Anjolie Ela Menon
Anjolie Ela Menon
Goatherd (Triptych)
2017
Oil on masonite board
72 x 96 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Goatherd I
2017
Oil on masonite board
72 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Goatherd II
2017
Oil on masonite board
72 x 48 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Goatherd III
2017
Oil on masonite board
72 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Guru and Acolyte
2017
Oil on masonite board
48 x 36 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Kanchaburi
2014
Oil on masonite board
36 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Portrait
2004
Oil on masonite board
36 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Girl Dreaming
2000
Oil and gold leaf on masonite board
48 x 36 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Madonna
Oil on masonite board
48 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
The Shamaan's Tale
2000
Oil and gold leaf on masonite board
48 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Fallen Hero
c. 2000
Oil on masonite board
48 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Memories of the Sea
1995
Oil on masonite board
48 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Falling Girl
2015
Oil on masonite board
48 x 36 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Malabar
2014
Oil on masonite board
48 x 36 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Brahmin Priest
2016
Oil on masonite board
48 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Nude
2016
Oil on masonite board
24 x 48 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Eden
2005
Oil on masonite board
24 x 48 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
After the Party
2017
Oil on masonite board
36 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Divine Mother Series - Parvati with Ganesh
2016
Oil on masonite board
36 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Divine Mothers Series - Madonna with Child
2016
Oil on masonite board
36 x 24 in
Anjolie Ela Menon
Divine Mothers Series - Maya with Gautama
2016
Oil on masonite board
36 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Divine Mother Series - Yashoda with Baby Krisha
2016
Oil on masonite board
36 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Natasha
1970
Oil on masonite board
36 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Veronica's Veil
1973
Oil on masonite board
30 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Seated Nude
2009
Oil on masonite board
36 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Man from Bombay
1985
Oil on masonite board with wooden window frame
36 x 24 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Endgame
2012
Oil on masonite board
24 x 18 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Gowri
2016
Oil on masonite board
18 x 12 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Andrew
2017
Oil on masonite board
16 x 12 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Christ
2016
Oil on masonite board
16 x 12 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Head of a Man
2017
Oil on masonite board
16 x 12 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Landscape
2017
Oil on masonite board
16 x 12 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Crow
2017
Oil on masonite board
16 x 12 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Behind the Arras
2017
Oil on masonite board
16 x 12 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Anisha
2017
Oil on masonite board
15 x 12 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Maya
2017
Oil on masonite board
15 x 11 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
After the Party II
Oil on masonite board
15 x 7.5 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Pujari
2017
Oil on masonite board
12 x 9 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Namboodiri
2017
Oil on masonite board
12 x 9 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Untitled (Girl in a halo)
2013
Mixed media on masonite board
24 x 17.5 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Untitled
2013
Mixed media on masonite board
40 x 28 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Untitled (Couple)
2013
Mixed media on masonite board
40 x 28 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Untitled Drawing 1 and 2
2006
Acrylic on paper
14.5 x 10.5 in. (Each side)
Anjolie Ela Menon
Untitled Drawing 3
2016
Acrylic on paper
10 x 8 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Untitled Drawing 4
2002
Acrylic on paper
14.5 x 10.5 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Untitled Drawing 5
2006
Acrylic on paper
14.5 x 9.5 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Untitled Drawing 6
2011
Acrylic on paper
14 x 10 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Untitled Drawing 7
2006
Acrylic on paper
11.5 x 8.5 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Untitled Drawing 8
2006
Acrylic on paper
11.5 x 9 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Untitled Drawing 9
2006
Acrylic on paper
11.5 x 8.5 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Untitled Drawing 10
2006
Acrylic on paper
13 x 8 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon
Untitled Drawing 11
2006
Acrylic on paper
14.5 x 11 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon with Robyn Beeche
Pastorale I
2015
Oil and print on canvas
36 x 22.5 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon with Robyn Beeche
Pastorale II
2015
Oil and print on canvas
35.5 x 22.5 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon with Robyn Beeche
Parvati I
2015
Oil and print on canvas
36 x 22 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon with Robyn Beeche
Himanshu
2015
Oil and print on canvas
27 x 17 in.
Anjolie Ela Menon with Robyn Beeche
Ardhanareeshwar
2015
Oil and print on canvas
40.5 x 17 in.
Aicon Gallery is proud to present the first major New York solo exhibition in over a decade by renowned Indian painter Anjolie Ela Menon. Throughout a career now spanning over fifty years, Menon has steadfastly remained a pioneering figurative painter, often in defiance of current trends. Her work metamorphosizes the visual matrix of our times through her use of a renaissance-like technique, which has earned her the sobriquet of ‘Wanton Fabulist’ from New Delhi based curator and critic Gayatri Sinha. The exhibition features over 40 paintings and drawings from the artist’s oeuvre, including a set of new large-scale works on panel exhibited here for the first time.
Throughout her artistic career, Anjolie Ela Menon has re-envisioned her role as an artist and has produced various bodies of work toward her aim to defy categorization. Menon’s early paintings, mainly portraits, imply inspiration from the likes of Modigliani, Van Gogh, Amrita Sher-Gil, and M. F. Husain. She comments on her approach of using flat areas of thick bright color with sharp outlines, which were done "with the vigor and brashness of extreme youth."
Menon’s studies in Paris in the 1960s exposed her to the techniques of medieval Christian iconography, particularly Byzantine art. A period of experimentation led to a muted palette of translucent colors, by her layering thin glazes of oil paint onto hardboard. The finely textured surfaces were further enhanced by burnishing the finished work with a soft dry brush, creating a glow reminiscent of medieval icons. As her style continued to evolve, Menon developed the distinctive features of early Christian art - namely the frontal perspective, the averted head, and the slight body elongation - but took the female nude as a frequent subject. The result is a dynamic relationship of eroticism and melancholy. Menon developed her artistic approach of distance and loss in her later works through her thematic depiction of black crows, empty chairs, windows, and hidden figures.
This current exhibition covers many diverse themes but re-visits various phases of a 60 year long career in art. Both memory and imagination are at work to create a large body of paintings. The pastoral series is inspired by the rural community where her studio in Delhi is located. The goatherds and indeed the goats are ubiquitous in her neighborhood, the almost biblical figures of the tribe reminiscent of a bygone era. Shakti is an Indian word that denotes Woman Power and the series ‘Divine Mothers’ celebrates not holy deities like Krishna and Jesus, but their mothers, who, like mother Mary are often objects of worship in themselves. The Namboodiri priests from the temples of South India have been an oft repeated subject in Menon’s pictorial narratives and are seen here in abundance. Menon has been known for her icon like portraits and a suite of these small vignettes embellish this collection. Five maquettes of the large panels recently hung in the Mumbai international airport are shown here, a collaborative work between Menon and the renowned late photographer Robyn Beeche. Also on display are a group of rare early works garnered from collectors in and around NY.
In an interview with artnet News, Menon elaborated on her roots, her spiritual inspiration, and her artistic practice.
