"Love in Small Change"

An exhibition of photomontages by Pradeep Dalal

7 September - 20 December 2006

The Art Collection, 3^rd floor

Hours: Mon-Wed 9-9, Thu-Sat 10-6

http://www.nypl.org/branch/central/mml/art/artwall.html

The Art collection at Mid-Manhattan Library is pleased to present an exhibition of photographs by the emerging Indian American artist and architect Pradeep Dalal. "Love in Small Change" curated by Arezoo Moseni, is the sixth exhibition in the "Art Wall on Third" series. An "Artist Dialogue" between Pradeep Dalal and the artist and writer Allen Frame will take place on Monday October 23^rd at 6:30 p.m. on the 6^th floor.

Dalal will exhibit a series of autobiographical works drawing on his early adulthood in India. His photographs question how one would recall the past and reveal the often fragmented but potent workings of memory. The photomontages are autobiographical not only in that they are assembled from personal items such as family snapshots, favorite music, embroidered textiles, botanical prints of tropical flowers, and 19^th century Indian photographs, but also these assembled images are attempts to make sense of a childhood with the insight of an adult reconsidering the things once taken for granted.

The "small change" metaphor works for odd little bits of momentary memories that jostle in one's pocket. The larger currencies reveal the present, the ongoing life in the U. S., a place with fewer familiar smells, streets, trees and faces taking Dalal back to Mumbai.

"I am after a taut density in my work. For me, single photographs cannot convey the crammed and lumpy suitcase of remembered emotions and experiences. The twitching and jumpiness of the images relate to the memory shards surfacing for a brief moment only to melt as we try to grasp them. The tactility of the images is intentional because I want you to feel the baby-skin softness of champa flower petals?"