Witness VIII, 2023

Name: Witness VIII
Brand: Rajnish Chhanesh
SKU: RC009
Price: 63000.00 INR
Availability: InStock

Gouache, Acrylic and Gold-leaf on Paper

49.5 x 32.5 cm

Unsigned, accompanied by a certificate signed by the artist

Unique Work

Includes Certificate of Authenticity

₹ 63,000

Inclusive of all taxes

About The Artwork

Central to the Witness series is Rajnish Chhanesh’s reference to the Hindu myth surrounding Indra, cursed to bear a thousand eyes across his body in place of the thousand wounds inflicted upon him. Over time, these eyes came to symbolize both divine omniscience and an eternal burden of watchfulness—a paradox that the artist interprets in his works. The eyes in his compositions stand as metaphors for the masses: those who ceaselessly witness injustice yet remain powerless to speak or act. His landscapes are unsettlingly devoid of human presence, where rivers ripple with secret eyes, forests thrum with quiet intensity, and skies shimmer with watchful constellations, creating environments that are at once lyrical and disquieting. Through such works, Rajnish Chhanesh critiques the political, social, and economic structures that entrap us in cycles of cause and effect, urging viewers to confront their own position as blind witnesses in a fractured world.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

Rajnish Chhanesh’s practice delves into the fragile and fractured relationship between humans and nature, articulated through the meticulous language of miniature painting. His layered, dreamlike compositions emerge from personal memory, ecological reflection, and a nostalgic longing for communal life, while responding to the dissonance of a hyper-mediated world. Marked by an atmospheric quality, his works often navigate themes of transformation, loss, and reclamation, calling for a return to conscious, sensory engagement with the environment.

In his recent body of work, Chhanesh turns towards Samay, Samaj, and Vyavastha (Time, Society, and System)—a triad he sees as shaping both lived reality and collective consciousness. These agencies, locked in an endless loop of cause and effect, become the ground on which his practice offers a critique of contemporary political, economic, and social structures. His works resist passive observation, instead urging viewers to break free from the simulated routines of modern life and confront the conditions that render us blind witnesses.

Chhanesh completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Jamia Millia Islamia (2007) and his Master of Fine Arts at Delhi University’s College of Art (2009). His growing recognition includes solo presentations at Taiwan Annual (2018) and The Blind Witness at Anant Art Gallery, Delhi (2021). He has been awarded the Lalit Kala Akademi National Scholarship (2011–12) and the H.K. Kejriwal Young Artist Award (2010), affirming his place as a significant voice in contemporary miniature painting.

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