Begum: New Paintings / Solo November 23-29, 2017, Toronto

Please join me for a solo exhibition of my new series of paintings: BEGUM from November 23 - November 29, 2017 at The Freedom Factory in Toronto.

Details:

BEGUM by Meera Sethi
November 23 - November 29, 2017
*ONE WEEK ONLY*

at The Freedom Factory
22 Dovercourt Road (just South of Queen St. West), Toronto, Canada
Gallery hours: 12 noon - 6pm daily or by appointment

The venue is partially accessible. Please see details on the Facebook event page.

OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, November 23, 6 - 9 pm
Music by DJ Zehra. Performances by Hasheel.

BEGUM (Hindi for "queen") is a new series of paintings celebrating queer masculinities through an exploration of mixed media embellishments on canvas.

This exhibition is made possible with the assistance of an Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance Grant. Thank you OAC!

Ramvati Aunty moves into the ROM

Ramvati Aunty from Upping the Aunty, my recent series of painting, has been acquired by the Royal Ontario Museum as a part of their permanent collection. This is a remarkable occasion for me as it is the first time my work is part of a public collection in Canada.

For ROM Senior Curator, Dr. Deepali Dewan, Ramvati Aunty engages in visual dialogue with other aspects of the ROM collection, especially original embellished Ravi Varma lithographs from the early 20th century, and may be displayed alongside them at a future time. These very lithographs inspired the Upping The Aunty series, making this an interesting pairing.

NYU A/P/A Institute Artist Talk

On November 16, 2016 I was invited to participate in a public conversation at New York University entitled “Fashion Diaspora” with artist Ayqa Khan, academic and author of Fashioning Diaspora: Beauty, Feminity, and South Asia American Culture (Temple UP, 2016) Vanita Reddy, academic Sharon Heijin Lee, academic and author of The Beautiful Generation: Asian Americans and the Cultural Economy of Fashion (Duke UP, 2011)Thuy Linh Tu, and myself. It was an engaging post-Trump evening of sharing artwork, research and ideas on the ways in which we can look to fashion as a way of understanding diaspora. We had a full house and a lively discussion. You can watch a recording of the entire evenings proceedings and see photos from the event. A very special thank you to The Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU for the opportunity to share my work in New York.

Diwali 2016 Artwork for McDonalds

Diwali 2016 brought many gifts including the opportunity to create a Diwali poster for McDonald’s restaurants in the US. Working closely with Leo Burnett USA, I created an original artwork for the McDonald’s Diwali 2016 campaign. The poster made a month-long appearance at each and every McDonald’s across the United States. It was a wonderful experience expanding my skills to include commercial illustration. Check out the poster below.

Royal Canadian Mint Coin Design

Gold, silver, nickel and coins of various other metals have been a regular feature of Diwali for me. Even the humble penny. As a child celebrating Diwali I remember following a ritual laid out by my father that I little understood: washing all the coins in the prayer plate, annointing them with milk and red sandoor. It was an offering to Laxmi, the Goddess of prosperity.

I continue this today, however this year I have had the privilege of designing a 1oz. gold coin for the Royal Canadian Mint. Inspired by Rangoli designs, this Limited Edition coin is available online from the Royal Canadian Mint where you can also read about the symbolism. Click on the hand to reveal the numismatic coin!