This week we welcome artist Jaishri Abichandani.
Abichandani was born in Bombay, India, in 1969, and immigrated to New York City in 1984. She founded the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective to create spaces for feminist artistic production. Abichandani has exhibited her work internationally including at MoMA P.S.1, the Queens Museum, the Asia Society, the IVAM in Valencia, House of World Cultures in Berlin, among others.
Abichandani’s work encompasses creating objects, exhibitions and culture. She received her MFA from Goldsmiths College, University of London. Abichandani served as the founding director of public events and projects from 2003-6 at the Queens Museum, where she connected with local communities and organized exhibitions. Abichandani also organized a trilogy of exhibitions to inaugurate the Ford Foundation Gallery in 2019.
“A quest for social justice lies at the heart of my sprawling practice. Deeply inspired by Black, queer, feminist and craft art forms, I make work rooted in love to create equity. As an immigrant, South Asian feminist cultural producer, I have devoted over two decades to developing my studio practice along with creating the support structures necessary for my peers to become visible in the art world. There is a seamlessness to my creative vision as an artist and curator by centering the powerful voices of those on the margins, celebrating our resilience and strength. My art is an extension of and vehicle for my commitment to social change.
The art I produce in the studio synthesizes the aesthetic languages of South Asia with contemporary socio political concerns. Developing whatever technical skills I need to execute the work as I go along, I employ humor and a hand crafted baroque aesthetic of embellishment and ornamentation to seduce viewers into contemplating topical questions of conscience posed by our dysfunctional society.”
Jaishri’s work is currently on view at Welancora Gallery in Brooklyn and will be included in the Spring Break art fair in September. See more of her work here.
