Gagan Vij :(Born in 1971, Bareilly, U.P, India)
Profile:
A self taught sculptor, Gagan Vij’s engagement with sculpting started early. He casted his first bronze at the age of 13. While still a student, his college commissioned him to do a life size sculpture, which is installed in the college library.
After pursuing his studies, he worked in other fields in order to sustain his artistic pursuit, a difficult and rigorous proposition owing to the nature of the work and the high costs involved in the making of bronze sculptures. However, this experience added to his artistic acumen, like his stint in the garment industry as a fashion designer enriched his understanding of the human body.
In 2003, he gave up all other commitments and became a full time sculptor. Irrespective of the difficulties attendant therein, Gagan chose to only work in bronze, reflecting his classical bent of mind as a sculptor. His vision of sculpture is much grounded in classical ideals of Indian sculpture and he is totally unfazed by contemporary trends in Indian sculpture and dedicated to furthering and honing his classical vocabulary of sculpture.
Gagan has grown and evolved, learning by himself and has developed his own methods to create art. He captures figures in moments of contemplation, working on textures, curves and balance, and creating delight with angular flowing movements that allow different views as one takes a full circle to view his work. His works are conceptual and theme oriented and he creates equilibrium between the material, method and subject by making them immensely inter-dependent. He has to his credit the task of having developed / invented a library of exclusive patina shades, which add another dimension to his works.
Gagan lives in a suburb of New Delhi and has a sprawling studio equipped with everything required to create a work - right from clay modeling, casting, and welding to the finishing stage, all under one roof.
He has shown his works at several exhibitions, and has also undertaken commissions for a number of private collectors, institutions and site-specific public projects. He has created bronzes ranging from a miniature size of ½ inch to monumental. He has received public acclaim for his public art works, like the bust of renowned Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib, and Lala Lajpat Rai, commissioned by Delhi Development Authority, Govt. of Delhi.
Select Group Exhibitions (Recent) :
- Group show – Art Pilgrim – New Delhi 2009
- Solo show ‘ardnareshwar”, ashish nagpal gallery, Mumbai nov 2008.
- Art camp to Switzerland – summer 2008.
- Holi 2008; Red Earth / Rafael’s, New Delhi; 2008
- Sahaj Sankalp; Epicenter, Gurgaon; 2008
- Artscape; Epicenter, Gurgaon; 2008
- Vistaar- Limited Editions / Art and Soul Gallery, Mumbai; 2007
- Festival of Lights; Red Earth / Alliance Francaise de Delhi, New Delhi; 2007
- Art for a Sunnier Tomorrow; Savera / Hotel Intercontinental Grand, New Delhi; 2007
- Group Show; Ati Art Gallery / Alliance Francaise de Delhi, New Delhi; 2007
- Vistaar (featuring collaborative work with fashion designer Manish Arora); Limited Editions / The Stainless Gallery, New Delhi; 2007
- Round and Round; Polka Art Gallery / Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; 2007
- Buddha Enlightened World Peace (site-specific art camp with 35 artist from 8 different countries); Bodh Gaya, Bihar; 2006
- Group Show; Ati Art Gallery / Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; 2005
Site Specific Works :
- Bust of lala lajpat rai – Delhi government
- Sculpture of Maharaja Suraj mal – 13 feet for Central govt.
- Bust of Ghalib - Ghalib Academy, I.T.O,
Commissioned by Delhi Development Authority, New Delhi
- Buddha Head – Bodh Gaya, Commissioned by Department of Art and Culture, Govt. of Bihar
- Tivoli Gardens, New Delhi
- Hotel Crown Plaza, Gurgaon, Haryana
- Amatrra Spa, Hotel Ashok, New Delhi
- Flex Industries, Noida, Uttar Pradesh
- Site specific projects commissioned by Art e Form, New Delhi
- Site specific projects commissioned by Furniture Library, New Delhi
- Sculptures commissioned by trident, Mumbai
- Site specific project commissioned by blue ginger – hotel Taj, New Delhi
- Sculptures commissioned by Marriott, Gurgaon
- Life size sculptures at The Trident, Mumbai
- Works at - The Coconut Grove – Taj South
- Public work – Monumental for the Commonwealth Games – 2010, New Delhi.