Nature Morte is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by Bhuvanesh Gowda.

We usually associate “found objects” used in sculptural practice as relating to consumer goods or some sort of industrial detritus. Gowda’s “found objects” are sourced from the jungles around the university where he lives and works in Navi, Mumbai. Chunks of wood have been eroded by weather and disfigured by insects, bearing little resemblance to their initial living forms. We are unsure how much the artist has altered these found elements but we can be certain that the bands of patterning which encircle them, both carved and painted, are surely man-made. As stationary objects they defy a sense of scale: perhaps being proposals for monumental projects, perhaps propositions for household appliances.

The artist has written eloquently about these works:

“This body of work draws inspiration from the architectural grammar of temples and monasteries of Ladakh and its terrain, where endurance and erosion coexist in fragile balance. The circular carvings on these wooden sculptures echo the circumambulating figures of pradakṣiṇā, where verticals and horizontals intersect to generate rhythm, geometry, and vitality. This principle also resonates with quantum mechanics, where rotation is fundamental to the identity of matter. Much like electrons orbiting a nucleus or intrinsic spin shaping a structure, these works affirm that at every scale, be it cosmic, human or quantum, rotation is the language of order, energy, and renewal.

Carved from salvaged wood, the sculptures bring deliberate engravings into dialogue with the erosion of time; an interplay of vitality and decay, chaos and order. Markings revive worn surfaces, sketching fragile forms within disorder. In balancing erosion and embellishment, destruction and renewal, the works embody cycles of creation, decay, and rebirth, as well as the uneasy coexistence of culture and nature.”

Born in Kadaba, Karnataka in 1976, Bhuvanesh Gowda received his BFA from the Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts in Mysore in 1999 and his MFA from Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi in 2003. He has had two solo exhibitions of his work at Chemould Prescott Road in Mumbai (2012 and 2016) and one at The Birla Gallery, Mumbai in 2007. His works have been included in group exhibitions in Mumbai at Project 88, The Guild, and Chatterjee & Lal, and in Delhi at Nature Morte and the India Habitat Centre. He has participated in art fairs in New Delhi, Hong Kong and Basel and currently lives and works in Navi Mumbai.