Renowned fashion designer Anamika Khann’s son Viraj Khanna is all set to showcase his art at his first ever solo show titled What My Mother Didn’t Teach Meat Gallery Art Exposure in Kolkata, in March.
Son of renowned fashion designer and ace coutourier Anamika Khanna, Viraj Khanna is all set to debut as an artist with his first ever solo show titled What My Mother Didn’t Teach Me. The Brand Director of Anamika Khanna, Viraj grew up with fashion and art all around him so it was only but natural for him to develop a creative inclination. The new artist and his twin brother Vishesh were previously inclined towards professional golf, but a sudden illness of their mother got them to get more involved in the business. During the lockdown, Viraj began experimenting with image-based collages and then went on to make sculptures. Thus began his journey as an artist.
Talking about creativity and where he draws inspiration, the artist explains, “I have always believed that creativity is not inborn, it’s something you work on and get better the more you try. So I have never been intimidated by working with new materials and spaces. I started out with collage work, where I cut up pieces of magazines, articles, encyclopedias and things around me to create objects or images of meaning. Gradually I moved onto more sculptural forms with the base idea emerging from the original collage work.” He adds, “The work depicts a discontinuity in the flow of things, of how imperfection runs deep in the core of everyday lives…. The human condition is always striving towards ‘perfection’ per se, and we pointlessly spend our time trying to build a life where we seem invulnerable.”
The artist reveals,”Growing up surrounded by art, especially textiles and embroidery has helped me develop a certain aesthetic when it comes to the way I see and create things. Embroidery work and textile involves putting different materials, fabrics and and other elements together to express certain feelings, perceptions or visions. Transmuting to paintings, sculptures and collages has been somewhat a liberating space where similar concepts and philosophies can be expressed in a totally different architecture.”
The solo exhibition that will be on display from March 13-22 at The Loft, Kolkata will showcase his sculptures that are quaint with a unique presentation of bold colours and extremely expressive faces and figures.
