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N.N. Rimzon

The Round Ocean and the Living Death

January 28, 2020 - September 30, 2021

N.N. RIMZON - Exhibitions - Talwar Gallery

In Initiating Mortals, 2017  Acrylic on paper  39" diameter

The works in The Round Ocean and the Living Death emerge from Rimzon’s career-long effort to craft an artistic language that speaks with the still, timeless power of India’s centuries-old belief systems and making traditions—and yet speaks to the complexities of Indian life today. In the direct, unadorned markings of his works on paper and canvas, or the quietly evocative forms of his sculptural works, Rimzon creates a deeply meditative space for contemplation—a space not removed from the world, but that offers a slower, more considered, and definitively less polemical take on it. A monumental sculpture, The Round Ocean and the Living Death, similarly deploys a recognizable form: a mother-goddess figure, seated and cross-legged at the center of a circle, still power. Like the gentle, belly-like swell of Secret Body, punctuated by the recess of the navel, the seven-breasted deity figure evokes a quiet yet commanding power—generative as well as protective. Her outstretched blood red palm and eyes seem to hold life, balanced, over a circular abyss. This deity figure appears also in the exhibition’s painting, whose simplicity belies a complex interweaving of multiple perspectives and deeply mysterious iconography—set, like other cosmological drawings, within a circular frame. As in all of Rimzon’s work, these works demand no particular creed or set of knowledge to engage with them. Open-ended and multivalent, they reference a moment before man-made divisions of color, religion, and nationality separated humankind.

"Once again, the artist harnesses the power of spare line and multiple perspectives within a single frame to beguile the viewer.  In bringing together the sacred and the carnal, Rimzon underscores the regenerative energies that such a union could potentially release."

Artforum

N.N. RIMZON - Exhibitions - Talwar Gallery

Secret Body, 2019-2020  Fiberglass and granite dust  65" diameter x 19"

N.N. Rimzon’s works have been exhibited at institutions worldwide including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea; 5th Beijing International Art Biennale, National Art Museum of China; Museum of Modern Art, (MuHKA), Antwerp, Belgium; 2nd Asia – Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT), Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), Delhi, India; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey (MARCO), Mexico; Berkeley Art Museum (BAM), Berkeley, CA; Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney, Australia; Busan Biennale, South Korea; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Asia Society, New York, NY; Queens Museum of Art, New York, NY; Singapore Art Museum; Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan; National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai, India and The Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Rimzon earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in sculpture from the College of Fine Arts, Trivandrum (1982), a Masters of Fine Arts in sculpture at Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda (1984) and a Masters of Arts from the Royal College of Art, London (1989). 

Exhibition Views

Exhibition Views Thumbnails
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Rimzon Exhibition View 8
Rimzon Exhibition View 1
Rimzon Exhibition View 2
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Rimzon Exhibition View 8
In Inviting the Sky, 2017

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

In Inviting the Sky, 2017

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

In Saving the Earth, 2017

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

In Saving the Earth, 2017

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

The Round Ocean and the Living Death, 2019-2020

Fiberglass, granite dust & plywood

42" x 50" x 19" (Figure)

42" x 120" x 120" (Overall dimensions, in 5 parts)

 
The Round Ocean and the Living Death
The Round Ocean and the Living Death (detail)
The Round Ocean and the Living Death (detail)
The Round Ocean and the Living Death, 2019-2020

Fiberglass, granite dust & plywood

42" x 50" x 19" (Figure)

42" x 120" x 120" (Overall dimensions, in 5 parts)

 

The Round Ocean and the Living Death, 2019-2020

Fiberglass, granite dust & plywood

42" x 50" x 19" (Figure)

42" x 120" x 120" (Overall dimensions, in 5 parts)

 

The Dancing Tree, 2018

Acrylic on canvas

48" x 36 1/4"

 

The Dancing Tree, 2018

Acrylic on canvas

48" x 36 1/4"

 

Under the Sky, 2018

Acrylic on canvas

36 1/4" x 48"

 

Under the Sky, 2018

Acrylic on canvas

36 1/4" x 48"

 

Secret Body, 2019-2020

Fiberglass & granite dust

65" Diameter x 19"

 
Secret Body
Secret Body
Secret Body (detail)
Secret Body, 2019-2020

Fiberglass & granite dust

65" Diameter x 19"

