Our creative head - JLX, works on collaborative art projects with urban communities through an igneous usage of local techniques and materials.
Contemplative questions and a surging curiosity inform JLX’s Art - Through Art, he socially engages in a dialogue with the world around him. He extends his artistic practice; to open his studio for discussions and conversations with fellow artists. In supporting and collaborating with upcoming artists on their projects. Increasing project visibility and finding new markets to make their work more visible.
Eucalyptus
Mixed Media (2013)
Artist - Jeevan L Xavier
45-centimeter square of red silk fabric filled with dried eucalyptus seed pods. This work resulted from contemplating the relationship between being a mother, womb, and earth.
Along the Way
Public Installation (2015)
Artist- Jeevan L Xavier
Along the way... is a moving installation of three autos designed in a progressive sequence using locally learned and utilized decorative auto-rickshaw art techniques along with my own studied background of fashion and textile design as well as pattern-making to play with the potential of the form. The works are a result of two years of labor, conversations, and negotiations with the intrinsic materials, designers, and the canvas of this art practice.
Through the Needle’s Eye
Video installation (2017)
Artist - Jeevan L Xavier
The video installation was shown at - Saritha Handa - 25 years and Beyond, New Delhi, 2017, curated by Mayank Mansingh Kaul.
It is a slow-motion video installation made by JLX as an ode to the humble textile tool - the needle. Each video frame was projected parallelly on six giant screens and ran on a loop at the Bikaner House, Delhi, to commemorate Sarita Handa’s 25th year anniversary. The action of needles piercing through the fabric to form elementary stitches is deliberately slowed down in the visuals; for viewers to meditate on this humble tool and the process of making textiles.
Water Memorial – Down the Memory lane
Public Art Installation (2017)
Artist - Jeevan L Xavier
Two giant sacks, weighing approximately 330 kilograms, each filled with 30755 colorless pet bottles and a pillar of 335 kilograms of compressed pet bottles, constitute this installation. Each bottle inside the sacks has been cataloged, and the brand names on the bottles were printed on a plaque fixed on the central pillar. Politics of water and identity of self in the middle of a water crisis were the thoughts behind this.
Can I see myself in You?
Installation and Performance (2019-2020)
Artist - Jeevan L Xavier
“Can I see myself in you?” was a two-part art installation and performance by JLX, aka Jeevan Xavier, during his stay at Zentrawerk at Dresden as part of bangaloREsidency-Expanded 2019 by Goethe Institute, Max Mueller Bhavan, Bengaluru. Zentralwerk was a cooperative of creative people from many walks of life who lived and worked on the premise. The campus was a renovated arms factory from the Second World war era, which is now a creative complex of galleries, auditoriums, studios, and residential apartments. More studios were rented out to artists from a range of creative backgrounds.
The first part of the work, The Others, was a series of interventions with bright fuchsia color fabric in the landscape of Dresden, known for its beautiful architecture and landscape. At certain locations, the fuchsia fabric was complemented by an orange fabric draped alongside each other. JLX draped 12 meters of bright-colored fabrics on or around buildings, trees, and monuments. The two fabrics were a fuchsia fabric - symbolizing the people of India, and a marigold orange - symbolizing India as a place. Dresden, as a backdrop, symbolized the fleeting nature of change. These fleeting installations were symbolic and intended to create visual contrast in the cold winter landscape of Dresden through color.
The second part of this work was at Kabinett, Zentralwerk, on 23rd January 2020. It was conceptualized on the idea of commune over food. The viewers were invited to have a simple meal of lentils and rice cooked by the artist. For this, the artist made five small-scale sculptures in synthetic clay of different human faces. Part of the gallery was converted into a restaurant, along with two fabric installations and photographs of The Others. There were five dining tables, each neatly laid as in the cafe. On the table was - a white tablecloth, placemats made of sewn leaves from Bangalore, a white plate, fuchsia pink cutlery & napkin, a sculpture, and a mirror.
This was intended by the artist as an opportunity for the audience to actively participate by reflecting on their personal journey in the context of differences they have experienced and to be mindful of these ideas. The context was established with photographs and the two sight-specific installations in the space. Participants were left to ponder ideas and thoughts related to the central theme and their personal experiences. The food for thought here was “the differences that constitute you and me, the contradictions arising from these differences, the differences we repel, the differences we overlook, the differences we deal with or struggle with, the differences we embrace
Warp and Weft of Bangalore
Installation (2021)
Artist - JLX Studio Team
This documentary project juxtaposes data, facts, materials, images, and memories of Bangalore’s Textile Industry in a linear format. The project's focus has been commercial textiles produced in and around Bangalore and specifically woven fabric. We have tried to humanize this brief history. And kept it multifaceted than a singular narrative.
