My Bonnie lies over the ocean

A solo exhibition BY Arnab Gan Choudhury

Exhibition Runs June 2nd - June 21st
Opening & Artist Talk Saturday, June 6th from 5 - 7 PM
Artist Talk & Closing Saturday, June 20th from 12 - 2 PM

About the exhibition:

Situated at the core of identity, childhood wonder, grief, and displacement, My Bonnie lies over the ocean, a solo exhibition by Arnab Gan Choudhury, is a precious case study in the preservation and reclamation of nostalgia. Raised in Kolkata and later relocating to the United States, Choudhury layers together the complicated histories of his youth and early adulthood with references to logos found on Bengali public transit, school textbooks, and 90s pop culture. Utilizing the unconventional medium of crayons, colored pencils, and graphite, the artist etches his characters into radiant colorscapes that evoke the labyrinthian tracing of sensory experiences back to memory.

“I find myself clinging to memories I’m not ready to lose, moments from childhood that feel like the core of who I am. My drawings are my way of resisting that loss—they’re visual attempts to preserve what’s slipping away, to keep my roots alive, and to hold on to a sense of identity that feels increasingly fragile,” says Choudhury of the exhibition.

Proudly presented by Da Vinci Art Alliance, this solo exhibition invites viewers to reflect on their youth as they are shown an intimate glimpse into the artist’s internal world. 

My Bonnie lies over the ocean will be on view in Gallery 1 at Da Vinci Art Alliance from June 2nd to June 21st. To pair with the show, there will be a film screening of Mira Nair's 'The Namesake’ on June 12th at 7:30pm and a kite-making workshop on June 20th at 2pm, following our closing reception and artist’s talks.

ABOUT THE Artist:

Arnab Gan Choudhury is an Indian interdisciplinary artist living and working in Philadelphia. Arnab completed his BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2021 and his MFA from The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 2024. His work has been exhibited widely, including solo shows at Birla Academy of Fine Art, Kolkata, Gaganendra Shilpa Pradarshashala, Kolkata, Gateway 1 Gallery, Maryland, and group exhibitions at Karnataka Chitrakala Parisath, Bengaluru, Abanindranath Tagore Gallery of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Kolkata, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka, Monmouth Museum, New Jersey, and PEEP Projects Gallery, Philadelphia.