Shridhar Bapat (born 1948) was an Indian video artist and key figure in the New York City's downtown video art scene in the 1970s.[1][2] Bapat's artworks were screened at the MoMA PS1[3], Whitney Museum of American Art,[4] The Kitchen, and the Mudd Club.[2] He a was an early organizer of video programs at The Kitchen[5] and the Avant-Garde Festivals of New York.[2] He took over as the Director of The Kitchen, an influential experimental artist center in Manhattan, in 1973.[6][7]
Shridhar Bapat | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1948 (age 75–76) |
| Education | London School of Economics (LSE) |
| Movement | Experimental Video Art |
Early life and education
Shridhar Bapat was born in India in 1948. Since his parents were high-ranking Indian diplomats, his family moved to Japan, and then to the United States. Bapat spent most of his childhood in suburban Westchester, New York.[1]
Bapat attended university in Geneva and London, but was expelled from the London School of Economics (LSE) after the 1968 student uprisings.[2] It was in New York City where he started his career as an artist. Bapat learned the basics of video at a class taught by Global Village, one of the first video collectives in the city.[1]
Video Art
Shridhar Bapat's artwork largely involves video and feedback. Bapat's installations would have cameras pointed towards each other,[1] and the viewers would see themselves in self-reflexive self-monitoring loops. He once boasted about being “the best feedback camera turner” in New York.[1]
His piece, Aleph Null (1971) and other video works were exhibited in MoMA PS1,[3] The Kitchen,[2] and the Whitney Museum of Art.[4]
He was described by his peers, including Shirley Clarke, Nam June Paik, Steina and Woody Vasulka, as a brilliant artist.[1][2] His early video pieces mainly exist as unseen copies in Northwestern University's Special Collections.[1] Bapat's video feedback fantasia Aleph Null (12 min, 1971) was exhibited in MOMA PS1, 2013.[3]
He was well known as a program director and curator. In addition to working at Anthology Film Archives, he became director of The Kitchen[7] and was the first video curator in its earliest period.[3] He co-directed the Women's Video Festival with Susan Milano[8][9] and the Kitchen Video Festival.
He was also the assistant to many artists such as Shirley Clarke or Nam June Paik.[1] After leaving The Kitchen, he joined Shirley Clark's Video Space Troupe.[10][1]