Last Glass of Cola

About

One’s too hesitant to even move their fingers
One’s eyes are following the glass intently.
One’s gaze is diverted away from the glass
One’s hand intuitively extends to pick the glass,
And the hand
*drops*
One takes the first sip.

Last Glass of Cola featuring London-based artist Ragini Chawla showcases drawings, paintings, sculptures and text-based works from the last two years. Set against the backdrop of a wedding, the exhibition explores moments of chaos, disruption and conflicts in relationships, making it a boiling point to examine family dynamics. The exhibition borrows its title from a fictional text-based piece written by Chawla, where five individuals sitting around a table deliberate on who merits the final glass of cola.

Chawla looks at the beautification of the space that is discreetly coercive. While there are no direct visual representations of any wedding or event, the mood is relayed through suggestive motifs of flower decorations and satin clad tables. One work in the exhibition asks “Where do flowers go after the wedding?”

The exhibition also features intimate portrayals of the Chawla’s grandmother working in the kitchen: peeling, preparing and cooking. These works gesture at the labour that goes into organising elaborate events. This also serves as an homage to her grandmother’s lifelong commitment to cooking and feeding members of the family, and is a desperate attempt by the artist to preserve her through the works.

‘Cooking with love, for yourself, for the food, for the people you feed’

Ragini Chawla (b. Delhi) is currently based in London. She pursued her studies at Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara (2018) and later at the Glasgow School of Art (2020), where she was awarded an honorary graduate fellowship from Glasgow Sculpture Studios. Notably, she has held solo exhibitions at the David Dale Gallery (2023) and the Goethe-Institut, Glasgow (2022). Her work has been featured in various group exhibitions both locally and internationally, including Kiosk, Glasgow (2023), House Show, Glasgow (2023), and The Flying Goat, Goa (2022).

Chawla’s artistic practice encompasses painting, sculpture, and textual exploration, with a thematic focus on South Asian heritage and knowledge, familial dynamics, interpersonal power struggles and collective cultural histories. Her practice has been featured in Artforum’s Critic’s Pick (2023), Stir World (2023), The Skinny (2022), and MAP Magazine (2022). Her book ‘Don’t Pick Your Nose’ is a part of the permanent collection at Zine Library at Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong.