Hema Upadhyay: Dream a wish, wish a dream

Hema Upadhyay: Dream a wish, wish a dream
Thursday, May 20, 2010 7:00 – 9:30pm
City of Richmond, Council Chambers
6911 No. 3 Road, Richmond, BC
Presented in partnership with the Vancouver Biennale. 



Guest Speaker: Hema Upadhyay (Mumbai, India)
Hema Upadhyay is one of several artists with work displayed in Richmond as part of the Vancouver Biennale. In May, a few weeks at the Aberdeen Centre, she will lead a group of assistants to create Loco-Foco-Motto, a series of elaborate chandeliers made entirely out of unused wooden matchsticks which will remain on site through 2011. She is also one of six artists particiapting in the Richmond Art Gallery exhibition, In Transition:New Art from India from April 26 - June 13, 2010.

The title of Updahyay’s Lulu Series talk, Dream a wish, wish a dream, is from a 2004-2006 work that played a pivotal role in her career as an artist. For this piece, she reconstructed a detailed, meticulous microcosm of Dharavi, the largest slum in Bombay and all of Asia.

Updahyay’s works have consistently dealt with very urban issues of migration and displacement and she draws on her surroundings and history to project her ideas. Moreover, she reflects upon issues of gender, class and dislocation in her art. Combining painting, sculpture, collage and photography, her works evoke a sense of transient nostalgia belonging to no specific place or time but suggesting many. She often utilizes patterned surfaces which quote from Indian spiritual iconography and traditional textile design.

HEMA UPADHYAY was born in Baroda and did her B. F. A. (Painting) and her M. F. A. (Print Making) both from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda. She won the Tenth Indian Triennial in 2001 and received the National Scholarship and the Gujarat State Award in 1996. She did her residency at Art Space in Sydney in 2001 and Vasl Residency in Karachi in 2003. 

Hema Upadyay’s talk will be preceded by a short performance:

Folk/rock singer-songwriter Babe Gurr has been turning heads for years with her blend of roots/blues/pop. Her music has been described as honest, rootsy and real, fitting powerful stories to thoughtful music with craftswomanlike precision. Recent winner of the Sonic Bids Nashville Song Contest, Babe’s new release Chocolate Lilly has been garnering rave reviews in Canada and the US. Her music has been compared to the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams, John Hiatt and Shawn Colvin, yet she still retains her own unique acoustic sound and style.

“Babe Gurr is the sort of talent who doesn't come along all that often, and her star is on the rise. It's only a matter of time before Gurr's star rises above the Canadian Content Rule and she truly becomes an international artist”. -- Gary Allen (The Charlie Daniels Band, JJ Cale)

www.babegurr.com / www.sonicbids.com/babegurr

Lulu events are free to the public and seating is limited. Please RSVP at lulu@richmond.ca.