Rupy C. Tut at Jessica Silverman

Artist: Rupy C. Tut

Exhibition title: Search and Rescue

Venue: Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, US

Date: April 29 – May 28, 2022

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman, San Francisco

Jessica Silverman is pleased to announce the exhibition Rupy C. Tut: Search and Rescue, on view from April 29 to May 28 in the gallery’s second floor space. In the artist’s first exhibition at the gallery, new works demonstrate the virtuosic linework of Tut’s practice that melds Indian miniature painting and calligraphy. Drawing on traditional forms and methodologies, and inspired by her own lived experience, the artist’s radiant and meticulously detailed compositions explore self-reclamation and the resilience of womanhood as they meditate on the nuances of diasporic identity.

The natural world figures strongly in the artist’s works on handmade hemp paper. Using natural pigments, paintings such as “Forest of Joy” and “False Hope” (both 2022) attend to the beauty of verdant plant-life and the resilience of perennial bloom. Three works “Leaving Home,” “Finding Roots” and “Claiming Land” (all 2022) deploy shell gold on a backdrop of swirling blue water. Hands reach out to embrace one another, exploring kinship and care; they hold precious objects like vases, a sprouting seedling, and a marigold flower—items that symbolize survival and hope.

Rooted in experiences both universal and deeply personal, Tut’s works contemplate the past and investigate everyday social and political landscapes, illustrating the myriad ways we uplift, liberate and show compassion for one another. The characters throughout the exhibition mirror these modes of both individual and collective power, closely examining historical memories while fashioning new futures.

Rupy C. Tut is an Oakland-based visual artist. Tut’s work is particularly remarkable for her use of traditional materials and methods associated with calligraphy and Indian miniature painting. Her work has been presented through exhibitions and talks at the de Young Museum, San Francisco; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; London City Hall, Stanford University, the Peel Art Gallery and Museum Archives, Toronto; and a solo exhibition at the Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara. Coinciding with the exhibition at Jessica Silverman is the artist’s solo exhibition, Rupy C. Tut: A Recipe for Brown Skin, at Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, California on view until May 1, 2022.

Rupy C. Tut, Search and Rescue, 2022, exhibition view, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco

Rupy C. Tut, Claiming Land, 2022, Natural pigments and shell gold on handmade hemp paper, Paper size: 34 x 25 inches / 86.4 x 63.5 cm Framed: 37 x 28 inches / 94 x 71.1 cm

Rupy C. Tut, American Woman, 2022, Natural pigments and shell silver on handmade hemp paper, Paper size: 16 3/4 x 12 1/2 inches / 42.5 x 31.8 cm Framed: 20 1/2 x 16 inches / 52.1 x 40.6 cm

Rupy C. Tut, A Sitting Duck, 2022, Natural pigments on handmade hemp paper Paper size: 12 3/4 x 17 1/2 inches / 32.4 x 44.5 cm Framed: 17 x 21 inches / 43.2 x 53.3 cm

Rupy C. Tut, A Woman Like Me, 2022, Natural pigments, shell gold, & shell silver on handmade hemp paper, Paper size: 21 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches / 54 x 39.4 cm Framed: 14 x 19 1/2 inches / 35.6 x 49.5 cm

Rupy C. Tut, Forest of Joy, 2022, Natural pigments on handmade hemp paper Paper size: 15 1/4 x 10 3/4 inches / 38.7 x 27.3 cm Framed: 19 x 14 1/2 inches / 48.3 x 36.8 cm

Rupy C. Tut, False Hope, 2022, Natural pigments on handmade hemp paper, Paper size: 34 x 25 inches / 86.4 x 63.5 cm Framed: 38 x 29 inches / 96.5 x 73.7 cm

Rupy C. Tut, Leaving Home, 2022, Natural pigments and shell gold on handmade hemp paper, Paper size: 34 x 25 inches / 86.4 x 63.5 cm Framed: 38 x 29 inches / 96.5 x 73.7 cm

Rupy C. Tut, Finding Roots, 2022, Natural pigments and shell gold on handmade hemp paper, Paper size: 34 x 25 inches / 86.4 x 63.5 cm Framed: 38 x 29 inches / 96.5 x 73.7 cm

Rupy C. Tut, Heroine, 2022, Natural pigments on handmade hemp paper, Paper size: 36 x 57 inches / 91.4 x 144.8 cm Framed: 42 x 61 inches / 106.7 x 154.9 cm