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16 February –23 April 2023
This February, Jitish Kallat presents Whorled (Here After Here After Here), a new courtyard commission by Somerset House and the Mumbai-based artist’s first major public commission in the UK. This striking outdoor installation, over 30 metres in diameter, comprises two intersecting spirals that echo the signage of UK roads and connect the famed neoclassical courtyard of Somerset House to locations across the planet and distant universe.
Whorled (Here After Here After Here) is conceived as a seismic ripple or a galactic whorl, aligned to the Earth’s cardinal north-south directions and spiralling outwards from the centre of the Somerset House courtyard. The work draws upon sacred geometry and alchemical diagrams; like much of Kallat’s work, it interlaces the immediate and the cosmic, the past and present. Two vast scrolls, each 168 metres in length, form interlocking spirals and a continuum of text and symbols follows the visual language of UK motorway signage. As visitors walk through the scrolls, these signs indicate the distance from Somerset House to over 300 locations across the planet and beyond, pointing to celestial bodies, such as the Moon, Mars, and distant stars in the Milky Way.
As Kallat’s work playfully reorients the courtyard in relation to a myriad of destinations, both terrestrial and celestial, visitors are invited to take pathways through the interlaced spirals. Routes through the work map circular movements through space and time. Visitors encounter a continuous shifting of focus as proximate planetary locations border distant and departed supernovae. Several of the places featured in the work have fallen victim to rising sea levels, while others are known to be under environmental threat of submersion within the next thirty years. These place names, accompanied by warning and hazard symbols, resonate with Somerset House’s own proximity to the River Thames and London’s vulnerability to flooding. With exhibition dates that encompass Earth Day 2023, the cyclical movements through space and non-linear time prompt a reconsideration of our relationship with the planet, its past and imminent future, and the wider cosmos.
Whorled (Here After Here After Here) continues Kallat’s long-standing critical engagement with ideas of cosmology, transience and the ecological, having drawn on imaginary maps connecting the everyday and the cosmic for over 20 years.
This year’s return of Morgan Stanley Lates, a series of evening performances, music, talks and poetry in the courtyard, will see a live activation of Whorled (Here After Here After Here) in April 2023.
Whorled (Here After Here After Here) is curated by Dr Cliff Lauson, Director of Exhibitions, Somerset House. The installation will be on display at The Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court, Somerset House, from 16 February to 23 April 2023.
Whorled (Here After Here After Here) is presented in partnership with the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art New Delhi, with additional support from Malik & Azmina Karim, The Ruia Foundation and SANTI.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Press images available here
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Listing Information
Whorled (Here After Here After Here)
Thursday 16 February – Sunday 23 April 2023, The Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court, Somerset House
This striking outdoor installation by Mumbai-based artist, Jitish Kallat, comprises two intersecting spirals, 336 metres long, that echo the signage of UK roads and connect the famed neoclassical courtyard of Somerset House to locations across the planet and universe. Whorled (Here After Here After Here) is conceived as a galactic whorl, spiralling outwards from the centre of the Somerset House courtyard. The work draws upon sacred geometry and alchemical diagrams; like much of Kallat’s work it interlaces the immediate and the cosmic, the past and present. Two vast and extended scrolls form interlocking spirals, a continuum of text and symbols that follow the visual identity of UK road signage. These signs indicate the distance from Somerset House to locations across the planet and beyond, pointing to celestial bodies, such as the Moon, Mars, and distant stars in the Milky Way.
http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/whorled-here-after-here-after-here
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ABOUT JITISH KALLAT
Jitish Kallat was born in 1974 in Mumbai, the city where he continues to live and work.
He has exhibited widely at museums and institutions including Tate Modern (London), MartinGropius-Bau (Berlin), Gallery of Modern Art (Brisbane), Kunstmuseum (Bern), Serpentine Galleries (London), Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), BOZAR: Centre For Fine Arts (Brussels), Pirelli Hangar Bicocca (Milan), Busan Museum of Art, among others. Kallat's work has been part of the Venice Biennale, Havana Biennale, Gwangju Biennale, Asia Pacific Triennale, Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale, Asian Art Biennale, Curitiba Biennale, Guangzhou Triennale and the Kiev Biennale, amongst others. Kallat’s curatorial projects include ‘I draw, therefore I think’ for the South South Platform in 2021 and Tangled Hierarchy at John Hansard Gallery, Southampton UK in 2022. He was the curator and artistic director of Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014. Kallat’s work is in public and private collections worldwide, including the Centre Pompidou, Paris; Art Institute of Chicago; Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; M+ Collection, Hong Kong; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC; National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Nature Morte represents Jitish Kallat.
ABOUT KIRAN NADAR MUSEUM OF ART
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) opened its doors to the public in January 2010. It is a pioneering private museum of Modern and Contemporary art in South Asia, with two spaces located in New Delhi and Noida. It is a not-for-profit institution with an extensive and creative engagement with exhibition-making, educational and public-focused programs, and publications. Through its rigorous and multiple programs, KNMA emphasises its commitment to institutional collaborations and support-networks for artists and creative communities, while extending its reach to diverse audiences. The Museum houses a growing collection of more than 10,000 artworks from South Asia, with a focus on the historical trajectories of 20th century Indian art, alongside the experimental practices of young contemporaries. KNMA was established through the initiative of art collector and philanthropist Kiran Nadar and is supported by the Shiv Nadar Foundation.
KNMA is geared to open its new standalone museum building designed by Sir David Adjaye in the NCR in 2025.
www.knma.in
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