Wanderer above the Sea

Gigi Scaria's work often attempts to map the chaotic landscape of urban India, with particular reference to New Delhi, where he has lived since the late 1990s. In Wanderer above the Sea, Scaria references the iconic masterpiece by the German romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, an image that depicts the artist standing atop a cliff as he ponders his own insignificance in the face of the the sublime power of nature below. In Scaria's version, an ostensibly Indian figure looks down at an endless, winding maze of man made structures which appear to be carved into stone. This is perhaps an allusion to man's increasing disregard for the natural world and his perennial quest to create new cartographies and exert dominion over it.

Gigi Scaria was one of the artists chosen to represent India at the 54th Venice Biennale and the third Singapore Biennale in 2011. His works have been exhibited with several international museums including The Jewish Museum, New York (2015); The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi (2015); MOCA, Taipei (2010); Ivam Museum, Valencia (2008); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2008) and The Newark Museum, New Jersey (2007).