Susanta Mandal Indian, b. 1965
Born in 1965 in Kolkata, Susanta Mandal completed a BFA in painting from the Government College of Arts and Craft and an MFA in painting from Benares Hindu University. In Mandal’s works, quotidian materials and events invite viewers to witness and confront raw reality in interactive environments. His mixed media installations, which often utilize spotlights and kinetic mechanisms, seem playful but are ultimately disconcerting constructions. Through chiaroscuro, his works take on narrative and performative elements, echoing the tradition of vernacular storytelling in India, where painted scrolls are brought to life with lamps at dusk.
Mandal’s most recent solo shows include Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (2015) and Gallery SKE, Bangalore (2011). He has participated in several group shows, including Gallery 1X1, Dubai (2021–22); Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi (2020, 2013, 2008); the Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa (2019, 2017); the Chennai Photo Biennale (2019); Gallery Odyssey, Mumbai (2017–18); Bikaner House, New Delhi (2017); 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan (2015); Colombo Art Biennale, Sri Lanka (2014); Beirut Art Fair, Lebanon (2014); Kochi–Muziris Biennale (2014); and the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Noida (2013); to name a few.
Mandal has also worked as an artist-in-residence at Khoj in New Delhi, Britto in Bangladesh and Theertha in Colombo. He is part of the LAYOUT Artists’ Collective, which was formed in 2011 in New Delhi, India.
The artist lives and works in New Delhi.
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A Handful of Dust
D-53 Defence Colony, New Delhi 19 May - 18 June 2022Exhibiting Artists: Jagannath Panda, K.M. Madhusudhanan, N.S. Harsha, Sudhir Patwardhan, Praneet Soi, Gigi Scaria, Sujith S.N., Susanta Mandal, Pranati Panda, Sachin George Sebastian, Shailesh B.R., Biraaj Dodiya, Shrimanti Saha, Priyanka...Read more -
Erasure | Curated by Susanta Mandal
D-53 Defence Colony, New Delhi 2 March - 2 April 2021Erasure, curated by artist Susanta Mandal, initiates an exchange of ideas around the thematics of the creative process through an exhibition format, inviting artists Anju Dodiya, Atul Dodiya, Sudhir Patwardhan,...Read more -
Ram Kumar and Susanta Mandal | Reflected Verses II
D-40 Defence Colony, New Delhi 22 October - 19 November 2016Continuing our series of conversations between artists, we bring together works by Susanta Mandal and Ram Kumar. The exhibition presents two takes on the grid, the device that art historian...Read more -
OFF THE RECORD: Meditations on the Photographic Image | Curated by Vidya Shivadas
D-53 Defence Colony, New Delhi 28 October - 2 December 2015This exhibition brings together a group of nine artists who have diverse engagements with the medium of photography within their practice. The presence of photography, both latent and manifest, has...Read more -
Susanta Mandal | Hard Copy
D-53 Defence Colony, New Delhi 17 April - 18 May 2015Susanta Mandal’s kinetic installations combine light, shadow, movement and stillness, mechanical constructions and human imagery. Theseries on show at Hard Copy is a meditation on the image and the way...Read more