 

Secret Body, 2019-2020

Fiberglass & granite dust

65" Diameter x 19"

 

In Initiating the Mortals, 2017

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

In Initiating the Mortals, 2017

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

Blood Rain, 2019-2020

Fiberglass, laminated photographs & cotton rope

124" x 27" x 29"

 
Blood Rain
Blood Rain (detail)
Blood Rain, 2019-2020

Fiberglass, laminated photographs & cotton rope

124" x 27" x 29"

 

Blood Rain, 2019-2020

Fiberglass, laminated photographs & cotton rope

124" x 27" x 29"

 

In Awaiting the Divine, 2018

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

In Awaiting the Divine, 2018

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

House without Roof, 2019

Acrylic on canvas

60" x 48"

 

House without Roof, 2019

Acrylic on canvas

60" x 48"

 

The Night is Falling, 2019

Charcoal and acrylic on paper

15 1/2" x 20 3/4"

 

The Night is Falling, 2019

Charcoal and acrylic on paper

15 1/2" x 20 3/4"

 

Boats under the Moon, 2015

Acrylic on canvas

36" x 36 "

 

Boats under the Moon, 2015

Acrylic on canvas

36" x 36 "

 

The Holy Night, 2019

Charcoal and acrylic on paper

20 3/4" x 15 1/2"

 

The Holy Night, 2019

Charcoal and acrylic on paper

20 3/4" x 15 1/2"

 

Big Maa, 2015

Fiberglass, resin and granite dust

95" x 49" x 49" (in 2 parts)

 
Big Maa
Big Maa
Big Maa, 2015

Fiberglass, resin and granite dust

95" x 49" x 49" (in 2 parts)

 

Big Maa, 2015

Fiberglass, resin and granite dust

95" x 49" x 49" (in 2 parts)

 

In Inviting the Sky, 2017

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

In Inviting the Sky, 2017

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

In Saving the Earth, 2017

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

In Saving the Earth, 2017

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

The Round Ocean and the Living Death, 2019-2020

Fiberglass, granite dust & plywood

42" x 50" x 19" (Figure)

42" x 120" x 120" (Overall dimensions, in 5 parts)

 

The Round Ocean and the Living Death, 2019-2020

Fiberglass, granite dust & plywood

42" x 50" x 19" (Figure)

42" x 120" x 120" (Overall dimensions, in 5 parts)

 

The Dancing Tree, 2018

Acrylic on canvas

48" x 36 1/4"

 

The Dancing Tree, 2018

Acrylic on canvas

48" x 36 1/4"

 

Under the Sky, 2018

Acrylic on canvas

36 1/4" x 48"

 

Under the Sky, 2018

Acrylic on canvas

36 1/4" x 48"

 

Secret Body, 2019-2020

Fiberglass & granite dust

65" Diameter x 19"

 

Secret Body, 2019-2020

Fiberglass & granite dust

65" Diameter x 19"

 

In Initiating the Mortals, 2017

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

In Initiating the Mortals, 2017

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

Blood Rain, 2019-2020

Fiberglass, laminated photographs & cotton rope

124" x 27" x 29"

 

Blood Rain, 2019-2020

Fiberglass, laminated photographs & cotton rope

124" x 27" x 29"

 

In Awaiting the Divine, 2018

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

In Awaiting the Divine, 2018

Acrylic on paper

39" Diameter

 

House without Roof, 2019

Acrylic on canvas

60" x 48"

 

House without Roof, 2019

Acrylic on canvas

60" x 48"

 

The Night is Falling, 2019

Charcoal and acrylic on paper

15 1/2" x 20 3/4"

 

The Night is Falling, 2019

Charcoal and acrylic on paper

15 1/2" x 20 3/4"

 

Boats under the Moon, 2015

Acrylic on canvas

36" x 36 "

 

Boats under the Moon, 2015

Acrylic on canvas

36" x 36 "

 

The Holy Night, 2019

Charcoal and acrylic on paper

20 3/4" x 15 1/2"

 

The Holy Night, 2019

Charcoal and acrylic on paper

20 3/4" x 15 1/2"

 

Big Maa, 2015

Fiberglass, resin and granite dust

95" x 49" x 49" (in 2 parts)

 

Big Maa, 2015

Fiberglass, resin and granite dust

95" x 49" x 49" (in 2 parts)