Date – on view until February.
Venue – Method Kala Ghoda, 86, Nagindas Master Rd, Kala Ghoda, Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001
Description –
Method Kala Ghoda is proud to present artist Dheer Kaku’s solo exhibition, titled “Unstill Life,” on view until 15 February.
Growing up with very little private space, artist Dheer Kaku found comfort in small architectural corners: terraces, gaps, and hidden edges; their clear, sharp shapes helping bring order to his inner confusion. His solo show, Unstill Life, grows from this path. The spaces portrayed in his works are more than buildings; they reflect psychological states. Each piece carries many layers, drawn, erased, and redrawn, allowing impulsive emotion to settle into careful observation.
Dheer’s practice takes inspiration from the still-life tradition, but focuses on the difficulty of finding true stillness when the inner world is unsettled, especially considering how open, shared spaces have now disappeared from daily life. By revealing these unstable structures, his works question ideas of beauty, individualism, and permanence showing that even when one tries to remove beauty, it remains, showcasing how humans continue to find meaning and softness, even within damaged and fractured spaces.
Artist’s narration –
Restraint is at the core of my art practice. It is the approach I return to, a way of guiding my emotions and memories. When I was young, I searched for moments of calm in a busy and difficult environment. Over time, this search became a study of how strong feelings, especially anger, can change when they are looked at closely. Growing up with very little private space, I found comfort in small architectural corners: terraces, gaps, and hidden edges. Their clear, sharp shapes helped me bring order to inner confusion.
As my work developed, I became drawn to ruins, broken structures, and slow decay. These forms helped me understand my own inner life. The spaces I draw are more than buildings; they reflect psychological states. By creating and breaking them on paper, I can look at tension, grief, and endurance with clarity. Each piece carries many layers, drawn, erased, and redrawn, allowing impulsive emotion to settle into careful observation.
Unstill Life grows from this path. It takes inspiration from the still-life tradition but focuses on the difficulty of finding true stillness when the inner world is unsettled. The exhibition also considers how open, shared spaces have disappeared from daily life. Where people once gathered outdoors, we now live in smaller, closed-off rooms. The drawings reflect this shift, showing fragile interiors that struggle to hold together.
By revealing these unstable structures, the work questions ideas of beauty, individualism, and permanence. Even when I try to remove beauty, it remains, showing how humans continue to find meaning and softness even within damaged and fractured spaces.
About Dheer Kaku – Dheer Kaku is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses drawing, lens-based media, and installation art. He investigates the human condition through the lens of material remains, probing the passage of time and the nature of consciousness. His approach blends archaeological and anthropological methodologies, drawing inspiration from ancient civilizations as much as from the urban transformations he has witnessed in Indian cities. Dheer’s work documents the artifacts of our present – shaped by modern warfare, sensationalist media, neofascist movements, and recurring environmental disasters – to envision how these remnants might be interpreted by future archaeologists. This forms the core of his ongoing series, “Casual Thoughts of Doom.”
Dheer holds a BFA from the Rachana Sansad Academy of Fine Arts, Mumbai, and was awarded the INLAKS Fine Art Award in 2015. He has participated in residencies at KHOJ in New Delhi and Space 118 in Mumbai, among others. His work has been exhibited at Filet Space in London, and featured in group shows at the Goa Open Arts Festival and Sakshi Gallery in Mumbai, to name a few. Currently based in Goa, Dheer maintains a multifaceted practice as a fine artist, freelance designer, and filmmaker. He has collaborated with institutions such as the Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai; Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai; Project 88; HH Art Spaces; and the Serendipity Arts Festival.
It’s unclear as to whether Einstein was talking about a political or scientific revolution, but it is evident that art and breaking away are intermingled at the core.
About Method “The Revolution introduced me to art, and in turn art introduced me to the Revolution!”
– Albert Einstein
It’s unclear as to whether Einstein was talking about a political or scientific revolution, but it is evident that art and breaking away are intermingled at the core.
Method is an introspective and “extrospective” approach to art and the world in which it currently exists. By acknowledging that limitlessness is an inherent characteristic of creativity, we fall beyond the domain of predetermined outcomes not only as artists but as a community. In doing so, we transpose and expand with the movement of art. This cultivates collaboration and experimentation for the purpose of expression as well as discovery.
Method has galleries in Mumbai & New Delhi.
