Shelly Bahl Artist and Curator

From New York to Delhi to Toronto, Shelly Bahl's art has been featured around the world. Her work presents a juxtaposition of modern versus contemporary imagery, particularly of women. As interesting as her imagery is her canvas: from acrylic and video to dupattas and paper towels. Since she graduated from New York University with an M.A. in Studio Art, Shelly has not only participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, but has also taken turns as a programmer, teacher, lecturer and writer of art. Today, Shelly is a curator at the Art Gallery of Ontario and is coordinating the upcoming Private Thougths, Public Moments Exhibit. MyBindi.com is collaborating with SAVAC and the AGO on this initiative.

Fresh Paint

Most recently, Shelly participated in a group exhibition by Zen-Mix 2000 at the Meg Gallery entitled Fresh Paint. One of Shelly's pieces (Untitled) is a collage of modern and ancient images: An Indian pageant winner (who bears a striking resemblance to Lara Datta) stands at the forefront, behind her is an ancient dancing girl and a Hindu temple. The colours are bright and saturated and the lines have a comic book quality. Explains Shelly, "Within my art practice I have been exploring the history and exotification of Indian art and culture, and much of my work is informed by postcolonial cultural theory and popular/media culture studies." .

Also part of Fresh Paint were Asian artists Aries Cheung and Takashi Okamoto. Aries' work focuses on human figures, "some provacative, others sensual and meditative." Cheung uses vibrant reds and blacks to symbolize life, death and sexuality. Okamoto's work reflects our current digitial revolution. His use of digital prints on canvas emulates traditional paintings.


Cultural Mass Production

Shelly's piece, Take Away (ink on wallpaper, wood, glass and ink on paper) was recently featured at the Baum Gallery of Fine Art in Arkansas. This installation "aims to create a small domestic environment within the art institution, that plays with notions of home décor, exotic motifs and cultural appropriation. In the work, I bring together mass-produced household items and South Asian cultural imagery. This installation explores the current public fascination with Indian Chic in fashion and popular culture, as well as the glorifiation of ethnic consumerism." As a part of the exhibit, gallery visitors are encouraged to participate in this consumerism by taking away motif printed napkins displayed on a tea table.