New York-based tape artist Aakash Nihalani is on a tear around India, adding a few more amusing pieces to his portfolio. His fluorescent colored illusions, combined with India's rich culture, makes for some truly eye-catching work. Nihalani's exhibit, entitled Aalign, is currently running at Seven Art Limited gallery though October 22.
We asked Aakash what it was like to put up these pieces in India. Here was his reply: “It's definitely been an interesting experience here. You do work in public spaces in New York and people are pretty used to seeing it, or at least the idea of street art. But here it's a strange thing for someone to encounter a guy putting tape on a wall, or in a fruit stand. I feel like the ‘art' you find on the streets in India is either functional, on signs and such, or religious, so it's cool to be putting up work with a more abstract intention for people to experience. It seems like Indians, including the authority, don't jump to the assumption that anything done on the street is vandalism, as they do back home in NY, but they are definitely still cautious of it. “And while the walls in India are tough to work on with tape, because they're so dusty and often moist, the colors and the texture, and the deterioration of the walls make an amazing back drop for my clean bright lines.”
Aakash Nihalani's work
Seven Art Limited website
