Collections
Varsha / Ranjani Shettar
Accordion books
FA.SA5.3170
1 volume (unpaged) : chiefly illustrations ; 29 x 39 x 3 cm in box 31 x 41 x 5 cm
2012
Indian astronomy
Hardcover. Accordion book bound into metal covers, housed in a buckram box. Contains solar plate etchings, spit-bite etchings, silkscreen prints, and woodcut prints. Edition 113 of 150. Signed by the artist.
"Ranjani Shettar’s Varsha, an artist’s book published by the Library Council of The Museum of Modern Art in late 2012, evokes aspects of 16 phases of the monsoon and the classical Indian astronomy used to predict them. The accordion-folding volume, bound in hand-worked metal, includes 16 original prints, each corresponding to a specific period of the rainy season...
The artist’s drawn, painted, and photographic representations of changing skies, new vegetation, and other effects of monsoon rains are rendered in etching, silkscreen, hand-carved woodcut, pigment printing, and laser cut. The varied images (prepared on teakwood blocks, etching plates, and paper) in the artist’s studio in a rural part of the state of Karnataka, in Southern India, show a range of intensities of shadow and light, color, and texture to express the passage of diverse elemental experiences—a sky filled with darkening, premonitory clouds; a splash of gentle rain on a window; hoofprints on the ground. Cutout patterns of small spheres on each print represent the constellations present in the sky during the six- to seven-month period when first the expectation and then the effects of the rains dominate the rhythms of life in India. (The official monsoon period is from June through September.) In her treatment of these star clusters Shettar alludes to the nakshat ras, the ancient Indian star charts established some 5,000 years ago and still widely used in rural agriculture, almanacs, and calendars to determine the schedules of planting, harvesting, and religious events across the subcontinent...
The accordion-fold book measures approximately 11 x 15 x 3” closed; when unfolded, it extends to nearly 40 feet long. Each of its 16 prints appears on a folded 11 x 30” sheet. It comes in a handmade box covered in buckram."--from Museum of Modern Art website, accessed August 13, 2024
"Varsha by Ranjani Shettar
Published by the Library Council of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2012
Ranjani Shettar conceived this project and prepared the artwork in Karnataka, India; she proofed the prints and laser cut images in New York and New Jersey. The metal covers were made by the artist, in collaboration with the craftsman M.A. Rauf and his son Mohammed Abdul Bari in Bidar, Karnataka. Randy Hemminghaus edition Ed the five solar plate etchings, the spit-bite etchings, and the silkscreen print with Kristen Cavagnet, Nick Pilato, Sarika Sugla, and Jonathan Higgins, at Rutgers, The State of New Jersey, New Brunswick. Brad Ewing Editioned the seven woodcut prints at The Grenfell Press, New York City. Jonathan Singer Editioned the pigment print at Singer Editions, Boston. Twinrocker Handmade Paper, Brookston, Indiana, made paper especially for this project; the paper was laser cut by Tietz-Baccon in Brooklyn, New York. The graphic design for the accompanying brochure is by Leslie Miller, The Grenfell Press. Mark Tomlinson bound the metal covers and printed volume in Easthampton, Massachusetts.
Anita Desai contributed an original essay for the project, published in the accompanying brochure along with poetry by Bhavabhūti and Rabindranath Tagore and the lyrics of a Kannada folk song.
The project was organized for The Museum of Modern Art by May Castleberry, Editor, Contemporary Editions. Varsha is printed in a signed and numbered edition of 150 copies, including 25 copies reserved for the artist.
All sales benefit the Library and Museum Archives of The Museum of Modern Art.
The artwork is copyright © Ranjani Shettar, 2012.
The compilation is copyright © The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2012."--from colophon
"Ranjani Shettar’s Varsha, an artist’s book published by the Library Council of The Museum of Modern Art in late 2012, evokes aspects of 16 phases of the monsoon and the classical Indian astronomy used to predict them. The accordion-folding volume, bound in hand-worked metal, includes 16 original prints, each corresponding to a specific period of the rainy season...
The artist’s drawn, painted, and photographic representations of changing skies, new vegetation, and other effects of monsoon rains are rendered in etching, silkscreen, hand-carved woodcut, pigment printing, and laser cut. The varied images (prepared on teakwood blocks, etching plates, and paper) in the artist’s studio in a rural part of the state of Karnataka, in Southern India, show a range of intensities of shadow and light, color, and texture to express the passage of diverse elemental experiences—a sky filled with darkening, premonitory clouds; a splash of gentle rain on a window; hoofprints on the ground. Cutout patterns of small spheres on each print represent the constellations present in the sky during the six- to seven-month period when first the expectation and then the effects of the rains dominate the rhythms of life in India. (The official monsoon period is from June through September.) In her treatment of these star clusters Shettar alludes to the nakshat ras, the ancient Indian star charts established some 5,000 years ago and still widely used in rural agriculture, almanacs, and calendars to determine the schedules of planting, harvesting, and religious events across the subcontinent...
The accordion-fold book measures approximately 11 x 15 x 3” closed; when unfolded, it extends to nearly 40 feet long. Each of its 16 prints appears on a folded 11 x 30” sheet. It comes in a handmade box covered in buckram."--from Museum of Modern Art website, accessed August 13, 2024
"Varsha by Ranjani Shettar
Published by the Library Council of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2012
Ranjani Shettar conceived this project and prepared the artwork in Karnataka, India; she proofed the prints and laser cut images in New York and New Jersey. The metal covers were made by the artist, in collaboration with the craftsman M.A. Rauf and his son Mohammed Abdul Bari in Bidar, Karnataka. Randy Hemminghaus edition Ed the five solar plate etchings, the spit-bite etchings, and the silkscreen print with Kristen Cavagnet, Nick Pilato, Sarika Sugla, and Jonathan Higgins, at Rutgers, The State of New Jersey, New Brunswick. Brad Ewing Editioned the seven woodcut prints at The Grenfell Press, New York City. Jonathan Singer Editioned the pigment print at Singer Editions, Boston. Twinrocker Handmade Paper, Brookston, Indiana, made paper especially for this project; the paper was laser cut by Tietz-Baccon in Brooklyn, New York. The graphic design for the accompanying brochure is by Leslie Miller, The Grenfell Press. Mark Tomlinson bound the metal covers and printed volume in Easthampton, Massachusetts.
Anita Desai contributed an original essay for the project, published in the accompanying brochure along with poetry by Bhavabhūti and Rabindranath Tagore and the lyrics of a Kannada folk song.
The project was organized for The Museum of Modern Art by May Castleberry, Editor, Contemporary Editions. Varsha is printed in a signed and numbered edition of 150 copies, including 25 copies reserved for the artist.
All sales benefit the Library and Museum Archives of The Museum of Modern Art.
The artwork is copyright © Ranjani Shettar, 2012.
The compilation is copyright © The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2012."--from colophon
