Nibha Akireddy and Shivy Galtere interweave autobiography with the timeless and current mythologies of the Golden State. Through evocative mark-making, both artists explore their distinct relationship to California.
Nibha Akireddy and Shivy Galtere interweave autobiography with the timeless and current mythologies of the Golden State. Through evocative mark-making, both artists explore their distinct relationship to California. For born-and-raised Northern California artist Nibha Akireddy, there is an extraordinary quality in the enduring power of the land and the bodies that inhabit it. In British-born Southern California-based Shivy Galtere's paintings, the language of consumerism and virality appears as both epic and tender. In this interplay of style and storytelling, Nibha and Shivy transform California life through the language of legend.
Nibha's brushstrokes are vibrant, her colors earthy. California's humbling landscape is paired with powerful, confidently embodied figures from the artist's life. Ruggedness, in either bodies or landscapes, is often inherently masculine-coded. Nibha, instead, finds an aesthetic language rooted in femininity and the power of femme bodies. Northern California landscapes that have played important roles in her life, overlaying these natural settings with figurative compositions inspired by her knowledge of functional weightlifting using kettlebells and steel clubs. She embraces community, connection, and feminine expression through movements typically associated with masculinity. She specifically chooses to incorporate imagery of plants that are both edible and highly invasive in Northern California, many of which are immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with the California coast. Her tones are earthy and organic, and her brushstrokes are fluid and kinetic. As attentive to the sinew of a muscle as the gentle curve of a skin roll, Nibha's subjects match the lively, epic spirit of the California scenes they inhabit.
In complementary contrast, self-taught painter Shivy Galtere's depiction of California consumer culture finds a unique visual vocabulary rooted in our current moment. At the edge of satire and affection, Shivy takes on Los Angeles' unique but pervasive culture of wellness and influence. Shivy's paintings present an aesthetics of self care. Her brushstrokes find depth and texture in a seemingly ephemeral world of trends and virality; her bright use of color demonstrates emotional resonance in the flash and excess of advertising and digital life. Shivy is both a chronicler of the now, but also a deeply autobiographical painter, presenting her emotional journey through the ultracurrent culture of Southern California.
Both artists evoke the spirit of California summer, the distinct sense of possibility and abundance that starts to fill the air in July. Through dialogue between their respective contexts and perspectives, Nibha and Shivy create a layered tribute to the magic of their home state.
