Rekha Rao’s recent series of paintings ‘The Melancholy State of Happiness’ gravitates towards abstraction – fields of colour delineated by bold lines, discrete pigments and dense textures. Conceptually, her works are anchored around her response to her immediate environment, adopting an observational approach, yet an active witness to the rapidly changing times. In this body of works, her ecological concerns predominate and represent urban issues and challenges, such as those afflicting local water bodies and other prevailing calamitous outcomes. A minimal palette paints an evocative landscape that is at times subdued and subtle, and at other moments, bold and dramatic.

Red Rain

The compulsion of reading textual works is found to be influential for all kind of scripts, with the reader trained to read the text or not. A logical mind is aware that the texts, unlike the visuals, have a relatively higher probability of correct interpretation of the message. Yet the diverse modes of linguistic constructs succeed in maintaining the barrier for direct communication.

In 1975, German architect Oswald Mathias Ungers took part in the “Roosevelt Island Housing”, a competition sponsored by the State’s Urban Development Corporation for the planning of a neighborhood on the East River in front of Manhattan. Ungers’ entry is a downsized and simplified Manhattan, adapted to the proportions of Roosevelt Island and with a direct morphological reference to the original. A system of urban villas and towers are distributed on a regular grid. While Manhattan’s streets and avenues are transformed into pedestrian pathways, Manhattan’s original Central Park is directly quoted at the center of the urban scheme for a system of public spaces and a swimming pool. Each housing block (60 by 120 feet) hosts from 25 to 35 apartments for different incomes.