Delhi-based artist wins Emerging Artist Award, Swiss residency

New Delhi : Delhi-based artist Anupam Roy, whose "large-scale drawings and paintings speak about systemic violence and injustice", has bagged the Emerging Artist Award 2018 granted by the non-profit Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA).

Given annually in collaboration with Pro Helvetia (Swiss Arts Council), the award seeks to promote young artists who are studying or practising in India, and demonstrate extraordinary skill and promise in the visual arts, FICA said in a statement.

As part of the award, he would receive a 90-day residency in Switzerland in 2019, supported by Pro Helvetia -- something the jury felt would help develop his practice and in forging further artistic collaborations, FICA said.

The award's jury consisted of artist Manisha Parekh, artist and pedagogue Rakhi Peswani, curator and art historian Latika Gupta, and Iranian-Swiss artist Shirana Shahbazi.

As per FICA, the jury, which weighed close to 300 applications, was "impressed by Roy's politically-charged practice which they saw as emerging from his long-standing engagement with grassroot politics".

"Roy's large-scale drawings and paintings speak about systemic violence and injustice. He engages with the visual, textual and evidentiary, extending a variety of mediums and materials towards the performative and gestural, to achieve a travelling, discursive form that moves beyond the conventional exhibitory spaces, towards more dynamic public engagement."

Roy, 33, is a former student of Bengal Fine Arts College and Ambedkar University, Delhi. He has exhibited in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kochi, Nainital, Montreal and New York.