ART CITIES: N.York-Tarik Currimbhoy

In both architecture and sculpture, Tarik Currimbhoy searches for tranquility, simplicity, and tactility, expressed in purity of both form and material. Inspired by ancient architecture of building blocks resting on each other in tension and compression, Tarik uses handcrafting and ancient casting techniques to create distilled forms driven by these forces of nature. His sculptures are “stories of structure and gravity,” held together under compression in stone and metal.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Leila Heller Gallery Archive

“Sculpture in Motion”, an exhibition of work by Tarik Currimbhoy is on view in New York. Tarik has mastered the juxtaposition of the old and the new creating sculptures that are modern and minimal in form. His design work has been published internationally and his sculptures may be found across the world in public spaces, and corporate and private collections. The essential issues that are explored in Tarik’s sculptures are those of gravity, balance, movement, stasis and all addressed with formal beauty and fineness that belays the underlying exactitude of the mathematical calculations. The scientific is presented with the magical imagination that compels us to probe into the world of rules laws not always associated with the subjective expressiveness of art. We partake in this feast of unexpected connections to learn about the endless possibilities of artists vision to shatter the accustomed understanding of creativity and perception of beauty. Tarik Currimbhoy was born in Mumbai, India and currently lives and works in New York City. Tarik’s father was a playwright who would visit America where his plays were staged on Broadway and bring back toys for Tarik that had to be constructed. This is when Currimbhoy learned to love to build and design things. Currimbhoy came to New York to attend the Pratt Institute to be a painter but he found that sculpture appealed to him more. He studied and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Pratt with a major in Industrial Design. He then attended Cornell and received a degree in Architecture where one of his inspirations was Luis Barragán, the Mexican Architect/Sculptor. He later went on to teach at both of his alma maters (Drawing at Cornell and Design at Pratt). Classically trained in the arts, industrial design, and architecture, Currimbhoy is a trifecta of artistic prowess. In both architecture and sculpture, Currimbhoy searches for tranquility, simplicity and tactility, expressed in purity of both form and material. Inspired by ancient architecture of building blocks resting on each other in tension and compression, Tarik’s sculptures began as “stories of structure and gravity”, held together under compression in stone. These became the genesis for studies in metal, which could express these concepts in dynamic fashion and sensual form. Currmbhoy is an architect by profession with offices in New York and Mumbai. His design work has been published internationally and his sculptures may be found across the world in public spaces as well as corporate and private collections. Currimbhoy has created and co-designed some monumental sculptures and buildings – including the headquarters for McKinsey & Co. in Gurgaon, India; The Ellipse at the Omi Sculpture Park in upstate New York; The Raincatcher, an observatory installed in a private estate in New York; a 30,000 square foot Italian Renaissance style Mansion in Jaipur, India; and the Aura Skyscraper in New York.

Photo: Tarik Currimbhoy, Courtesy the artist and Leila Heller Gallery

Info: Leila Heller Gallery, 17 East 76th Street (off Madison Avenue), New York, NY, USA, Duration: 8/6-16/7/2022, Days & Hours: Mon-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.leilahellergallery.com/