{{Short description|Indian-American artist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}} {{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}} {{Infobox artist | honorific_prefix = | name = <!-- include middle initial, if not specified in birth_name --> | honorific_suffix = | image = Avantika Bawa 2018.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Bawa at the Portland Art Museum, 2018 | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living artists, {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}} for dead. For living people supply only the year unless the exact date is already WIDELY published, as per WP:DOB. Treat such cases as if only the year is known, so use {{birth year and age|YYYY}} or a similar option. --> | birth_place = Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} --> | nationality = | education = | alma_mater = {{Flatlist| * Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda * School of the Art Institute of Chicago }} | known_for = | notable_works = | style = | movement = | spouse = | partner = | awards = <!-- {{awd|award|year|title|role|name}} (optional) --> | elected = | patrons = | memorials = | website = <!-- {{URL|Example.com}} --> | module = }} '''Avantika Bawa''' (born 1973) is an Indian American artist, curator, and professor of art.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://portlandbiennial.org/artists/avantika-bawa-2/|title=Avantika Bawa {{!}} Portland2016|work=Portland2016|access-date=2017-03-18|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/25/arts/design/where-drawing-is-what-counts.html|title=Where Drawing Is What Counts|last=Cotter|first=Holland|date=2005-06-25|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-03-18|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Bawa is a multidisciplinary artist who works primarily in site-specific installation, video, printmaking, and drawing.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ampersandgallerypdx.com/coliseum-avantika-bawa|title=Coliseum - Avantika Bawa|website=Ampersand Gallery & Fine Books|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-22}}</ref> She is the recipient of the 2018 Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts Golden Spot Residency Award, the Hallie Ford Fellowship in the Visual Arts, and the Oregon Arts Commission Joan Shipley Award.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oregonartscommission.org/fellowship-profile/avantika-bawa|title=Avantika Bawa {{!}} Oregon Arts Commission|website=www.oregonartscommission.org|language=en|access-date=2017-03-18}}</ref>
== Education ==
Bawa has an MFA in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from the Maharaja Sayajirao University.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://portlandartmuseum.org/event/artist-talk-avantika-bawa/|title=Artist Talk: Avantika Bawa|date=14 January 2016|website=portlandartmuseum.org|access-date=18 March 2017}}</ref>
== Career ==
Bawa is a professor of Fine Art at Washington State University Vancouver,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://directory.vancouver.wsu.edu/people/avantika-bawa|title=Avantika Bawa - Directory - WSU Vancouver|website=directory.vancouver.wsu.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-03-18}}</ref> and serves on the board of the Oregon Arts Commission.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.indiawest.com/entertainment/global/avantika-bawa-named-to-oregon-arts-commission/article_d4bb75a4-8971-5d70-8957-d5c3048b7ded.html|title=Avantika Bawa Named to Oregon Arts Commission|last=Dispatches|first=News|work=India West|access-date=2018-03-10|language=en}}</ref> She has had solo exhibitions at the Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon, Suyama Space in Seattle; Saltworks Gallery in Atlanta; Disjecta Contemporary Arts Center in Portland, Oregon; and Gallery Maskara in Mumbai, India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oregonartscommission.org/person/avantika-bawa|title=Avantika Bawa {{!}} Oregon Arts Commission|website=www.oregonartscommission.org|language=en|access-date=2017-03-18}}</ref><ref name=":1" />
Bawa is also one of the founders of ''Drain - A Journal of Contemporary Art and Culture'', an online journal that explores creative perspectives on contemporary culture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://drainmag.com/about/|title=About {{!}} Drain Magazine|website=drainmag.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-03-10}}</ref> In 2019, she was commissioned to make a game day poster for the Portland Trail Blazers January 9 game against the Chicago Bulls.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nba.com/blazers/posters|title=Gameday Posters|website=Portland Trail Blazers|language=en|access-date=2019-02-22}}</ref>
== Work ==
=== Themes === Bawa's work responds to and incorporates architectural spaces and styles.<ref name=":4" /> She draws from Minimalism and Abstraction for inspiration.<ref name=":2" /> Her work for Disjecta Art Center's 2016 Portland Biennial was installed in the vacant Astor Hotel in Astoria, Oregon. Bawa created a large golden scaffold that was accompanied by audio recordings of construction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.orartswatch.org/portland-2016-the-cellular-memory-of-place-part-two/|title=The cellular memory of place, Part Two {{!}} Oregon ArtsWatch|website=www.orartswatch.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-29|archive-date=30 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180530034942/http://www.orartswatch.org/portland-2016-the-cellular-memory-of-place-part-two/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Exhibitions == In 2018, Bawa had a solo exhibition of drawings and prints of the Portland Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Portland Art Museum, as part of the APEX series curated by Grace Kook-Anderson.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://portlandartmuseum.org/exhibitions/apex-avantika-bawa/|title=APEX: Avantika Bawa|website=Portland Art Museum|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-22}}</ref> She also had a concurrent exhibition at Ampersand Gallery that culminated in the publication of an artist's book.<ref name=":3" /> In 2017 she exhibited ''Parallel Faults at'' Los Angeles Valley College in Valley Glen, California<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lavc.edu/arts/artgallery.html|title=LAVC Art Gallery: Los Angeles Valley College|website=www.lavc.edu|access-date=2017-03-18|archive-date=19 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319195913/https://www.lavc.edu/arts/artgallery.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Her work was included in the 2016 Portland Biennial, curated by Michelle Grabner.<ref name=":0" /> Between 2014 and 2015, Bawa showed her project ''Aqua Mapping'' in the Whitebox Gallery in Portland, Oregon and Saltworks Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://whitebox.uoregon.edu/2015/07/29/avantika-bawa/|title=White BoxAvantika Bawa {{!}} White Box|website=whitebox.uoregon.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2017-03-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://saltworkscontemporary.com/exhibitions/aqua-mapping/|title=Aqua Mapping {{!}} SALTWORKS|work=SALTWORKS|access-date=2017-03-18|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2012, Bawa exhibited a large scale, site-specific installation called ''At Owner's Risk'' at Suyama Space in Seattle, Washington, that responded to the current and historical uses of the space: an architecture firm, an auto body shop, and a livery stable.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.suyamaspace.org/installations/avantika-bawa-at-owners-risk|title=Suyama Space {{!}} Installations {{!}} Avantika Bawa At Owners Risk|website=www.suyamaspace.org|access-date=2017-03-18}}</ref> In 2009, her show ''Mathesis: dub, dub dub'', was exhibited at Gallery Maskara, in Mumbai, India<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gallerymaskara.com/exhibition/mathesis-dub-dub-dub/overview|title=Gallery Maskara: Exhibition: Mathesis: dub, dub, dub|website=www.gallerymaskara.com|language=en|access-date=2017-03-18}}</ref>
==Personal life== Bawa was born in Ootacamund, India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gallerymaskara.com/artist/avantika-bawa-19/biography|title=Gallery Maskara: Artist: Avantika Bawa|website=www.gallerymaskara.com|language=en|access-date=2018-03-10}}</ref> She lives and works in Portland, Oregon, also frequently spending time in New Delhi.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pdxcontemporaryart.com/bawa|title=Avantika Bawa {{!}} pdx contemporary art|website=pdxcontemporaryart.com|language=en|access-date=2018-03-10}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bawa, Avantika}} Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:Indian emigrants to the United States Category:Artists from Portland, Oregon Category:Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda alumni Category:School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni Category:American artists of Indian descent Category:People from Ooty Category:21st-century American women artists Category:21st-century American women academics Category:21st-century American academics