Baptist Coelho and Nadia Kaabi-Linke
Social States
15 March–20 May 2012 (Wednesday–Sunday, 11–16)
Pump House Gallery
Battersea Park
London, SW11 4NJ
Delfina Foundation, in partnership with Pump House Gallery and The Creative India Foundation, are delighted to announce an exhibition of new works by resident artists Baptist Coelho and Nadia Kaabi-Linke.
Coelho (born and works in Mumbai, India) and Kaabi-Linke (born in Tunisia, lives and works in Berlin) were awarded 12-week residencies at Delfina Foundation in London. During their residencies, Coelho and Kaabi-Linke investigated how we communicate individual and historic experiences of social conflict. The resulting sculptures and installations have been developed through close personal encounters with individual participants. Coelho’s work engages in our perception of the military and events specific to World War II, whilst Kaabi-Linke explores the marks and scars of domestic abuse. Together, their works reflect a depth of engagement and exploration in translating complex issues. By delving into the psychology and the history of violence and trauma, Social States offers alternative forms of personal reconciliation.
Social States is curated in collaboration with George Unsworth with the generous support from The Creative India Foundation and Arts Council England.
About the artists
Baptist Coelho (b. 1977, India) frequently merges personal research with collaborations from various cultures, geographies and histories. His work begins to take the form of human-shaped media-landscapes which often contend with history, the environment, conflict, emotion and randomness. As part of his practice, Coelho incorporates installation, video, sound, photography, found objects, site-specific works and public-art projects. He lives and works in Mumbai, India. Exhibitions include Grand Palais, Bern (2009); Project 88, Mumbai (2009); Contemporary Art Centre, Lithuania (2011-12); Gwangju Museum of Art, South Korea (2010) and Devi Art Foundation, India (2008).
Nadia Kaabi-Linke was born in 1978 in Tunis to a Ukrainian mother and Tunisian father. Her installations, objects and pictorial works are embedded in urban contexts, intertwined with memory and geographically and politically constructed identities. Kaabi-Linke is represented by Green Cardamom, London and Lawrie Shabibi Dubai. She held her first major solo show Tatort at Galerie Christian Hosp, Berlin in 2010. She has participated in international group exhibitions which include Drawn from Life, Green Cardamom (2009 – 10) and Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendall, UK (2011); 9th Sharjah Biennial (2009); The Future of a Promise: the first Pan-Arab contemporary art exhibition at the 54th Venice Biennial, Venice (2011). In 2009 she was awarded the Jury Prize by the Alexandria Biennale. In 2011, she was a recipient of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize.
About the partners
Delfina Foundation is an independent, non-profit foundation dedicated to facilitating artistic exchange and developing creative practice through residencies, partnerships and public programming, with a special focus on international collaborations with the Greater Middle East & North Africa. In 2013, Delfina Foundation will expand into an adjacent property in Catherine Place SW1, doubling the number of residencies as well as the size of its exhibition space.
The Pump House Gallery is a public contemporary visual arts space on the lakeside in Battersea Park, South London. The gallery is owned, managed and funded by Wandsworth Council and plays a leading role in the cultural life of the borough. It is the highest profile public visual arts space in Wandsworth, attracting over 30,000 visitors a year.
The Creative India Foundation was founded in August 2010 to promote awareness of Indian art and culture and enhance its appreciation throughout the world. The Creative India Foundation has been creating opportunities for Indian sculptors to explore and push their creative horizons internationally as part of residency programs, exhibitions, and sculpture festivals, and to re-invest this experience into local networks, as well as its long-term plan for a residency programme and sculpture park in India.
More information: www.delfinafoundation.com
