Prahlad Bubbar and UNIT 7 are delighted to present a powerful group of works from Eckart Muthesius and Shubha Taparia, two photographers that have made architecture the centrepoint for discussion about the man-made environment, as well as the transitional effect of light and colour on the texture and human dimension of buildings.
Eckart Muthesius was the legendary German architect, designer, photographer of the interwar period whose magnum opus was the palace built for the Maharaja of Indore: Manik Bagh Circa 1930. He designed the building as an extension of its patron’s personality and also the furnishings and landscape that surrounded it. Through his photographs we observe his sensitively tuned modernist eye that created the very environment. In 1935, Muthesius had his first photographic exhibition ‘Indien Im Lichtbild’ ‘India in the Photograph’ in Berlin. This important group of vintage photographs by Muthesius come from the estate of the artist. The selected images focus on the utopian interiors of the palace filled with masterpieces of 20th century design.
This collection of vintage photographs come from Vera Muthesius in Berlin. Sold as a collection of 28 photographs by Eckart Muthesius in Indore, India. Additional images are available on request. The photographs of the interiors of Manik Bagh were published and exhibited at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in the Exhibition ‘Moderne Maharajah, un mécène des années 1930’ in 2019.
The work in multiple mediums by conceptual artist Shubha Taparia stands out for its ability to capture a changing urban environment and the imprint humans leave on their cities and buildings. In either monochrome studies of the small details of large installation works or in medium-format photography of urban construction sites retouched with gold-leaf, Taparia brings a touch of revelation to the mechanical and solid environments that compose our daily lives.
The monochrome photographs here are the close-up details of Taparia’s most recent work ‘Crescent’ at UNIT 7, a monumental sculptural installation constituting scaffolding elements, geotextile membrane and light. She explores the material force of these different elements and brings us into contact with the delicate latticework that functions at the heart of every intricate construction. Her medium-format work, where an image of a transitional urban construction site is brought into sharp focus by the application of a touch of gold leaf, reveals a glowing and timeless element. Taparia’s work has been featured in Forbes, the RIBA Journal and Architect’s Journal, among others. In March 2022 she was shortlisted for the Gladstone Park public art commission.
More information here.