S. HARSHA VARDHANA (b. 1958) Born in 1958, he graduated in Bio-Sciences from Birla Institute of Science and Technology, Pilani and Diploma in Business Management. He has held senior management positions in Bio-medical industry. He quit the industry in 1993 to work as a freelance artist. Harsha is the second son of the late painter J.Swaminathan. Has held several solo and group shows:1996 Bharat Bhavan Biennial of Contemporary Indian Art, Bhopal; Group show at Lakeeren Gallery, Mumbai. The Pastel medium based shows curated by Shri Prayag Shukla for Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi; 1997 Solo show at Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi; Post Modern Indian Art group show curated by Mr. David Olivant for Turlock City Arts Commission, Turlock, CA USA; Brush with Galib NCZCC camp, Habitat Centre, New Delhi; 1998 Group show organised by Arushi Arts, N.Delhi; 41st National Exhibition organised by Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi; Veiled Spaces Four person show at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai curated by Udayan Vajpeyi; Multi-Media, group show organised by CIMA, Kolkata; 1999 Sangati, solo show at Art Inc. Delhi; Art with a Heart, group show at The Oberoi, Delhi; 2000The Millennium Masks, Dhoomimal Art Gallery, Delhi. Has participated in various camps and workshops: 1997 International Artists Camp on the occasion of Triennale at Garhi, N.Delhi; 1998 Artist Camp at Snow View Resorts, Almora & at Ram Ganga Resort, Corbett National park, organized by Seher; at Manesar, Gurgoan, Haryana; Artist workshops at Mauritius, Goa and Khajuraho organized by Seher & at ITC Classic Golf Resort organized by Ina Puri. He lives and works in New Delhi. STATEMENT: Imagine a landscape covered with a thin, almost transparent sheet of a tender gaze. So fragilely thin is the sheet, so delicately transparent is it that it allows only our inquisitive eyes to pass through it and yet traps them in its own maze. This is like spreading a veil of 'seeing' on a quiet landscape. This is Harsha's pastel world where everything is intricately and tenderly veiled by the gaze of the artist. This is not a 'made' world, a world laboriously erected and is forced to sustain itself through the equilibrium of its constituent components. These are also not the surfaces where the zealous artist is attempting to make a so called definite statement through various configurations....Udayan Vajpeyi, 1997.