Neerja Chandna Peters presents ‘Rupa Bheda’ (Secrets of Form), curated by art historian and critic Uma Nair, at Bikaner House in New Delhi, opening on 20th February 2025.
Neerja is a self-taught visual artist who has been creating works notable for their exploration of abstraction that is deeply invested in the process of a spiritual sojourn. Using the ideation of forms and geometric symbolism from a diverse array of materials including charcoal and pigments of paint in acrylics as well as lithe lines, the artist’s works mirror her interest in a unique balance and harmony of both colours as well as the result of the reflection of light.
Neerja has had two solos in USA, and another in Australia. ‘Rupa Bheda’ is her solo debut in India. That apart, during the pandemic years, she participated in 500 shows — online and offline.
Curator Uma Nair, who has authored the catalogue, says that Neerja’s 80 works at ‘Rupa Bheda’, both large as well as small, are noted for their density and complexity and mathematical aggregations which result in a balance between structure and crystalline contours. “Neerja’s show is divided into smaller and larger paintings that can also be read as constructions born of deeper meditation systems, as meaning happens through laborious repetition,” the curator notes. “In the simulation of the third dimension we see flatness as well as a trajectory of the spiritual signature in modern abstraction.”
A trained medical doctor who took to painting while raising her two children, Neerja’s is an engaging artistic journey of two decades following her branching out from writing poetry. Celebrating the chromatics of hues with mathematical precision, Neerja positions herself as both audience as well as creator.
‘Rupa Bheda — Secrets of Form’ opens at 6 pm on February 20th at the Main Gallery of Bikaner House. It will be inaugurated by renowned filmmaker Muzaffar Ali, also an author and artist of immense reputation. The show runs till the 25th of this month.
