory and is exhibited at the 7th Mediations Biennale in Poland. Other digital works can be seen on SedtionArt.com and at the World Art Dubai, 2020.

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