Knots, Props, and Holes

Please join Asia Art Archive in America for a conversation between artist Sreshta Rit Premnath and curator-critic Murtaza Vali, presented in conjunction with the current exhibition, “mould the wing to match the photograph”: The Mrinalini Mukherjee Archive in conversation with Sreshta Rit Premnath.

Over the past decade, several of Sreshta Rit Premnath’s artistic projects have been defined by a practice of communing and dialoguing with predecessors, including Ludwig Wittgenstein, Edward Krasinski, André Cadere, and Koji Kamoji. Central to these projects is the negotiation of indexicality, where photographs and writing are the primary means of experiencing the work of these practitioners. In each project, the archive of the figure in question becomes a lens through which Premnath refracts formal, philosophical, and political questions relevant to his present context.

Joined by curator and critic Murtaza Vali, Premnath will discuss this mode of working in the context of his commission at Asia Art Archive in America, a response to the archive of Indian sculptor Mrinalini Mukherjee. Together, Premnath and Vali will examine three conceptual anchors central to Premnath’s projects: The Knot: A structure that holds seemingly dissimilar ideas together; The Prop: A form that serves as a support or surrogate; and, The Hole: A concept that activates negative space. This discussion will shed light on Premnath’s practice of engaging with artistic legacy, while unpacking the philosophical and material connections that shape his work.