Aaron Aujla

In the 1920's, Mahatma Gandhi initiates a home-spun textile movement teaching Indians self-reliance leading to an extrication from Britain's imposed cloth and garment trade.

In 1947, India gains independence.

In 1951, Prime Minister Nehru assigns Le Corbusier to prepare a master plan for Chandigarh, the new capital of Punjab, as a symbol for a modern India. Included in the plan are the House of Parliament and a new state college.

In 1956, a teak desk designed by Pierre Jeanneret is placed in the middle of the Punjab University Library.

Aaron Aujla's exhibition presents a single artwork made of three elements: a MDF re-construction of the Jeanneret desk, industrially manufactured carpet swatches made in present-day India, and handmade facsimiles of the carpeting by fiber artisans from the Textile Arts Center, Brooklyn, NY.

Aaron Aujla & Keith Sonnier is on view at The National Exemplar Gallery, New York, NY until June 18. In April, Aujla mounted a two person show at the Elaine de Kooning House and Studio, East Hampton, NY. Aujla's work has been shown internationally at C L E A R I N G and Quincaillerie Vander Eycken, Brussels, Belgium; Carlier Gebauer, Berlin, Germany; Paradise Row, London, UK; Art: Concept, Paris, France; Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy; Steve Turner Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA; The Journal, Brooklyn, NY; and Martos, New York, NY. Aaron Aujla (b. 1986, Victoria, Canada) received his BFA from the University of Western, Canada in 2006 and currently lives and works in New York.